People's beliefs about their abilities have a profound effect on those abilities. Ability is not a fixed property; there is a huge variability in how you perform. People who have a sense of self-efficacy bounce back from failures; they approach things in terms of how to handle them rather than worrying about what can go wrong.
This quote from Daniel Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" delves into the transformative power of self-belief and mindset when it comes to abilities. It immediately challenges the deterministic view that abilities are innate and unchangeable, emphasizing instead that performance fluctuates significantly based on one’s beliefs and approach. The notion of self-efficacy—the confidence in our capacity to handle challenges—emerges here as a crucial psychological resource. When individuals maintain a strong sense of self-efficacy, they...