Self-fulfilling Prophecy: When What You Predict Comes True
Some call it the pygmalion effect, but most know it as self-fulfilling prophecy. Its origin comes from the ancient Greeks who made this reality in our lives known through the legend of Ovidio.
This legend is about a sculptor named Pygmalion who fell in love with one of his creations that he had named Galatea. His love was great, but blind. After all, he treated the sculpture as if it were a real woman.
The goddess Aphrodite became aware of the love Pygmalion felt for his creation, so she made it come to life. Everything that he had wanted so bad finally came to true.
Self-fulfilling prophecy in our daily life
What happens to someone who has a problem with jealousy? They watch their partner constantly, look for evidence of possible cheating and, because of that, end up finding exactly what they were afraid of.
It seems ironic to think that what we’re so afraid of can become reality. However, our actions function as if they were calling them to happen.
Without wanting to, a jealous person is looking for proof that doesn’t exist. However, if they continue doing this, they will end up with exactly what they were afraid of.
The same thing happens in other environments, like in school.
When a professor believes that a student is going to fail his course, they’re unconsciously believing it and acting in a way that will ensure that it becomes reality.
As we can see, the self-fulfilling prophecy is quite present in negative situations. However, the Pygmalion effect can be used in a positive way.
Just like what happened to Ovidio, believing that you will be successful on a project or saying that you will reach one of your dreams can lead you to achieving these things.
Nothing is impossible. However, our lives our often more governed by the negatives than by the positives. People tend to hold us back. That’s why the Pygmalion effect has many more negative examples than positive ones.
The Pygmalion effect and the law of attraction
In reality, we can compare this self-fulfilling prophecy to the law of attraction. Actually, by believing that we are attracting something, one day, without expecting it, it can become reality.
There is no magic involved. It’s not a matter of destiny, either. The answer can be found in our change of attitude.
For example, we don’t act the same around our partner when we trust them as compared to when we think they’re cheating on us with someone else.
Our actions carve out a path with an ending that we cannot avoid.
However, we often don’t pay attention to it. Because of that, we end up surprised with ourselves and the decisions we make about something that happened.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you attract the same types of people? You may believe that you have bad luck or that everyone around you is a bad person.
However, maybe you haven’t looked at yourself. Maybe you haven’t realized that you have a strong belief installed in the unconscious part of your brain that makes you think that everyone is a liar and is unfaithful.
Our thoughts and beliefs are very powerful. However, being conscious of this can work in our favor.
Live the life that you want
Thanks to self-fulfilling prophecy, you can live the life that you want to live. In fact, it can happen on different occasions that your thoughts are, in reality, the only things causing you pain.
Why not try the opposite? Yes, this requires a lot of strength on your end. Freeing yourself of negative thoughts and beliefs can be a very tiring job.
However, it’s worth it. Think about all of the negative things that you have attracted and just imagine how you could have turned it into something positive.
You have to change your beliefs, take on a new perspective and, above all else, believe in what you want. Believing in yourself is so important when working to fulfill your prophecy.
We are all the architects of our own lives.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Vargas Castro, D. A., & Castro, D. A. V. (2016). Profecía autocumplida o los dos tiempos de la verdad. Desde El Jardín de Freud. https://doi.org/10.15446/djf.n16.58154
- Porcar Raro, E., Gimeno Nácher, M. E., Balaguer Rodríguez, P., & Aledón Pitarch, B. (2013). El efecto Pigmalión, autoestima y rendimiento escolar. Fòrum de Recerca. https://doi.org/10.6035/ForumRecerca.2013.27
- García, V. J. (2015). El efecto Pigmalión y su efecto transformador a través de las expectativas. Textos y Contextos.
