Self-Efficacy

Right now I am taking a class in college called "Educational Psychology". Sounds like a great class, right? Haha. Not at ALL what I was thinking when I walked in for Day One last week. Turns out, when I actually opened the book and read it, I encountered a large amount of topics on how people learn things as children that translate to how they relate to the world and behave as adults.

So I'm in class yesterday, and halfway daydreaming when my professor was talking about how she used to come in to save low-performing schools on the state mandated tests.

She then said the #1 DIFFERENCE in successful schools and unsuccessful schools was that the low schools had teachers and students with a LOW SENSE OF SELF-EFFICACY. In other words, these schools had teachers that said it was the student's fault for low performance, and students that said it was the teacher's fault for low performance. EVERYONE WAS BLAMING EVERYONE ELSE BUT THEMSELVES!

How does this relate to you? Self-Efficacy is when a person believes they are competent enough in an area to complete a task. When the teachers believed it was the student's fault, they didn't take into effect that maybe they weren't doing a good job teaching! Vice verse for the students that blamed the teachers, when they weren't working hard enough to learn the material!

If you haven't already, it is TIME for you start believing that you can do what you want to do, learn what you want to learn, and be who you want to be. So many times I hear people with a low sense of self-efficacy play the victim role. "My life is hard because my boss doesn't pay me enough." "I can't be successful in life because I was brought up in poverty." "But T-Jack, I have ALREADY TRIED to lose weight!" (one of my favorites). "I can't get a date with a hottie. I am just not their type!" Stop playing the victim role and take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for your actions and the outcomes that arise from them.

Your boss doesn't pay you enough. Did you ask for a raise? Has your PERFORMANCE at work been DESERVING of a raise? Finally, if all of these are yes, GET A NEW JOB! Or, better yet, START YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND BE YOUR OWN BOSS!

You were raised in poverty, so now as an adult you are still living in it. What are you doing EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY TO GET OUT OF IT? Do you have any WASTEFUL time/spending habits that are keep you there? Are you SHOWCASING the TALENT that you do have? What does a WEALTHY person do DIFFERENTLY on a DAILY BASIS that you don't?

You have already tried to lose weight. Did you go to the gym 3-5 times a week for 6 months? Do you have a balanced, healthy diet? Did you have a PERSONAL TRAINER or workout partner to keep you accountable and working HARD at all times?

You can't get a date with a hot chick. Why AREN'T you their type? And honestly, WHY DOES THAT EVEN MATTER? You have to be the guy that is CHOOSING THEM. Are you actively GOING OUT to places where the so-called hotties GATHER? Are you CONFIDENTLY approaching them? HONESTLY, do you need a MAKEOVER or a serious change in your WARDROBE? Are you an INTERESTING guy, and are you showing them you're INTERESTED?

I have just solved all of these problems I see people living with on a daily basis. I know it is alot easier to type it than do it. People playing the victim role need to adopt the motto, "If it is to be, it's up to ME!"

STOP blaming others for whatever you're lacking in your life and GO GET IT!

Keep Hustlin,

T-Jack