The important role that self-efficacy beliefs play in human agency must be known and understood. The following poem reveals the pivotal influence that self-efficacy has in determining one’s course of action.
State of Mind
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think that you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain that you won’t.
If you think that you’ll lose, you’ve lost.
For out in the world you’ll find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.
-Jesse Owens
The person in this poem who has the attitude that he can win is most likely a person with high self-efficacy beliefs. But, what does self-efficacy mean? What is so important about self-efficacy beliefs? Why does telementoring hold the powerful capacity to transform one’s self-efficacy beliefs? These are the questions that will be explored, examined, and discussed in this chapter.