In the journey toward personal and professional growth, self-efficacy and confidence are two critical yet often misunderstood traits. While people sometimes use these terms interchangeably, they represent distinct yet interconnected concepts that significantly influence our behaviors, motivation, and success.

What Is Self-Efficacy?

Self-efficacy is the belief in your ability to succeed at a specific task or in a particular situation. Coined by psychologist Albert Bandura, self-efficacy plays a key role in how we approach goals, challenges, and new experiences.

Example: You might have high self-efficacy in preparing for exams but feel unsure when it comes to public speaking.

What Is Confidence?

Confidence, on the other hand, is a general sense of trust in your abilities or judgment. It reflects your overall emotional state and how you perceive yourself across a range of situations.

Example: You may feel confident in your overall intelligence or problem-solving skills, even if you’re unsure about a specific task.

Key Differences Between Self-Efficacy and Confidence

Why They Both Matter

• Self-efficacy influences whether you’re willing to try, persist, and learn from challenges.
• Confidence affects how you feel during the process and how you bounce back from setbacks.

People with high self-efficacy are more likely to:

• Set ambitious goals
• Persist in the face of obstacles
• Adapt when plans don’t go as expected

People with high confidence tend to:

• Take initiative
• Handle feedback positively
• Stay optimistic, even after failure

Benefits of High Self-Efficacy and Confidence

When you develop both, you unlock a powerful mindset:

• Increased motivation and perseverance
• Greater willingness to try new things
• Improved performance and outcomes
• Higher satisfaction and self-worth

How to Build Self-Efficacy and Confidence

Here are five actionable strategies to develop both:

1. Focus on small wins
   Set realistic, achievable goals. Celebrate progress even small steps.
2. Learn from setbacks
   Mistakes are part of growth. Reflect, adjust, and try again with new insights.
3. Surround yourself with support
   Seek encouragement from friends, mentors, or professionals who uplift and believe in you.
4. Practice positive self-talk
   Replace “I can’t” with “I’m learning” or “I’ll figure this out.”
5. Know your strengths
   Identify what you’re good at and build on it. Confidence often grows from competence.

Final Thoughts

Self-efficacy and confidence are essential for success, especially when facing challenges or uncertainty. While they are different, they reinforce each other: self-efficacy builds confidence through repeated success, and confidence fuels the courage to keep trying.

By understanding and nurturing both, you empower yourself to face life with resilience, purpose, and a belief that yes—you can.

It is widely understood that having self-efficacy and confidence are two important life skills.

Here are some tips on how you can develop both:

• Start by accepting yourself for who you are and accepting that you have flaws like everyone else does. Then, focus on your strengths.
• Build a support network of people who love and care about you and who will encourage you. These people can be friends, family, or professionals.
• Focus on taking small steps instead of trying to accomplish everything at once. Set realistic goals for yourself and celebrate each accomplishment, no matter how small.
• Learn from your mistakes instead of dwelling on them. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s part of being human. What’s important is that you learn from them so that you don’t make the same mistake again.
• Practice affirmative self-talk, which means speaking kindly to yourself and addressing yourself with respect. For example, instead of telling yourself “I can’t do this,” say “I am capable of doing this” or “I will figure this out.”