Improve Self-Efficacy to Lose Weight

How Do I Build Self-Efficacy?

So how do you turn a negative belief system into positive thoughts? Researchers have identified four things that impact self-efficacy: mastery of experiences, social modeling, social persuasion, and emotional responses. You can learn more about each one from Kendra Cherry, the About.com Guide to Psychology. But if weight loss is your goal, here's how you can improve each self-efficacy factor to lose weight.

 Ways to Improve Self-Efficacy to Lose Weight

Set and reach small goals. To improve your mastery of experiences, you want to successfully complete small goals that will act as stepping stones to larger accomplishments. Break each long-term goal into smaller achievable goals, and as you complete each one, acknowledge it in your journal and remind yourself of your success. The completion of each small task will build your level of self-efficacy for completing larger tasks in the future.

Surround yourself with positive messages. If the people that surround you are successfully completing the goal that you want to achieve, you're more likely to believe that you can do it, too. Find friends that have some habits you admire. Skip the lunchroom snacks and spend your break with a crowd that eats a healthy meal. Instead of going to happy hour with your buddies, find a few friends that want to hit the gym and exercise.

You can also surround yourself with positive messages electronically. Sign up for newsletters that provide healthy messages, fill your Facebook feed with posts from weight loss coaches and successful dieters, and follow health-oriented Twitter feeds.

Social Persuasion. Talk to your family and friends. Let them know that their encouragement and positive messages make a difference. Then, make it a habit to acknowledge the compliments when you get them.

If your friends and family are not supportive, this is another area where social media can help. Several recent studies have found that positive messages sent electronically can help people lose weight. Get connected with others and with me! Sign up for my newsletter, my Facebook page and my Twitter feed. You’ll find messages from me and other dieters who have lost weight.

Learn to Relax. If you have intense emotional reactions to situations, your self-efficacy with regards to your ability to handle that situation will probably be low. Take some time to identify the situations that cause you to react strongly. Then, learn relaxation techniques that will help you to manage them with a calm demeanor.

If the concept of self-efficacy is new to you, don’t worry. Simply your awareness of your positive and negative beliefs may help you change the things you need to adjust in order to lose weight. Remember to start small, make changes gradually, acknowledge your successes and move forward from there.