“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.”
Henry Ford
If you’ve ever been told that when you believe in yourself you will perform better, that is absolutely correct. Self-belief has a major influence on your self-motivation. If you don’t believe you can do it, you will never even find the motivation necessary to start. Self-belief is everything, whether in regards to school, work, sports, relationships, or any area of life you wish to excel in.
Academic self-concept, which can be defined as “one’s beliefs about their academic ability,” plays an important role in students’ future academic achievement. In a study published in the scientific journal, Neuroscience, the neuroanatomical substrates that underlie academic self-concept were examined in 92 school-aged children via MRI. Results revealed a significant positive correlation between academic self-concept and achievement one year after the assessment.
Even high achieving undergraduate medical students’ academic achievement is affected by many factors such as motivational beliefs and emotions. Results from a qualitative study published in Medical Teacher found that internal motivation and expected examination results are important drivers of high academic performance.
Another study examined non-cognitive predictors of academic achievement, specifically examining variables for students’ mathematics achievement, based on large-scale international databases. Analyses of the results showed that a group of self-beliefs constructs,–self-efficacy, confidence and educational aspiration–were the “best predictors of individual-level student achievement in mathematics.” This review further supports the claim that students’ judgements about their own ability and future selves are particularly important for their academic achievement.
This is a powerful message to teachers as well: show that you believe in your students and they will perform better. Communicate positive expectations to students by using encouraging words. It is important to give every student, regardless of external circumstances, the opportunity to excel by giving each student the same encouragement and motivation.
We must be open at all times to any student working hard and achieving at high levels. You can be the person who helps someone else find their confidence and belief in themself, liberating their learning path. It may seem obvious that students achieve at higher levels when teachers believe in them, but the confidence and motivation found from believing in yourself really can change your whole trajectory and achievement.
Use self-affirmations to improve your academic self-concept and help you achieve peak academic performance!
How to practice affirmations:
If you’re interested in using affirmations for increasing motivation and confidence, the Selfpause app has a variety of academic affirmations ranging from semester endurance to test confidence. You can also use the app to write and record your own personal affirmations!
