Confidence: The One Thing You Need to Make Any Change Stick

It turns out that the Little Engine That Could, besides being a beloved 90’s film that inspired thousands of children ages 3-10 to sing along and believe in birthday trains, totally knew what was up.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

**Plot Spoiler**

Several larger and older engines turn down the job of delivering the much-awaited, magically entertaining, Birthday Train.

The Little Engine That Could volunteers to deliver the train in a journey that will require climbing the scariest, darkest, worstest mountain you can imagine.

Despite his small size and the barriers he encounters along the way, the Little Engine never stops believing in himself.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

At the end of the film, he triumphantly succeeds in crossing the mountain and delivering the birthday train to the luckiest boy in the whole world.

I don’t tell this story just to say I’m a little upset that the birthday train has never visited me. OK, I’m a lot upset.

I tell it because the moral of the story, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!, is so spot on it’s ridiculous.

As adults, we know that when we want to make a change in our lives like eating better, exercising more, meditating in the morning, moving up in our careers, getting healthier and happier in general, having certain structures in place helps to make that change possible.

We can look at creating a strong vision and a routine that embodies it, making sure that our “Why,” barriers, and strategies are clearly defined, and set SMART goals to make it all happen.

These are all crazy effective ways to ensure that we make a change that lasts.

But did you know that in the behavior change literature (YES there is an entire field of science devoted to how we make behavior changes and is amazing), the number one, most consistent predictor of lasting change is self-efficacy?

Here’s probably where you’re thinking, ‘Uh, no, Julia I didn’t know that, WTF is self-efficacy and how is knowing this useful’?

Self-efficacy is defined as a person’s belief in their ability to complete a specific task.

This is different from being a generally confident person, self-efficacy refers to our confidence about our ability to do something specific such as walking more, achieving in school or work, cutting out junk food, any specific task.

This starts to get really cool when we look at the research. Self-efficacy it turns out does a hell of a lot more than just getting tiny little engines over big scary mountains.

Increased self-efficacy, or confidence in our ability to do a specific task, has been associated with decreased job stress and burnout and increased work performance, increased pain tolerance, improved work readiness and persistence, fewer adverse emotional reactions in the face of difficulties, and decreased stress, anxiety, and depression.

Increased self-efficacy is further a predictor of a variety of important health behaviors such as reduced alcohol consumption and smoking cessation. And has repeatedly been shown to predict starting a physical activity and healthy eating habit and maintaining it long term.

 

The bottom line is that self-efficacy can be crazy effective at helping us to start and maintain changes long term.

 

But the fun doesn’t end there.

The coolest part about ALL of this is that we also know that self-efficacy is extremely moldable – we can actively shape and build our confidence about our ability to make a change.

We can work to build our self-efficacy over time and thereby increase our chances of actually sticking with a new behavior.

So how do we do that?

Albert Bandura and the wonderful world of behavior change theory has it all outlined for us. Below I dive into what he calls the four main sources of self-efficacy beliefs. Consider if taking small, easy, steps to increase even ONE of these sources might be just the boost you were needing.

1. Mastery Experiences
The most effective way to create a strong sense of self-efficacy is through mastery experiences aka small wins. They give us the strongest sense of whether we can muster what it takes to succeed. When we perform a task successfully, it strengthens our sense of self-efficacy. Likewise, when we fail to adequately deal with a task or challenge it can weaken our self-efficacy.

Practicing mastery experiences is NOT a matter of adopting ready made habits. Rather, it’s a process of acquiring the different cognitive and behavioral skills needed to persevere with the habit despite barriers and setbacks.

Let’s say Alex and Rae both have an end goal to be working out 5 days per week. In the first week of pursuing his goal, Alex aims to get to the gym 5 days for an hour and a half each time. He only makes it 2 days and ends up beating himself up for not sticking with it. Rae, on the other hand, aims to get to the gym 2 days this week for 30 minutes, and she’s flexible with which days she goes in case she has to work late.

After the first week, Alex is feeling shitty and beating himself up for failing again. Conversely, Rae made it to the gym both days and is proud of herself. When she looks at her schedule for the following week, she’s confident she can make it to the gym 3 days next week because she was so successful before and she learned how to plan around her work schedule.

Take-home message: SMALL WINS ARE KEY.

2. Vicarious Experiences
Seeing other people similar to ourselves successfully completing a task is another important source of improving our belief that we too can succeed. It’s important to note here that the more we identify with our role model, the more similar they seem to us, the more persuasive their successes are.

The Fitspo Instagrams you follow may be incredibly motivating if you truly relate to the person. However, if in the back of your mind all you hear is “She doesn’t have to work the hours I do to support myself. He doesn’t have kids like I do. I doubt they even eat. Do they just workout 24/7? How do they make time for family, career or traveling?” It might be time to question if this ‘model’ shares your same values and if you really identify with them. If not, obsessively comparing yourself might be doing more harm than good.

Truly inspiring and effective models don’t just flaunt their success and not acknowledge their barriers. Through their actions and words, they teach observers the skills and strategies for persevering in easy and rough times.

Take-home message: FIND INSPIRATION FROM MODELS YOU RELATE TO

3. Social Persuasion
Other people can also be helpful in persuading us that we have what it takes to succeed. Not surprisingly, when we’re told by someone we trust and admire that we CAN do it, that we DO have the skills necessary – it helps to squash the nasty voice in our head telling us that we suck, and it boosts our confidence.

We can actively increase our self-efficacy by asking for support and encouragement from people close to us. The next time you set out to manage stress, eat healthier or move up at work consider reaching out to the people in your tribe and asking them to help remind you that YOU CAN.

Take-home message: DON’T GO IT ALONE, REACH OUT FOR ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT

4. Physiological and Emotional Responses
The last source of self-efficacy comes from how we interpret our physiological and emotional states. Moods, emotional states, and physical reactions can all impact how we feel about our abilities in a particular situation.

• Is it bad that I’m sore after working out? Is this a sign that I’m so out of shape I shouldn’t even bother? If I’m not sore does it mean I’m doing something wrong?
• I’m SO stressed at the thought of talking to my boss about a raise, maybe it means I can’t do it.
• I feel too restricted when I count calories, there’s no way I can do it long term.

 

Learning more about the change we’re trying to make, what to expect, and how to interpret them can greatly influence our confidence in our ability to continue.

Take-home message: LEARN HOW TO INTERPRET WHAT YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU

Increasing our self-efficacy is one of the most consistently effective ways to make sure that the changes we’re trying to make last. Fortunately for us, it just so happens that we can increase our self-efficacy through small, simple wins and mindsets shifts.

Want more information on improving your self-efficacy? I can’t end this post without emphasizing how invaluable a health coach can be here. We’re trained to help you design situations and experiences for success rather than setting up premature scenarios where you’re likely to fail, find appropriate role models, recognize your accomplishments and successes, and interpret the physiological changes and emotions that come up along the way. We’re a self-efficacy turbo boost that’s just a phone call away.

Which self-efficacy source are you most interested in bolstering? Let me know in the comments!

To your health and happiness,
Julia

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