Self-efficacy is the belief that we are able to respond effectively or successfully to a given situation.
The Talent-Belief gap describes how well our self-belief (efficacy) tallies with our actual talents and abilities.
The presence of a Talent-Belief gap means we are either exaggerating our talents, or undervaluing them.
Life can get hard when our self-belief doesn’t match our talents, when our efficacy doesn’t match our abilities.
When we believe we are better than we actually are, we over-promise and under-deliver. We set ourselves up to underachieve or fail. We may forgo learning at the appropriate level, believing ourselves to be already capable, or working at a higher level than we really are.
When we believe we are less than we actually are, it is harder to live to our full potential. We undersell ourselves. We go for less than what we can truly achieve. We may be stuck learning things we already know, and never truly challenging ourselves.
The ideal state is one where the gap is minimal or non-existent. In this state, we are clearly aware of our talents and we have a realistic sense of our efficacy. In this state, we can accurately grow our talents and improve our efficacy.
Which situation best describes you right now? What do you think is the current state of your Talent-Belief gap?
