What Do You Believe About Yourself?

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Yashi Srivastava, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Is there something in your life you would really like to change? What is preventing you from making it happen? In particular, what are your beliefs about your ability to create this change?

The importance of what we believe about our capabilities became clear to me soon after high school. I had signed-up for a course to learn computer programming, and had no idea my life was about to change in unexpected ways.

Unexpected Lessons from a Programming Class

I vividly remember the first day of class. I found myself sitting between two other women as the teacher explained the basics of programming. Afterwards, she asked us to write an algorithm. I had studied a bit of programming in school and while I had never been very good at it, this seemed like a fairly simple task.

Up until that point in my life, I had always been an “average” student. Except humanities, there weren’t many subjects I excelled at in school. In fact, I was there in this computer class only because I had recently failed all my engineering entrance exams. This was my last hope to build a successful career in India as a software developer.

So, when the teacher asked us to write an algorithm, I got to work. I happened to be one of the few people in class to get it right.

Impressed, the teacher praised me in front of the whole class. I was feeling a little embarrassed and also a little proud, when the student on my right, visibly upset, asked me:

“So, how did you get this right?”

“Oh, well. I studied programming in school.” I replied. The pride I had felt a moment ago was quickly replaced by guilt. I had an unfair advantage here and there was nothing to be proud of.

“Ah! That explains it!” The student said, satisfied.

I shrunk into my seat a little bit.

And then, a life-changing moment took place.

The teacher addressed the student on my right: “At least she remembered what she studied in school. That’s still impressive.”

I was stunned. Impressive? Me?

This had never happened to me before.

At that moment, it was as if a switch flipped in my head. Almost instantly, I went from being “average” to being “impressive.” And guess what? Not only did I excel at programming during the one year program, I was invited to teach the same course during the following year. Since then, I have excelled in all my academic pursuits.

What had changed in that moment? Did I suddenly become more intellectually capable? Of course not. What had shifted was my view of myself, my belief in what I was capable of. That one remark from my teacher opened up the possibility that I could be more than I had always thought I was. I started believing that I could be impressive, that I wasn’t inherently, permanently, average.

Self-efficacy: Your Belief that You Can

According to researcher Albert Bandura, our beliefs about our ability to effect change in our lives – our “self-efficacy” – impact how we think, feel, and behave in a given situation. Think about this for a moment: when are you more likely to take action to change something in your life – when you think you are capable of creating that change or when you think you aren’t?

In my case, my self-efficacy started to increase through what Bandura calls “verbal persuasion.” Someone I respected – my programming teacher – suggested a different view of myself. However, what further enhanced my self-efficacy were my own “mastery experiences.” Believing that I could perform well in this class, I found myself much more motivated to work hard. This created a virtuous cycle: my self-efficacy motivated me to work hard, working hard improved my performance, and the experience of performing well further enhanced my self-efficacy.

According to Bandura, our own mastery experiences are the most powerful source of self-efficacy. If you are struggling to create a change in your life, think about your own past successes. Have there been times in your life when you were able to achieve something you didn’t think you were capable of? Maybe you thought you could never get that dream job but decided to give it your best and were hired? Reflect on such experiences and make a note of how you made them happen. If you could do it then, what’s holding you back from doing it now?

My experience in the programming class sparked in me a deep fascination with the power of the human mind. Even though I was pretty good at computer programming, I decided to study psychology and pursue a career in people development. To this day, some of my most joyful moments in life come from being able to expand people’s perspective of who they think they are and who they can become.

Over to You

So, let’s go back to the change you want to create in your life. Do you believe you are capable of creating this change? If not, what can you learn from your past successes or from encouragement from someone you trust? How can you increase your self-efficacy and make this change happen?