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The New Year starts with new goals and decisions for many. Some people might want to exercise regularly and start a healthy diet, others might aim to change their occupation or may decide to take another educational step. New trials will always be present in our lives.
Within all these, what are your beliefs about being able to achieve your goals?
These beliefs in reaching certain goals are not simple thoughts about us and a particular situation because they regulate our motivation, stability, and all other experiences on the way to achieving our goals. Self-efficacy is a notion that dwells on our personal beliefs and it is important for many areas of life, including sustainability objectives. For this reason, we wanted to discuss this important concept, its relationship with sustainability, and some tips to increase our self-efficacy in this article.
What is Self-Efficacy
Belief in our capacity to exhibit behaviors to reach specific situations or goals.
Bandura
Please pay attention that based on the theory, Bandura’s definition of self-efficacy is not one’s actual capacity to perform but rather how much one believes one possesses this capacity.
Self-efficacy determines the entire process. If we start to work on our objectives with high self-efficacy, we can deal with all the setbacks we see on our way and be well-prepared for different scenarios. We believe that we can succeed in the end and continue on our way through different trials, maybe mistakes, and taking lessons from them. However, with the opposite, low self-efficacy belief, we can easily give up even with a minor negative experience and difficulties.
Our self-efficacy beliefs can be high for doing a situation (e.g. learning a new language) or low for another situation (e.g. changing a job). Those diversified beliefs do not appear in one day. They emerge over the years with the contribution of elements called self-efficacy sources.
Sources of Self-Efficacy
1- Mastery Experiences:
Mastery experiences are the most important source for cultivating self-efficacy. It is essentially our successful practices that provide us with evidence that we can achieve specific goals. The more mastery experiences a person has, the higher success belief for future performances. On the contrary, a number of unsuccessful attempts may cause the belief that one will fail again.
2- Vicarious Experiences:
As social beings, we learn from each other starting from our childhood. We acquire many of our basic behaviours by observing while others are doing something. Similarly, when we see others succeed at something, it activates our thoughts like “I too, can do it in the same way” or “can enhance myself and my performance”.
3- Verbal Persuasion:
The voices of people whose opinions we value accompany us throughout our journey on the way to our destination. Supportive or discouraging feedback influences us and our self-efficacy beliefs.
4- Physiological and Affective States:
On all occasions, we give physiological and emotional reactions and interpret them in a way we perceive. We can perfectly match a bodily or emotionally challenging moment with the activity or event and make some attributions. For instance, If I realize a feeling of anxiety or some physical symptoms during a certain activity, how will my efficacy belief be affected? Probably negatively, and I may not want to continue.
Importantly, rather than the reactions, how they are interpreted shapes our efficacy beliefs.
How Can We Use Self-efficacy Resources For Sustainability
Sustainability is a lifestyle for us, others, and the planet. For many people, it is a process from zero to expertise. So, if you believe that you cannot live sustainably, this is the first obstacle in your sustainability journey. If you have this belief, you probably experienced some of the above-listed elements.
A few small but effective engagements can help.
1- Setting Gradual & Achievable Goals
Seeing the biggest picture and aiming to be a fully sustainable person may not be achievable at first. From our diet, product, and transportation preferences to advocacy, a sustainable lifestyle means changes in many areas of life. However, trying to achieve them all in the short term might be hard. Therefore, taking different domains separately in different periods and giving yourself some time within the experience can be easier and long-lasting. When you achieve some of your first goals, and see your potential to accomplish current goals, this will set an example for future goals. Hence, you can start to reconstruct your self-efficacy for sustainability.
We have a great tool that will help you to work on your goals stepwise. Please keep reading for details.
2- Listening to or Reading Sustainability Stories
As social creatures, we learn from others and their experiences. If we see people similar to us being able to do something, we feel like we can also do or improve our capacities to do the same. Regarding sustainability, all of us are the same; no one is privileged to do better. Whoever is living sustainably increases their knowledge by believing in the importance of sustainability and taking action. For this reason, any person who is living sustainably can help us. A friend, relative, or even someone we know from socials. Observing and talking to them can show us we are not different and we can take the same actions and achieve our goals.
Below, there are some articles that you can read.
A Journey of Sustainability and Self-Discovery
Things I wished I knew Before Starting my Sustainability Journey
3- Communication & Support
Positive messages we receive from other people about our performance can help us to sustain our efforts and increase our personal beliefs. These messages can come from anyone, but significant others’ influence on us is always more. Talking to these people and sharing your experiences will be valuable if your sustainability effort and story are matched with their positivity and support. Encouraging positive feedback can contribute to our personal beliefs, enabling us to move forward on this path.
4- Relying on Your Positive Feeling
When you start to work on and achieve your sustainability goals, positive feelings and relief emerge because of the nobility of the purpose served. Realizing and relying on these positive activations potentially pushes us to continue and do more.
Planet Positive
We have an amazing tool that will serve for your mastery experience. Here is our journal. No worries, there is no calendar, and you will never be late to start. Never.
This 12-month journal has different themes each month, allowing you to experience different aspects of sustainability step by step. You will start by discovering yourself, your reasons, and your current practices. Then, you will gradually begin to implement your sustainability goals with the guidance of the journal, different materials, suggestions, and self-learning activities. There will be occasional setbacks and unsustainable habits during the process. But the goal is not to be perfect, nor should it be. Over time, you will realize that it is actually possible to reach well-defined goals slowly. Other goals will follow the achieved goals and you will get closer to the lifestyle in line with your purpose.
Taking action and not being as successful as we wish is not something we should feel bad about. Maybe we did not have enough resources, knowledge, or guidance to achieve our goals. Or we did not believe in our capacity. Whatever the reason is, being aware of them is the primary solution. Knowledge increase and practice are two main factors for self-efficacy. Please believe in your capacity and power.
We need you.
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