To sum up: All healthy people have self-doubt, but we late bloomers often have too much of it. We make our situation worse by adopting unhelpful coping mechanisms, such as self-handicapping, to protect our self-image. But these coping mechanisms only take us further away from blooming. Self-efficacy is what thriving late bloomers seek in order to convert self-doubt into a friend. Self-efficacy is our belief that we can accomplish a specific task with a reasonably positive attitude, make a plan based on facts, and bloom by cultivating self-talk, framing/reframing, and self-compassion. These
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