3 Self Efficacy and Self-Advocacy

“Hope matters. Hope is a choice. Hope can be learned. 

Hope can be shared with others.”

Shane Lopez, author of Making Hope Happen

Self-Efficacy and Self-Advocacy

Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in their ability to succeed in a particular situation. Self-advocacy is a person’s ability to speak up for themselves and the things that are important to them. Self-advocates are able to ask for what they need/want and tell people about their thoughts and feelings.

Both of these concepts are related to your success as a student, and success in life outside of school. And underlying both of these concepts is our belief that the future can be different and better, and our belief that WE play a significant role in making our future different and better!

The Power of Hope

Hope can have a significant positive impact in our lives. Gallup Organization research shows that hopeful students earn an average of a grade higher than their classmates, and hopeful employees are more productive and engaged! Hope can be defined as our belief in our own capacity to envision clear goals, plan a path (or paths) to reach those, and the energy and mindset to make those goals possible.

Hope Theory

Hope is the only positive emotion or way of thinking that requires uncertain or negative circumstances to activate it. Hope theory states that momentum toward positive change is created through the cycle of Will Power and Way Power, both future-facing and action-oriented.

Hopeful thinking encourages a realistic plan of action, including alternate plans to address possible barriers or challenges, with your aspirations and dreams providing the imaginative fuel to launch and maintain momentum. We should strive to be not simply dreamers or doers, but realistically grounded hopers!

I believe I can do it 

+ I know how to do it

= I can make good things happen!

Optimism

Being optimistic implies a belief in our own ability to face and solve problems and adversities, and contributes to resiliency, the ability to bounce back and recover quickly from challenges.  This capacity supports the Way Power component of hope theory in moving quickly from plan A to plan B, if necessary.

We can develop optimism by paying attention to our explanatory style, or the way we explain events to ourselves, and intentionally examining what we control and what we don’t. If something goes wrong, do you jump to the worst conclusion and give up, or do you examine the circumstances and figure out how to positively move forward?

Videos

Hope Theory: Make Your Life Better

Optimistic Explanatory Style in Action

Internal versus External Locus of Control

Our lives are full of actions and outcomes. And when we experience a certain outcome, we think about why we think it happened. The theory of Internal and External Locus of Control states that we will place the location of control, or locus, either externally or internally. If we place the locus of control externally, we are likely to blame the outcome on others, fate, luck, or happenstance. If we place the locus of control internally, we are likely to believe our own actions determine the outcome. Sometimes an external locus of control is referred to as the victim mindset because seeing the events in our life as outside of our own control can lead us to feel like a victim. Having an internal locus of control can be thought of as having a resilient mindset because we focus on the things in our life that we can control, and that leads us to be able to withstand setbacks, obstacles, and challenges!

Strengthen your Internal Locus of Control

• Set SMART goals and keep track of the progress you are making
• Focus on the things you can control rather than the things you cannot control
• Try new things and put forth a consistent effort to get better
• Be mindful of your language – use resilient language rather than victim language (“I choose to” rather than “I have to”)
• Take responsibility for your actions rather than blaming others
• Focus on solutions when you encounter an obstacle or a problem
• Reframe failures as learning opportunities