You Become What You Think

Have you ever been put off starting a new type of exercise or sport because that voice in your head was telling you ‘you can’t do it, you’re not good enough, you’re not fit enough, you’re not a sporty person?’

What was the result? Presumably, you didn’t start the new fitness class, you didn’t put yourself forward for the football team or you decided not to start running because you thought you weren’t fit enough or sporty enough.

What about if we changed those thoughts to ‘I know I can do this fitness class, why don’t I put myself forward for the football team — at least I’ll stand a chance. And, I can learn to become sportier if I practise. Then, when you have succeeded, it has confirmed your beliefs all along? “I knew I could do this, it was such a good idea. I am a sporty person after all!”

This may seem like an ability to predict your future. Unfortunately, it is not!

So what is it then? This is what psychologists call ‘self-fulfilling prophecies’. These expectations and beliefs that we set for ourselves actually affect our behaviour at a subconscious level; which means we may not even be aware that it is happening.

Let’s say two people are matched on a number of variables. They have exactly the same fitness levels, age, weight, height, experience and sign up for their first 5 km race. Person A is really confident , has a positive mindset and believes that they finish the race within their target time.

Person B, on the other hand is worrying that they may not be able to finish in their target time, that they may get injured or that they haven’t trained enough. They do not feel very confident and feel like they will mess up.

Who do you think will run the best race?

Clearly, Person A’s expectations will positively influence their behaviour for the race. It is likely that they will be more focussed, try harder to finish in their target time, use their training to help them through the race and focus on the finish line. In turn, this leads to a successful and enjoyable race.

On the other hand, Person B, is more likely to worry, have negative self-talk if there are unforeseen challenges, worry that they might get injured and worry that they may not be able to finish in their target time. So, if they fall behind slightly in the race, they are more likely to think that they can’t do it. This in turn leads to a poor performance, and a performance which was riddled with worry and anxiety, rather than being enjoyable. Two examples of two different self-fulfilling prophecies; one we label ourselves as being ‘fit and capable’ and the other we label ourselves as ‘unfit and rubbish’.

Self-fulfilling prophecies exist with all people and all situations. We label ourselves and others intentionally or unintentionally and then live up to these expectations.

Where is the evidence?

A classic study that demonstrates examples of ‘self-fulfilling prophecies’ was carried out by Rosenthal and Jacobson in the 1960s. Rosenthal & Jacobson argued that expectations can influence behaviours. In their classic study, it was predicted that teacher’s expectations of children in the classroom could influence their achievements and performance. Children were randomly assigned to teaching groups. Teachers of those assigned to the ‘bloomer’ groups were told that these children were expected to be ‘intellectual bloomers’ and do better than their classmates in relation to achievement and IQ tests.

They found that the those in the ‘bloomer’ groups showed statistically significant gains in IQ test and achievement. The teacher’s high expectations had led to them setting more challenging tasks, providing more support and praise and believing in those children more. Therefore, they concluded that teacher expectations can positively influence student achievement even in the youngest children. Furthermore, the attitude of the teacher and the mood could also impact on the students and their ability to believe expectations.

It is true, “you become what you think about most of the time”. Even more importantly, your subconscious mind is influenced even more by what you say to yourself out loud.

So, how can we apply this to different situations; sporting performance, employee achievement, successful management?

1) It is important to remember WE can CONTROL our thoughts and our behaviours. By adopting more positive thoughts, beliefs and expectations we CAN have more positive outcomes.

2) By adopting positive self-talk and affirmations out aloud in the morning and at night; it helps our subconscious to focus on the positive thoughts.

3) With yourself and children it is better to live up to high expectations. There is more chance of achieving them.

4) Work to develop a ‘growth mindset’. The thinking that you can do anything, as long as you devote the proper amount of effort and time effectively. Performance is not limited by your abilities and potential is not pre-determined — it can adapt, it is flexible. As soon as this mindset is adopted, you will have higher expectations of yourself and this WILL result in increased performance.

And one final note “ If we realised how powerful are thoughts are, we would never think a negative thought again.’

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