Self-efficacy

Anyone who knows me well, is aware of my love for linguistics. Language is one of the key ways that we connect and come together. It is a bridge where we enter into each others mind (which makes its use a huge responsibility). That being said, a word that I frequently think about is "Self-efficacy."

Self-efficacy is the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain level of competence or attaining specific goals. Given this definition, it's striking to me how many times I've encountered people who use a particular sentence. "I can't do it," or "I've always been like this," (implying that change is not possible) or :I feel hopeless cause I always seem to fail." I always respond, "then you won't." The truth is that if our ideas and beliefs are not in alignment with our actions, we often breed our own failure.

An example of this for me is when I was a kid and was playing little league baseball. There was this kid who pitched for the "Optimist," named Eddie Harr. He pitched like fire and everyone was afraid of him, me included. Not only did he have amazing pitches, but he was also known to back people off of the plate if they where "good." Though I was pretty good, when it came to batting, I never ever hit a pitch from Eddie. Why? Because I didn't believe that I could. Even though I went to bat, I wasn't really going to bat, I was going into fear.

Buddha said, "As you think, so shall you become." And another aspect of that is that "what we think about expands." If we have hope firmly in our mind, it expands. If we have fear, anger, hopelessness in our mind that is what will expand.

Belief in oneself and our abilities is absolutely critical. Knowing that if we apply the time, learning, solid problem solving skills, right effort and dedication that we can and will attain our goals. Perhaps put another way, it can be about living with a sense of hope. Once we have that sense of hope, we have the capacity to be our own ally.

The Buddha once said "Atta dipa," meaning be a light unto yourself. In other words, we have the capacity and are able to be a part of our own solution. Dwell, you are the light itself. Instead of always thinking that someone or something is going to fix us, it's our responsibility to heal our selves by taking massive action within our lives.

Namaste'

Jaye Morris, Curator
digitalZENDO