Belief: The Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Do you ever catch yourself saying things like, “Nothing ever goes right for me?” If so, pay close attention to today’s subject matter.

Do you think that nothing ever goes right for you? Do you believe that you are just an unlucky person? That no matter what you do, you will probably fail? Well, you are right, but not for the reason you think. We’ve been talking about beliefs for a while now. You have probably surmised that each one of us has a set of beliefs, and we act in accordance with those beliefs.

Now, perhaps you had a few setbacks that you were taught to interpret as failures. Next thing you know, you have a belief about yourself that says, “I just can’t succeed, no matter what.”

Then, in order to make life match up with your belief (which is important for your personal sanity – it’s how your mind works), you begin to act in ways that reinforce your belief. You may even unconsciously sabotage things, so that you will fail. But you will be acting like you know yourself to be, which is what all of us do. You create what is called a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So, if you want to change your life, what you need to do is first change your beliefs. And yes, this is possible. Anything that was learned – and our beliefs are learned – can be unlearned. Then, you will continue to act like yourself, but you will see yourself differently, so your behavior will be different. And when you change your behavior, you change the results.

“Change the way you think, and you change the way you run your life,” said Lou Tice, and he was not wrong.