The Self-Fufilling Prophecy

Growing up the son of a skilled all-around athlete, my father found it important to institutionalize sports at an early age. My first sport I started at the age of 5 was coach pitch soft toss hardball. Something that my father told me religiously before every at bat was to imagine what I was going to do the ball. I was not to think about how the ball could hit me or that I might swing and miss. By having an image of me hitting the ball, I was giving myself an advantage through the use of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course I did not know that at the time, but looking back, I can see how important it was for me to be reassured that I was going to get that hit. I may not have gotten a hit every time, however, I am sure there were more hits because of the confidence that was instilled prior to me even stepping into the box. The self-fulfilling prophecy can either make or break a person, not just in sports or school, but in day to day life as well. You cannot really control what others think of you. For this reason, it is important to convey a positive self-fulfilling prophecy. The text uses the lack of a teachers respect as a result of not doing well in a prior classes and using that as the existing excuse to fail the current class. If the self-fulfilling prophecy is used in a positive way then it is possible to overcome a previous experience with teachers that lack respect.