"Self-Fulfilling Prophecy"

Do you know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is? Most people know that a self-fulfilling prophecy is an event that, because it is predicted and expected, is therefore more likely to happen, and even caused to happen.

For example, according to Success magazine, two different groups of psychologists were once asked to observe the same child playing. One group was told beforehand that the child was emotionally disturbed. The other group was told that the child was a genius. When the psychologists were asked to report on their observations afterward, each group had found evidence to support their preconceived ideas.

Now, it's important to realize that self-fulfilling prophecies are everyday experiences -not just laboratory experiments. What do you expect your day to be like when you get up in the morning? How do you expect your kids to behave? How much success do you expect for yourself?

You see, if you predict failure, failure is generally what you will find.
And if you expect excellence, excellence is very likely what you will get.
How we think about a situation determines how we act, and how we act, more than anything else, determines the results.

That is how self-fulfilling prophecies work. There's nothing magical about it. What you get in life is pretty much how you behave, coming back at you.
To me, it makes perfect sense. What do you think?

Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute