Self Fulfilling Prophecy
Posted on December 31, 2014
Are you in charge of your life?
Before we discuss how this attitude can either help you to achieve your goals or throw you off track, it is important to know exactly what we mean by self-fulfilling prophecy. Businessdictionary.com defines it as:
Any positive or negative expectation about circumstances, events, or people that may affect a person’s behavior toward them in a manner that causes those expectations to be fulfilled.
The term “self-fulfilling prophecy” was coined by Robert Merton in 1948. He described it as: “A false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true.”
Now let’s turn our attention to how this self fulfilling prophecy works:
The definition basically says that self-fulfilling prophecies are beliefs that comes true because a person is already acting as if it they have already achieved the goal; as if it is already true. If you read The Secret, Rhonda Byrne (20016), you may be familiar with the concept. Because we are acting in alignment with our expectation [either positive or negative] our behavior changes; our behavior change then has an impact on how others see us. In response, others give us the feedback that reinforces our original belief.
Here is an example: If you get up on a Monday morning and say to yourself this is going to be a productive day! Your behavior will reflect a high level of productivity. Others around you will notice and provide you with feedback; “Wow, what was in your coffee this morning – you are on fire!” This reinforces your behavior and the self-fulfilling prophecy comes true. The opposite can also be true. You wake up Monday morning and say “I hate Mondays.” Your behavior will reflect this attitude/belief. Others will see your behavior and reinforce it; “I know, I hate Mondays too. It is all I can do to make it through the day!”
The two examples given reflect the power of our personal self-talk. Louise Hay, the author of the international bestseller You Can Heal Your Life, is a metaphysical lecturer and teacher with more than 50 million books sold worldwide. For more than 30 years, she has helped people throughout the world discover and implement the full potential of their own creative powers for personal growth and self-healing. She has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and many other TV and radio programs both in the U.S. and abroad. In her books Hay recommends creating a daily affirmation.
“An affirmation is a positive statement you say or think about yourself. Saying daily affirmations helps reprogram our negative self-talk so we can manifest more positive thinking, feeling and experiences in our lives. Use these powerful affirmations by Hay House authors to enhance your life today!”
You can create your own or modify an existing one to focus on your goal(s). Staying with the example of Monday mornings; an affirmation may be: I am consistently very positive at home, at work and at play. I control my self talk and radiate this attitude to others around me.
Here are some more sample affirmations from
Every day in every way I am getting healthier and healthier and feeling better and better.
I am full of energy and vitality and my mind is calm and peaceful.
I avoid junk food. I eat healthy, nutritious food that benefits my body and large quantity of water that cleanses my body.
To me, good health is next only to Godliness. I am in possession of a healthy mind and a healthy body.
I breathe deeply, exercise regularly and feed only good nutritious food to my body.
I think only positive thoughts and am always happy and joyous, no matter what the external conditions are.
Have some fun and take my quick weekly quiz and claim your reward. Act now before they are all gone!
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Read more:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/self-fulfilling-prophecy.html#ixzz3KrY19xsI
http://literarydevices.net/self-fulfilling-prophecy/
http://www.healyourlife.com/daily-affimations
http://www.self-help-and-self-development.com/health-affirmations
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