I read an excellent piece in the Wall Street Journal (click here). The other talks about "the unshakable belief some people have that they have what it takes to succeed. First described by Stanford University psychologist Albert Bandura in the 1970s, self-efficacy has become a key concept in educational circles, and is being applied to health care, management, sports and seemingly intractable social problems like AIDS in developing countries. It's also a hallmark of the "positive psychology" movement now sweeping the mental-health field, which focuses on developing character strengths rather than alleviating pathologies."
Basically it is the study of why certain people believe they will succeed against the odds. Why even in the face of failure do people continue to try. There are many examples in the article of people who failed and then went on to be great successes, many of them public figures or popular heroes.
I think many of us are "born optimists". We always try to find the positives. There are obviously people who are usually wringing their hands over things that are nominally upsetting. There are people who rejoice at other people's successes and want to revel in what is good in the world and others who are only looking for a pity party. They relate to others in terms of comparative frustration or sadness. Hey, all of us get pulled into that from time to time. I myself have been known to replay issues from one friend to the other gal pal to get a read on something bothering me or to get a sense of whether my personal barometer for things is off.
Most of the time though, I am happy. I look at the world of problems and believe there are solutions. My son is currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank and as most of you know, she includes in her diary her belief that most people are good. I agree.
Recently, I met the publisher of The Secret. She told us all how she wound up with this very successful book and while many of the other books she have published are not as successful, they all paved the way. The book itself is an interesting concept. A lot of it is supposed to be about having a positive attitude, almost to a crazy extreme. But I do think that having a positive outlook in life truly helps. If you believe you will achieve a goal, it is much more likely. (And hey aren't there enough other people to tell you why you might fail?)
Personally, I wouldn't really call it "self efficacy", I would simply call it resilience.
The definition of the word is interesting. It is about springing back, recovering, or resuming the original position after something has been bent or compressed. But in order to regain that strength, the will to persevere has to come from the innate believe that you already have "it".Basically it is the study of why certain people believe they will succeed against the odds. Why even in the face of failure do people continue to try. There are many examples in the article of people who failed and then went on to be great successes, many of them public figures or popular heroes.
I think many of us are "born optimists". We always try to find the positives. There are obviously people who are usually wringing their hands over things that are nominally upsetting. There are people who rejoice at other people's successes and want to revel in what is good in the world and others who are only looking for a pity party. They relate to others in terms of comparative frustration or sadness. Hey, all of us get pulled into that from time to time. I myself have been known to replay issues from one friend to the other gal pal to get a read on something bothering me or to get a sense of whether my personal barometer for things is off.
Most of the time though, I am happy. I look at the world of problems and believe there are solutions. My son is currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank and as most of you know, she includes in her diary her belief that most people are good. I agree.
Recently, I met the publisher of The Secret. She told us all how she wound up with this very successful book and while many of the other books she have published are not as successful, they all paved the way. The book itself is an interesting concept. A lot of it is supposed to be about having a positive attitude, almost to a crazy extreme. But I do think that having a positive outlook in life truly helps. If you believe you will achieve a goal, it is much more likely. (And hey aren't there enough other people to tell you why you might fail?)
Personally, I wouldn't really call it "self efficacy", I would simply call it resilience.
Some people just have it and others can develop it or hone it. How?
Seek the positive! Look for happiness! Try to make others feel that way too--it will come back to you. Feed your soul!
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