Self-fulfilled

There is a very well known psychological theory called the "self-fulfilling prophecy". An over-simplified example of this theory is that if you think you are going to do poorly on an exam or in a sporting event, you will. The basic concept is that if you have an attitude or believe something about yourself, it will come true because you will either subconsciously or consciously take actions to make it come true.

For the most part, this theory refers to personal/inner thoughts and feelings fulfilling themselves in an outward manner...but I've recently noticed that this phenomenon can be more powerful if your self-related thoughts are made public. If you write something down, post something to the internet or tell a friend, I think your chances of self-fulfilling are much higher. Once you've consciously recognized that thought, or even shared it with others, your subconscious desire to fulfill it skyrockets.


I've noticed this even in myself. There is a section on Facebook located right underneath your profile picture that asks you to, very simply, "write something about yourself". This box is big enough only to host a sentence or two, so I felt that if I was going to write only one sentence about myself, it better be something good. I noticed that some of my friends had written things about their families, jobs, hobbies or quotes from famous people. So I did some thinking and web browsing to find something clever to "write about myself". Finally I decided on a quote I found that says, "I say luck is when an opportunity comes along, and you're prepared for it."


I've never said that quote aloud and I don't know if anyone has ever even read it in on my Facebook page...but ever since I put that "personal thought" about myself in a public place, I've noticed that more of my actions lead me towards fulfilling it. Because I chose to publicly associate that quote with my personal characteristics, I think that the self-fulfilling prophecy kicked into turbo-mode because if I didn't self-fulfill, I wouldn't be the only person to realize my "failure".

There you have it; my belief about the self-fulfilling prophecy: If you publicly announce something about yourself, your rate of self-fulfilling that sentiment is higher than if you were to keep it to yourself. Take it or leave it.