Do you know the story of The Little Engine that Could?

This little engine knew the power of believing in ourselves and how this can push our performance.

Self-efficacy and performance

Self-efficacy essentially equals self-trust. It is our belief that we are capable of doing what needs to done for the task at hand, and is our belief that we can coordinate our skills in changing or challenging situations.

With every great building and work of architecture there is a strong foundation and framework that holds it up. We too must first have a solid foundation that will support our dreams and aspirations before we will ever truly be sturdy.

Our self-image is the bedrock of our goals and future success.

Developing a healthier self-image can improve relationships, lead us to set our sights on greater things, and help us feel confident with who we are.

By improving your self-image you will find yourself more durable and well-built when times get tough.

Here are a few suggestions for improving your self-image.

Read biographies of successful and confident people. Learning about successful people whom you admire and respect can offer wonderful insight into what it takes to be successful.

Do you believe you deserve good things? Do have self-trust and believe you’re capable of achieving your goals? Our self-esteem in the overall evaluation of our self-worth compared to others, and our self-trust that we’re capable of achieving goals.

Positive psychology offers insight into the emotional and affective nature of this experience and provides insight into how emotions and mood relate to self-esteem.

Emotions and mood play a role in the evaluations we make of ourselves and others, and whether we believe we’re leading a life of success and significance.

Think about your self-esteem when you feel anxiety, fear, shame, or guilt, as opposed to feeling love, pride, satisfaction, and hope. Think about a time when you felt enthusiastic, energized, and happy, how was your self-esteem? Our sense of self is tied very tightly with our mood and general emotional experiences.

When we feel comfortable and harmonious in the world, we are able to view people as connected and related, and we can generate a positive mood and attitude about our place and purpose in the world.

Here are some suggestions for experiencing more positive emotions and thus greater self-esteem.

Do you feel you’re at your best and using your potential every day?

If you want to start using more of your potential and really thriving, begin incorporating your character strengths into what you do each day.

We all have areas of weakness and areas of great capability, though we don’t always take the time to focus on what our real strengths of character are. These are the trait-like gifts, ideals, and skills that offer you intrinsic value and fulfillment. Learn more about measuring your character strengths here.

Using character strengths offers immediate emotional enhancement and a chance for more enjoyable experiences. It provides more moments of engagement and successful results.

Everyone has areas and values where they seem to focus on and really be their best. A useful way to examine this is by assessing what’s called your “capacities,” or areas where you have likely potential, and developing a “Positive Diagnosis” of your strengths, interests, and resources.

By looking at these three areas you can better understand your capacities and how to begin incorporating them into your daily life.

There are those who view the glass as half-full and those who view it as half-empty. As we know, the optimist views the glass as half-full, and that it will stay this way.

An optimist tends to expect good things to happen in many situations, and that they are responsible for their success.

There are many benefits to developing a more optimistic outlook. Optimistic people are more confident and persevere in the face of adversity, and they are healthier and live longer.

Learned optimism

Positive psychology would suggest that like any other activity or habit, optimism can be learned and developed.

Optimism is an outlook about future circumstances, and by changing our thinking about what will happen and why things happen, we can begin to have a more optimistic attitude.

A very important part of optimistic thinking is how you attribute what happens in your life.

Here are three main types of attributions we can make:

1) External vs. Internal: The belief as to whether the cause of an event lies within us or outside of us.

When something good happens and optimist will attribute this success to themselves, whereas a pessimist will give themselves little credit for success.