J.K. Rowling’s book about a boy wizard was rejected by 12 publishers before a small London house picked up “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”
Decca Records turned down a contract with the Beatles, saying “We don’t like their sound.”
Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor who said he “lacked imagination.”
Michael Jordan was cut from his high-school varsity basketball team sophomore year.
What makes some people rebound from defeats and go on to greatness while others throw in the towel? Psychologists call it “self-efficacy,” the unshakable belief some people have that they have what it takes to succeed.
First described by Stanford University psychologist Albert Bandura in the 1970s, self-efficacy has become a key concept in educational circles, and is being applied to health care, management, sports and seemingly intractable social problems like AIDS in developing countries.
It’s also a hallmark of the “positive psychology” movement now sweeping the mental-health field, which focuses on developing character strengths rather than alleviating pathologies.
Self-efficacy differs from self-esteem in that it’s a judgment of specific capabilities rather than a general feeling of self-worth. “It’s easy to have high self-esteem — just aim low,” says Prof. Bandura, who is still teaching at Stanford at age 82.
On the other hand, he notes, there are people with high self-efficacy who “drive themselves hard but have low self-esteem because their performance always falls short of their high standards.”
Read more.
Photo by allmichaeljordan.com.
If At First You Don’t Succeed, You’re In Excellent Company
September 18, 2008 by Rich | 3 Comments
In Advice, Strategy, Success
Mani Goel on September 21st, 2008 at 12:26 am
Thanks for sharing such a useful information
Tim Southernwood on September 21st, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Hey Rich,
Great article. I’ve had a tenacious belief that I would succeed and that belief continues to feed my mind with new ideas and refuses to let me give up. We never hear about those who allowed “failure” to make them stop trying.
Babe Ruth said it very well when he said “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way. “
cassy on September 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Im just wondering what this people feels now that what they have rejected become famous and successful now.