How Can Self-fulfilling Prophecies Affect Us? 5 Ways To Deal With Them
What does the term ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ mean? How can we deal with these negative beliefs that we may experience in our daily lives? Find out how to deal with them.
Have you ever felt that what you think about yourself ends up being reality? This phenomenon is known as self-fulfilling prophecy and implies that the expectations or beliefs we have about ourselves can end up influencing how we behave or act in certain situations.
The main idea behind the concept of Self-fulfilling prophecies imply that a belief about what will happen will make it more likely that things will ultimately have the outcome you expect. But why does it happen and how can we use it to our advantage?
The self-fulfilling prophecies They occur when we have a prediction that ends up coming true. This means that if we believe something is reality, we will act to make it happen in this specific way. Therefore, it implies a kind of vicious circle that ends up affecting us in many ways.
One of the examples of a self-fulfilling prophecy It is when a person feels that they will have a bad day, which ends up making us act negatively around everything that happens, implying that we focus on it and our feeling ends up coming true.
The term ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ It originated in social psychology and refers to how our expectations can end up affecting our behavior. That is, these predictions about what will happen can become true since the person ends up acting in a way that ends up alienating them from these beliefs.
There are some key signs that we could be influenced by beliefs of a self-fulfilling prophecy In many cases, this can lead to the following attitudes or behaviors:
Pessimistic predictions: Self-fulfilling prophecies are often linked to pessimistic beliefs about ourselves. This means ending up focusing on the negative of certain situations or our abilities.
Think about bad experiences from the past: Another behavior that may imply that a person is experiencing a self-fulfilling prophecy is constantly thinking or reflecting on negative events that happened in our past.
Focus on the negative: When we are following a self-fulfilling prophecy, in many cases we focus on the negative of a situation.
Believing that your predictions are inevitable: People who fall into the beliefs of self-fulfilling prophecies tend to think that what they have predicted in a negative way is inevitable, that is, whatever they do will happen.
We must take into account that self-fulfilling prophecies do not always have to be negative s. Sometimes these beliefs can be positive and inspire us to be more successful in certain situations. But, when they are negative, it is important to work to change this internal speech because of everything it can cause.
How to avoid negative self-fulfilling prophecies?
As we have indicated, self-fulfilling prophecies They don’t have to be negative. Therefore, people can try to take control of their thoughts and actions by taking into account the following aspects:
Be more aware of our thoughts and beliefs: Understanding our thoughts, and above all, beginning to become aware of our internal speech, can help us stop having negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Instead of reinforcing negative thoughts or beliefs about yourself, try to reason with these ideas and replace them with more positive ones. One way to achieve this is by writing down the thoughts that are most repeated inside you. By seeing them reflected in a journal, you can understand why they arise and reason with them so that they stop affecting you.
Use positive affirmations: If you are about to face a challenge that causes you some discomfort because you are leaving your comfort zone, you can help yourself with positive affirmations to remedy negative beliefs linked to a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, telling you phrases like ‘I’ll be fine‘ either ‘everything will be fine‘, repeated internally, can help you deal with negative feelings about an important event.
Count it: If you feel insecure in a specific situation, a good way to deal with these thoughts or feelings is to support yourself with those closest to you. Telling your emotions to trusted people will help you understand the irrationality or erroneous beliefs you have about yourself, something that will free you in many cases from behaving based on a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Start being kinder to yourself: In many cases, people tend to treat themselves unkindly. Instead, one way to avoid negative self-fulfilling prophecies is precisely by treating each other as if we were a good friend. If you think of yourself as a very close friend, it is inevitable that you will stop speaking to you in a disrespectful or very critical way.
Go to therapy: If you feel that your self-fulfilling prophecies are affecting you in many ways and above all you believe that they may be related to low self-esteem, it is important that you start taking action by going to a psychology professional. In therapy, you can work on your self-esteem and negative beliefs, helping you overcome these feelings.
These are some of the ways you can deal with self-fulfilling prophecies By focusing on these types of thoughts, people can end up focusing on the positive instead of the negative, which will allow us to believe more in our abilities and focus on growing instead of limiting them.
