Entrepreneurial Audacity

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To become an entrepreneur, it’s clear that you have to have at least a modicum of Audacity, but what in the world does that mean? Well, let me tell you.

By way of background, I recently stumbled upon the concept of “self-efficacy” in a book I was reading and I can’t seem to shake my interest in the subject. The more I learn about it, the more I’m beginning to realize that Audacity IS self-efficacy – they are one and the same.

Ok, so what is “self-efficacy”? The foremost authority on self-efficacy is psychologist Albert Bandura from Stanford University. Here’s his take:

“Perceived self-efficacy is defined as people’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives.”

Translation: Self-efficacy is your BELIEF in your capabilities to make things happen.

Notice that this definition doesn’t say that you have all the tools and know-how to make things happen. It’s simple – you BELIEVE in your ability to figure it out and accomplish whatever you set out to do. Hmm…Fascinating! So…

Self-Efficacy = Audacity!!!

Why am I telling you all this? Because you cannot successful launch (and sustain) an entrepreneurial venture without high levels of self-efficacy. Bandura contends that people with high levels of self-efficacy/moxie share the following characteristics (I’m paraphrasing here):

• Very assured in their capacity to get things done
• Approach challenges as opportunities for mastery
• Seize opportunities fearlessly
• When faced with difficulty, they concentrate on how to rock it out
• Bounce back resiliently from setbacks
• Believe that failure is only a result of a lack of work hard or know-how – and that know-how is always attainable
• Feel that no matter the circumstance, they can gain enough control of the situation to steer it their way
• Don’t need to know how they are going to solve a problem before taking it on – they just believe that they will find the “how” along the way to the solution

How can you increase your self-efficacy score? Lots of ways, of course. But the #1 way to increase your score is to simply raise your awareness!

So, let’s get super scientific and rate ourselves.

Imagine a scale of 1-10 (where 1 means very, very low levels of self-efficacy and where 10 means you are absolutely brimming with Audacity) and rate yourself on each of the bullets above. Think specifically about you as an entrepreneur. Give it a number.

Then, write down one thing (a plan of attack) you can do immediately to bump up your scores. For example, if you rated yourself as a 4 in approaching challenges as opportunities for mastery, you could pick one of your current business challenges to practice on. Really push yourself here. Entrepreneurs do not have the luxury of slow personal growth, my friends!

I encourage you to share your plan of attack in the comments section below…I promise to give feedback + encouragement on every post!