Unlocking your potential
through high self-efficacy

Striving for excellence fuels lasting success and remarkable achievements

By Angela Civitella

Edited November 21, 2025

Research shows that a reciprocal relationship exists between self-efficacy and achievement: successful experiences boost self-efficacy, which in turn fosters new accomplishments and supports ongoing growth. Setting and reaching proximal goals—smaller, manageable milestones—strengthens self-belief and encourages resilience in future pursuits. Ultimately, nurturing high self-expectation and self-efficacy helps individuals unlock greater personal achievements and realize their full potential.

Self-Expectation and Self-Efficacy

Self-expectation and self-efficacy are powerful psychological factors that strongly influence personal achievement. When individuals set high expectations for themselves and believe in their own ability to succeed, they are more likely to set ambitious goals, commit to them, and persist in the face of adversity.​

Self-expectation provides clarity and direction, encouraging individuals to define what they want to accomplish and to pursue goals aligned with personal values. High self-expectation can raise motivation and serve as a catalyst for growth, while low self-expectation may restrict ambition and achievement.​

Self-efficacy describes the belief in one’s capability to accomplish specific tasks. People with strong self-efficacy are more likely to view challenges positively, exert more effort, persist longer, and ultimately achieve better results than those who doubt their abilities. These individuals routinely set higher goals and adopt effective strategies to reach them, even in the face of setbacks.​

When individuals set high expectations for themselves and believe in their own ability to succeed, they are more likely to set ambitious goals, commit to them, and persist in the face of adversity.​

Research shows that a reciprocal relationship exists between self-efficacy and achievement: successful experiences boost self-efficacy, which in turn fosters new accomplishments and supports ongoing growth. Setting and reaching proximal goals—smaller, manageable milestones—strengthens self-belief and encourages resilience in future pursuits. Ultimately, nurturing high self-expectation and self-efficacy helps individuals unlock greater personal achievements and realize their full potential.

Suppose you’re afraid of spiders. Even though you know they’re harmless, just seeing one—or even a spider web—can make you feel anxious and uneasy. Because of this slight phobia, the word “spider” always catches your attention when you see it. What we notice really depends on what we focus on, a principle that greatly affects our lives and work: our expectations truly shape our perceptions.​

Studies have shown that when we expect a lot from others, as with the Rosenthal or Pygmalion effect, their performance tends to improve; on the flip side, low expectations can limit people’s results. This effect applies to ourselves as well: believing in our own abilities and setting high expectations can lead to major achievements. In these cases, we become the main driver of our own success.

This is a significant factor in employee performance. A good leader who sets out to help employees to believe in themselves, in their ability to perform well, sets the stage for their possibility to succeed. The confidence that results from employees’ high personal expectations in turn spurs them to higher achievement and productivity – their performance rises to the level of their own expectations.

‘Expectations play a crucial role in shaping human behavior and achievement, a concept vividly illustrated by the Rosenthal effect’

Self-efficacy is our belief in our ability to perform effectively. Research shows that individuals who have high self-efficacy expectations – that is, who believe that they can achieve what they set out to do – are healthier, more effective, and generally more successful than those with low self-efficacy expectations.

High self-efficacy determines many of the choices we make – the higher the self-efficacy, the more likely we are to seek new challenges and persist in the face of adversity or failure. High self-efficacy also influences the effort that we put into achievements. One might say that we are what we think we are.

This old adage is now scientifically proven. From the extensive brain research that is being conducted, we know that our brains are not hard-wired. We know that the brain is plastic, and has the ability to reorganize itself every time we have new experiences. Our neural connections change even after a 20-minute conversation! This gives new meaning to the positive impact that a conversation can have with a coach or mentor when it focuses on high expectations that we have of ourselves.

‘High self-efficacy determines many of the choices we make – the higher the self-efficacy, the more likely we are to seek new challenges and persist in the face of adversity or failure.’

So, what are your thoughts about yourself, about your as-yet untapped potential? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your self-efficacy? What expectations do you have of yourself? What do you want to attract in your professional and personal life? What do you want to be known for in your leadership?

Here are 7 questions to consider:

1. What does it mean to lead a good life?
   .
2. To be happy, what should I be doing that I am not doing now? And what am I doing now that I should stop doing?
   .
3. How can I create the opportunity to be happy for the people who work for me?
   .
4. How should I begin to develop self-discipline, so that I can focus on what will make me happy in the long term?
   .
5. What is personal excellence, and how do I achieve it?
   .
6. How can I be a success in my specialized career, and, at the same time, a well-rounded person with a wide range of interests and knowledge?
   .
7. To what extent does my personal happiness entail a relationship with the community of others?

To live one’s life to its full potential, in accordance with the Aristotelian precepts, requires emotional and intellectual self-rigour. It also requires the ability to have high expectations of oneself, expectations that one would succeed at what might appear to be a lofty vision.

‘All we need to do is figure out what we want our life to look and feel like, and then studiously and methodically set out to find it and live it.’

If the possibility of generating creative and fulfilling experiences that fill our hearts and minds does not seem real and feasible, then we need to question the underlying assumptions that get us to see what we see and then dispute these, acting as our own defence lawyer.

What are the higher steps you need to climb to unlock your full potential? What are the “buts” that you need to eliminate from your vocabulary in order to break through to new levels of personal achievement? What mindsets might you need to change to stay ahead of the curve? The answer: there is no stop valve, no preset limit to our capacities. No limit is possible to what we can achieve. All we need to do is figure out what we want our life to look and feel like, and then studiously and methodically set out to find it and live it.

Having high aspirations is often the driving force that pushes us to exceed our limits and achieve excellence. These elevated ambitions act as a catalyst, stimulating the motivation and commitment needed to overcome obstacles and realize our dreams. By setting ambitious goals, we give ourselves the means to surpass our expectations and make a meaningful impact, both personally and professionally. It is through this ongoing pursuit of excellence that we discover our true potential and transform our aspirations into tangible realities.

Image: Skitterphoto from Pexels

Other articles by Angela Civitella
Other recent articles