DBT Build Mastery: Strengthening Confidence With Small, Meaningful Steps
What Does Build Mastery Mean?
Life has knocked me down a few times.
Shown me things I don't want to see.
Shown me sadness & failure...
And one thing is for sure...
I always get up
This article explores the Build Mastery skill and how it can help you find your footing after a setback.
Has a life event or an illness ever thrown you off your life course? How has this affected your relationship with yourself or how you feel about yourself?
Did you find it challenging to muster up the emotional stability and strength to move forward after that major life change or setback?
Did you find the strength to climb back from that set-back, even if it permanently changed you in some way?
If you are challenged by a life change and feel stuck, depressed or afraid, a useful place to begin with is by asking yourself the question:
“Given my present circumstances, what would I like to become more capable of doing—and what is one step I can take from where I am today?”
Treat yourself with compassion.
Remember you probably have enough life experience and emotional intelligence that you have answered this question many times, in many different ways, across your lifespan. Think about when you were a student, when you worked full-time and commuted, when you became a parent...your circumstances changed and what you could realistically set as tasks and goals changed.
We're always growing and changing. Over our lifespan...our health, responsibilities, and resources change. Give yourself the grace of self-acceptance and acceptance of your present day capabilities and limitations.
Self-efficacy and self-esteem are not fixed feelings. You can influence your relationship with yourself by working towards a goal every day. And the goal should be suited to your current circumstances.
For example, if you have been depressed and going out of your home feels like a challenge, you might develop the goal of walking around your block. To you, at present, this seems like a far away goal. So you would break it down into smaller tasks, keeping a flexible timetable, such as:
opening the shades
opening the door
sitting on the front step
sitting on the front step again
taking a few steps away from your steps
walking 20 feet away
Be flexible within your current abilities, but challenge yourself at a reasonable pace, until you build up to walking around the block.
DBT Build Mastery is a life-affirming, practical skill that may resemble ways you’ve adapted and reorganized your life before.
DBT Build Mastery Skill
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based therapeutic model that teaches skills that help people manage their emotions and behaviors so they can lead lives worth living.
Build Mastery is one of the positive DBT skills that helps strengthen self-esteem and self-efficacy over time.
Have you ever felt that particular feeling of accomplishment when doing something you were once unsure you could do? Or that good feeling you get when you check a task off of your "To Do" list? We develop confidence and feelings of self-efficacy and self-esteem from learning new things and doing.
Build Mastery - Strengthen Feelings of Self-Efficacy and Self-Esteem with Small Successes
The basic idea of the DBT Build Mastery skill is to practice something each day that gives you a sense of accomplishment—something achievable, but challenging enough to stretch your current abilities.
When you accomplish something, your self-efficacy may increase because you gain evidence that you are capable. Over time, repeated experiences of competence can also strengthen self-esteem. Likewise, healthy self-esteem can make you more willing to attempt challenges, which creates more opportunities to build self-efficacy.
You may find it meaningful to connect your daily Build Mastery tasks with a larger goal—something you’re curious about, passionate about, or have wanted to try for a long time.
You can then develop a reasonable plan towards your goal and achieve smaller tasks everyday towards the achievement of your larger project.
For example, a larger goal might be:
learning how to make a cassoulet
learning how to identify backyard birds
learning how to crochet
take voice lessons
learning how to plant an herb garden
writing a book
working toward admission to community college
taking a course toward becoming an electrician
learning age appropriate weight lifting
becoming a yoga teacher
learning to groom a horse
learning how to horseback-ride
becoming a pilates teacher
learning how to swim
learning embroidery
planning a trip to the ocean
learning how to use a hammer or drill
train to walk/run a 5K
plan to learn 3 new trails in parks nearby in three months
learn a foreign language
learn how to sew a dress from a pattern
The heart of Build Mastery is to have something every day you can look forward to achieving and that is within your scope of capabilities that will give you a sense of accomplishment. This helps strengthen your self concept.
Clinical Thoughts
Your self concepts of self-efficacy and self-esteem are not permanent. You can positively impact your relationship to yourself and strengthen your feelings of self-efficacy and self-esteem.
One caveat: Take care to note that your inherent self-worth does not depend on what you do or what you accomplish.
You are more than what you do or accomplish.
Remember to celebrate all your small victories and also to be kind to yourself.
