The Power of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

[charlie1979]

The power of self-fulfilling prophecies are a very real, clinically proven thing.

But here's the twist, as far as I can tell they only work in the negative i.e. we can very easily make the negative things we believe, become real. But we cannot simply believe in positive things for them to become real. That requires a lot more than just belief.

I think I'm going to call this one Charlie's law: "Its very easy to make a *negative* prophecy fulfil itself, but insurmountably hard to make a *positive* one do the same."

Which of the bad things in your life might have been your own negative self-fulfilling prophecies? I think never getting married was one of mine...

More importantly, I'd love to hear stories of anyone who has managed to realise positive self fulfilling prophecies in their lives....

Anyone??

 

[may71]

we can very easily make the negative things we believe, become real. But we cannot simply believe in positive things for them to become real. That requires a lot more than just belief.

That's true, but achieving anything requires a certain amount of optimism. It's not the only ingredient, but it's also essential.

 

[charlie1979]

Hi May,

Thanks for the reply and yes I don't dispute for a moment that positivity is essential for success, it just seems to me that positivity needs additional elements such as hard work, determination, or tenacity to manifest results - whereas negativity in and of itself seems to be perfectly capable of manifesting all sorts of negative things. Or is it only like that in my miserable plane of existence?? :rolleyes:

Cheers
Charlie

 

[may71]

Hi Charlie,

You're welcome! I think you're right. It's harder to create than to destroy.

Still, if you have a lot of enthusiasm for something positive, that can really make it a lot easier to work at it.

 

[BlueGreen]

The power of self-fulfilling prophecies are a very real, clinically proven thing.

But here's the twist, as far as I can tell they only work in the negative i.e. we can very easily make the negative things we believe, become real. But we cannot simply believe in positive things for them to become real. That requires a lot more than just belief.

I think I'm going to call this one Charlie's law: "Its very easy to make a *negative* prophecy fulfil itself, but insurmountably hard to make a *positive* one do the same."

Which of the bad things in your life might have been your own negative self-fulfilling prophecies? I think never getting married was one of mine...

More importantly, I'd love to hear stories of anyone who has managed to realise positive self fulfilling prophecies in their lives....

Anyone??

That's an interesting question. One of my sons has a very negative mindset and I just know things are going to go wrong for him because it's like he wills them to happen. I don't know if it overlaps with superstition but I believe myself to be lucky and generally I am. When my sons talks of things to go wrong I just blank them from my mind because I think if I indulge them it tempts fate. When I was in my 20's all I wanted was to give up work and go travelling and that is basically what happened by a twist of fate. Is it that it was my destiny and I knew/felt it or was it a self fullfilling prophecy? I don't know. It's very easy to make negative things happen by sabotaging events but for me anyway, the trick is to not let that negative imagery play out in my head, to believe it will sort itself out or play out positively even if it takes time.

 

[MusicMoggy]

Yeah, pretty thought provoking. I'd say if you're generally prone to negative thinking, it's gonna be hard to think positive and vice versa. So, not convinced either is harder than the other.