Building confidence: visualise your future self

This week I thoroughly enjoyed being a guest speaker at the Brand Yorkshire conference. The talk I gave was all about building confidence and self-belief, or as the eminent psychologist Albert Bandura put it, ‘self-efficacy’.

Self-efficacy theory is about becoming the best version of ourselves by shaping and controlling our lives, driving it in the direction we want it to go in, rather than living in a reactionary way, responding to what happens around us. The ability to develop self-efficacy is closely related to several aspects of my Resilience Wheel, particularly the aspects of purpose: knowing what you want to achieve, energy: feeling emotionally and physically well, and support: building a good network to help you get there.

Our ability to imagine ourselves performing a future task is helpful in achieving it. Photo Harry Quan Unsplash

Applying Banduras’ Self-efficacy theory, and combining this with James Maddux’s theory of Imaginal Experiences, is a great way to develop the confidence to make changes and drive yourself towards achieving your career goals. The overarching principle of this approach is that, if you want to change direction, you need to visualise exactly what your ideal future looks like in great detail - I call this ‘painting your rainbow.’ What does your future self look like? Adding to Maddux’s ideas, I also believe that the more clearly you are able to visualise the words, pictures, colours and sounds to describe your ideal self and situation in detail, the more likely you are to achieve this. You could even try making a mood board to depict this if it helps to have something more tangible.

I find that a common trap many of my clients can fall into is getting too bogged down with what’s wrong with the present, criticising the current position they are in and analysing it in great detail, when it would be more beneficial to focus on their ideal future self. What would that person be doing, saying and feeling? How would they dress, carry themselves and interact with others? What types of people would they work with and network with and why? The more you are able to visualise this, the more likely you are to find the confidence and self-belief needed to get there.

Confidence in your ability to get there is often the number one trait required, and working on your resilience can help develop this. The four stages of Banduras’ Self-efficacy theory is a great starting point. The stages are;

Mastery experiences

This describes your performance outcomes. Successes help us develop belief in our mastery, while setbacks and failures undermine it. Experience of mastering a new skill - no matter what it is - can help develop this, as it teaches us we are capable of learning something new, so if you’ve ever fancied learning how to fly a plane, speak Italian or play the trumpet, why not give it a go?

Have a go, reflect on success and repeat, enables success and Mastery. Photo Jordan Sanchez Unsplash

Vicarious experiences

This one is all about the support you have around you. Observing other people who have already achieved something you want to master can be hugely beneficial. These role models could be teachers, counsellors, coaches or family members. Bringing these people closer to your network and learning from them can help you achieve your goals.

Social persuasion

Again, this one is all about who you surround yourself with. It is all about positive and encouraging feedback from those that matter most to you. Ideally this will have been an important part of your development from an early age, from parents, siblings, friends and teachers. Surrounding yourself with those who believe in you and encourage you can give you the strength and self belief to pursue your dreams. 

Emotional and physiological state

This is all about your wellbeing. If you are mentally and physically well it is easier to find the motivation and drive to visualise and reach your goals. Anxiety, burn out and depression can sap you of the energy and drive to get you where you want to go and clients often tell me they feel stuck. Speak to your GP or a counsellor if you need to - there is no shame in reaching out for professional help, quite the opposite, it is a sensible step in recovering so you can live the life you want to.

It’s important to be kind to yourself if you are struggling. Give yourself time to rest and recuperate, eat healthily, take some exercise and get plenty of sleep. Sounds boring I know, but it really does make a massive difference to our mental state, which is so important in achieving changes and reaching goals. Once you feel physically and mentally stronger, I guarantee any goals you are hoping to achieve will feel more within reach.

And finally I wanted to end on this quote from the late great Albert Banduras, who sadly passed away earlier this year:

“It is not the sheer intensity of emotional and physical reactions that is important but rather how they are perceived and interpreted. People who have a high sense of efficacy are likely to view their state of affective arousal as an energising facilitator to performance, whereas those who are beset by self-doubts regard their arousal as a debilitator.”
Albert Banduras, 1977

In other words, it is how we interpret our feelings and moods, and the meaning we place on them, rather than our actual physiological state, that affects how confident we feel in achieving our goals.