Self-fulfilling prophecies
The way we use language in sustainability and life in general is important as language reinforces the way we think and act, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Self-fulfilling prophecies have little to do with magic and a lot to do with the way our brains work.
If I, for example, say that it's hard for me to convince others of my ideas, it is likely that my actions will reflect that belief (I might be nervous when I share my ideas, and look insecure; I might not even try to convince others because I expect them not to be convinced; and so on). As a result, I don't convince others of my ideas. I self-fulfilled my prophecy.
If I "fail" at something, this usually reinforces my belief that I'm not good at that particular thing.
Last year, when I got rejected from TEDx, this is exactly what happened. When I received the dreaded "unfortunately..." email I thought my ideas were obviously not so original and not worth sharing. It knocked down my self-confidence so much so that I didn't tell almost anyone, I stopped doing videos on YouTube and created a lot less on social media.
This year, when the "unfortunately..." email came through, I decided to reframe my language around it.
I didn't fail. In fact, I succeeded.
- I succeeded at reaching the audition stage, which only 10% of applicants managed to do.
- I succeeded at condensing my message into a five-minute presentation (that's what I was asked to prepare for the TEDx auditions). Considering that I'm writing a 55,000-word book on how to communicate sustainability to co-create new futures, being able to condense my thoughts in five minutes was really a success.
- I succeeded at memorising my five-minute speech and delivering it quite well - as confirmed by one of the judges I spoke to afterwards. My ideas ARE worth sharing. They just didn't fit as well as others within the theme of this year's TEDx.
- While I was writing my five-minute speech I also had a massive illumination on the importance of our own mindset when communicating with others. Although I had written about it in my book, I realised I had to emphasise this principle a lot more if I wanted to truly make a difference. Success!
Now my self-fulfilling prophecy is that whatever I do, it will be a success because something good will always come out of it.
My invitation for you this week is to really pay attention to the language you use when, for instance, you describe sustainability to others.
Or when you talk about your own ability to do something. Or when you talk about your work.
What are the self-fulfilling prophecies you are initiating?
This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/