Self-confidence: go back to the roots and pull out the best in yourself

The words self-confidence and motivation did not always exist in common conversation. They are expressions that emerged as skills became more technical and one started to analyse them at the same time as human behaviour. In the workplace, self-confidence and efficacy seem to be at the root of success. In this article, we will try to find out why…

Now, let us look at the contrary situation: a person who lacks self-confidence will often sit in a corner, not participate in conversations, which in turn leads to them to doing their work nonchallantly. This proves that self-confidence, motivation and efficacy go together and are vital in the working world. It is important to look at each one of these competences to find the root of their importance.

1. Self-confidence

There are two aspects of self-confidence: the first is competence, whether or not you have the necessary skills and abilities to complete a task. The second is self-assurance and whether or not you believe that you have the ability to complete the task.
True self-confidence occurs when competence and self-assurance are in balance with each other, which means when an individual is honest with him or herself. In the business world, self-confidence helps to see the positive light in situations. It enables an employee to recover from setbacks and challenges and continue to move forward.

2. Self-esteem

Self-esteem can be defined as “the capacity to experience maximal self-love and joy whether or not you are successful at any point in your life”. People with self-esteem can jump up from failure and accept that it is simply a hurdle. However, most people will experience loss of self-esteem when they face a negative situation and unfortunately, those who already have low self-esteem will also experience the largest reduction in what little self-esteem they have. This happens if they face failure, criticism, or roadblocks.

3. Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is tricky to define. It is related to our judgments about our own capabilities and what we believe we are or are not able to do with those capabilities. The more a person is tested by facing their fears and stepping outside of their comfort zones, the more they will enhance their sense of self-efficacy. Here, courage is the key, which then leads to success. Indeed, the greater your self-efficacy, the more willing you will be to grow your own skills by attempting new challenges – and the less you will be affected if you don’t succeed.

There are times when it seems hard to compete or to take on new challenges which could lead to failures. This requires a change of attitude and a new type of courage which tells the brain that a failure always turns into a lesson and that you can’t judge until you try!

There are plenty more insights into personal motivation and self-confidence in Personal Confidence and Motivation by MTD Training.

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