I first learned the concept of the self fulfilling prophecy in college. I believe it was during an Intro to Teaching course. Back when I thought I wanted to be a junior high teacher.

Self-fulfilling prophecy is a term coined by Robert Merton in 1948 to describe “a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true”(Bearman, Peter & Headstrom, Peter, pp 294-314). My own definition and explanation of a self-fulfilling prophecy can be summed up with the modern adage,

“Fake it,until you make it.”

I seriously must be the only person who just can’t figure out exactly what I want to be when I grow up (Mind you I’m about to turn 35 and I should have my sh** figured out by now). I just haven’t been able to commit to any one thing. Partly because I am interested in several fields of work.

Here’s a list of all of all the things I’ve said I wanted to be “when I grow up”:

Writer/News Reporter/Journalist,Junior High Reading Teacher,Counselor/Life Coach/Mental Health Specialist, Psychologist,Published Author (Genre: Children’s),Post-Secondary Educator:(Sociology)(Chicano/Ethnic Studies),Small Business Owner,Establishing a Private School,Literature or Language Arts Teacher.

Now that I AM grown up, my ambitions seem to be compounding in grandiosity . What I mean is…instead of being more practical, my ambitions seem to be growing and evolving into what seems to be an unobtainable dream. And they aren’t slowing down or diminishing in area.

My revised list of what I want to be when I grow up has changed. My new list includes:

Magazine Creator, Blogger, Social Media Marketer/Content Marketer, Philanthropist, Newspaper Creator, 🎥 Film/Video/Documentary Maker, Marketing Manager.

The only conclusion that I can come to is that no matter which road I choose, I will be doing exactly what I am meant to be doing. And that is storytelling. Therefore I do hereby declare myself a storyteller with the potential to become a Master Storyteller.

My personal self fulfilling prophecy is that I will become a Master Storyteller. It will seem effortless only because it is MY calling. I am ready to map out some of my goals and create a new ten year goal sheet for my fabulous future. I am ready for my masterpiece manifestation in the art of storytelling.

What are some of your grandiose dreams and ambitions? Better yet what do you want to be when YOU grow up? Or have you already been fortunate to land your dream job?

Whether you have your dream job or not, why not set some self-fulfilling prophecies for yourself? They can be personal, professional, educational, or for any other areas of your life. Please share some of them with me in the comments section.

Let me leave you with a famous quote that I love by the Victorian novelist, George Eliot:

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

–George Elliot

Now go out and conquer the world my friends.

To contact me:

dstatam63@bethelu.edu

candidchicana@gmail.com

My Image: Deanna Guadalupe Montalvo

Works Cited:

(Fake it) Unknown author

George Eliot. (n.d.) BrainyQuote.com Retrieved December 4, 2016, from BrainyQuote.com website: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgee

The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology, ed. Peter Bearman and Peter Headstrom, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp294-314.