02 Is self-doubt taking the best of you?

Building emotional resilience and self-confidence or efficacy at work.

Ever held back in a meeting, avoided taking the lead, or second-guessed yourself even when you knew the answer?

Self-confidence isn’t about always knowing you’ll succeed. It’s about trusting you can show up, handle the unknown, and learn along the way. If self-doubt, overthinking, or fear of failure are holding you back, it’s time to rebuild that inner foundation.

From self-doubt to self-confidence

Self-confidence refers to an individual’s belief in their ability to successfully perform specific tasks or handle particular situations.

It encompasses judgments of capability, self-assurance, and resilience in the face of challenge.

Self-confidence is a broad, relatively stable belief in one’s ability to cope with challenges and pursue goals overall. It includes:

Competence belief: “I can do this.”
Self-trust and worthiness: “I have value and can handle the outcome.”
Resilience: Acting despite doubt, setbacks, or risk.

Self-efficacy refers to a task-specific belief in one’s ability to successfully carry out a particular action or behavior (Bandura) and is more situational.

How do they relate?

Self-efficacy feeds into self-confidence. Repeatedly succeeding at specific tasks (high self-efficacy) builds a general sense of confidence.

Self-confidence shapes willingness to try. A confident person is more likely to attempt new tasks, which then provides opportunities to strengthen self-efficacy.