Transition Skills Self-belief

Do you have trouble believing you can perform well in situations you find difficult, for example writing an academic essay or group presentations? Do you wish you could take on new challenges such as striking up a conversation with someone new in your lectures and tutorials? Do you want to have the confidence to make career decisions such as applying for part-time roles to build your work experience? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, you could benefit by developing your skills in self-belief

Try this activity: take stock of your self-belief 1.I am confident that I have the capability to learn course material this semester ☐ 2.I am confident that I will be able to solve problems in my subject matter ☐ 3.I am confident I can manage demands on my time such as from essays, labs and tutorials ☐ 4.I am confident that if I put in necessary effort, I can perform well on my module ☐ 5.In a tutorial, I know I can put forward my ideas and suggestions ☐ 6.I might be nervous about the public speaking part of my course but I believe that I can perform well, for example, if I give myself enough preparation time ☐ 7.When I attend a new class, I can start up a conversation with other students ☐ 8.In amongst all of my academic tasks, I am confident I can take the steps to take to develop myself for future employment ☐ 9.In my social life, I am able to form and maintain friendships with others ☐ 10.I find it easy to form new friendships with peers ☐ YOUR SCORE Under 30: your self-belief is fairly low, but by using various strategies, it is possible to increase your confidence 30-70: there is scope to more fully enhance the strength of your self-belief Over 70: you are well on your way to having strong self-belief to succeed To assess your current state of self-belief, for each of the 10 statements below rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 (where 1 means you disagree strongly with the statement, and 10 means you strongly agree with it). For questions 1-7, think of a specific module you are/will be doing:

What is self-belief? Your self-belief refers to the beliefs or judgements you have about your ability to successfully perform a particular task as well as the understanding that it is your actions that influence a task’s outcome. They are your 'I can' or 'I cannot' beliefs. Academic belief: your belief about how well you think you can perform on various academic tasks in your chosen discipline Social self-belief: your belief about how capable you think you are in forming and maintaining social bonds and managing conflicts with friends and significant others in your life Career self-belief: your belief in your abilities to demonstrate the behaviours necessary for career choice, development and adjustment Self- belief AcademicSocial Career

Why is strong self-belief important? If you have strong self-belief, you believe you have the skills to successfully complete academic work (and form new friendships and develop a career plan) Believing that you can perform a task is what makes you motivated to try Believing what you are doing is important also makes you motivated to try Finally, believing that your efforts will be supported by those around you is also a motivator (reference 1, 2, 3) Research shows that working hard at something and persisting in the face of difficulties can be more important than your actual ability (reference 4) Research shows that if you think of demands as challenges, you are more likely to overcome obstacles and focus on the opportunities (reference 5)

Strategies for improving your self-belief Use these strategies to increase your confidence and self-belief For example Give a presentation Work on a group project Talk to someone new in a tutorial To start with, set small, short-term and achievable goals that you know you can accomplish with reasonable effort. Remember you should still try to achieve more than you did before. Take as many small steps as you need. Later, give yourself more difficult and longer-term goals. Pick a number of short-term and long-term goals you would have liked to have achieved by a certain time. Do this for something in your academic life, social life and for career planning Some things you can try Speak to your tutor or a fellow student Look up university services online to familiarise yourself with the kinds of support Try to solve problems as they arise When you are feeling stressed, can you view the causal event/task/situation as a challenge? By not thinking of it as a threat, you are more likely to overcome it. Consider what you have done in the past and pick tasks that require you to achieve more than you did before. Lecturers and tutors also use strategies to develop your skills in self-efficacy such as using peer models and giving you feedback. For information on these and other strategies, see our website:

Doing well is more than just having the required ability - the amount of effort you put in is just as important - intelligence is not a fixed trait! But think about the right amounts of effort in the right places Get help from staff for guidance if you need it If you think of the demands made on you as a challenge, you are more likely to overcome them Have regular breaks to pace yourself when dealing with challenges Everyone has limits: stop and rest and come back to work later when your are feeling refreshed Learning from mistakes is part of the journey to your success Setting yourself progressively challenging goals can help develop strong self-belief Believing you can be successful can motivate you to have a go Did you know…

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