A recent study found that entrepreneurs with high self-efficacy explored new business opportunities from a positive mindset — they were able to self-adjust, recover quickly, and achieve their goals.
These founders didn’t have more time, more money, or more resources. They had an unshakable belief in their ability to figure it out.
People with High Self-Efficacy Push Through Obstacles
Self-efficacy is linked to awesomeness—when you cultivate self-efficacy, you believe you can accomplish what you set out to do. It’s the inner engine that keeps powerhouse women going long after others give up.
A high self-efficacy is something you build. And like any muscle, the more you train it, the stronger it gets. Anyone can create a culture to improve self-efficacy.
Here are some suggestions to give your self-efficacy a boost.
1. Get Outside Your Comfort Zone
Stretch the limitations you set for yourself by doing something new each day. You don’t need to take a huge leap outside your comfort zone. Even small wins create an incubator for self-efficacy.
Send the pitch. Reach out to that intimidating investor. Or launch the offer that’s been sitting in your draft folder. A simple stretch outside your comfort zone compound. Your brain begins to associate action with evidence that you can do it! You develop an undeniable belief in yourself.
2. Create Goals
Whether you use SMART goals, PACT, or OKRs is up to you. (Here is a short article about the different types.) Regardless, set clear goals that stretch the boundaries but are completely doable within a short time commitment.
Use goals as a roadmap to developing high self-efficacy. A good goal is one you’re excited to chase and one you believe you can achieve. The point is to get in motion—achieving a series of smaller goals builds a lot more momentum than barely reaching a big goal!
3. Keep an Eye on the Prize
Look beyond short-term setbacks and trust in the process. Building a business takes grit—you will always face obstacles, but keeping the big picture in mind, your why, strengthens your determination and belief that you will get there.
4. Flip the Script
How many obstacles are actually just mind tricks we play on ourselves? And, on the other side, we say, “That was no big deal!” Use past mastery to overcome new challenges.
So many of the roadblocks we encounter are internal: fear of judgment, fear of success, fear of failure. But here’s the reframe—your brain is designed to keep you safe, not successful. That means it often labels “growth” as “danger.” Use past mastery to overcome new challenges. Ask yourself: What have I done before that proves I can do this now?
The more you intentionally reflect on your past wins, the easier it becomes to power through present doubt.
5. Stack the Wins, But Expect the Setbacks
Increasing self-efficacy is about stacking up wins, but that doesn’t preclude you from experiencing setbacks or losing a few.
Self-efficacy is the superhero cape you wear because, despite any obstacle, you believe you can get to another win—it’s earned confidence. And when you wear that cape, people around you notice. You become a magnet for bigger opportunities, stronger collaborators, and more aligned clients.
Surround Yourself with a Culture that Supports Self-Efficacy
When you’re surrounded by women who believe in your potential—and more importantly, believe in theirs—it rubs off. You adopt their confidence, their tenacity, and their energy. You borrow their momentum when yours wavers. Eventually, you realize that power has been in you all along.
Self-efficacy is a choice, a practice, a mindset, and a culture. One that starts with you and is strengthened in community. If you want to grow your business, your visibility, your leadership — this is the inner work that builds the outer results.
The next time you find yourself stuck, ask: What would a woman with high self-efficacy do?
Then go do it — and watch what happens.
InnerFifth is the place where you can tap into a network of powerhouse women with high self-efficacy who are moving the needle in their businesses and their lives. And when you’re wavering, it’s where you can go to borrow someone else’s ego to boost yours.
