78. “I did that, so I can do this”: Building Self-Efficacy Through Mastery Experiences

Here at Hungry Authors, we ask you to have a lot of “gumption.” It takes a lot of persistence, daring, and “confidence” to put your writing out into the world. But how do you get all of that gumption? Today, Liz and Ariel are starting a little series on building self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a term championed by the late great Albert Bandura, who researched how people build up their belief in their own ability to achieve certain goals. He discovered that there are four primary ways we build what he called our “self-efficacy.” The first way is through mastery experiences, and that’s what we’re talking about today.

Links mentioned:

• Albert Bandura, Self-Efficacy
• Katty Kay & Claire Shipman, The Confidence Code
• Experiment to Find Your Book Idea with Kent Sanders
• Make Your Boldest Statement with Stephanie Duncan Smith
• How to Map Your Nonfiction Book