Fortune telling
This is not a diagnosis or a personality trait. If you recognise yourself here, it is an invitation to gently check for other explanations rather than to label yourself.
What it is
An unfavourable outcome is treated as already known even though the situation has not yet unfolded.
How it arises and is maintained
Predicting the worst is an ancient protective strategy: better to err on the dark side than to be caught off guard. The distortion arises when the forecast feels like a fact rather than one of several possibilities. It is sustained by intolerance of uncertainty and by past experience where an unexpected painful event taught the lesson «be ready for the worst».
How it may sound
- «I will definitely lose my words in the interview.»
- «The conversation will change nothing, so there is no point starting it.»
Soft signs in yourself
- Phrases like «I definitely», «it will for sure», «nothing will come of it» appear often.
- The decision not to start is made in advance, before any experience.
- Doubts are read as proof of a bad outcome.
- After a «failed» forecast, you do not check what would actually have happened.
Questions for a Socratic dialogue
- What is this forecast based on, apart from anxiety?
- How many times have similar forecasts not come true?
- What outcomes, other than the worst, remain possible?
- What small step could test the forecast without risking everything at once?
Self-directed exercise
Turn the forecast into a hypothesis
- Write the forecast in the form «it will definitely happen…».
- Estimate its probability from 0 to 100% and justify the number.
- Write 2–3 alternative outcomes and their probability.
- Pick a small action that tests the forecast, and notice the result.
Core beliefs it may be linked to
- ««The future is already decided; I will just learn it later».»
- ««If I expect the worst, it will not catch me off guard».»
- ««Uncertainty is more dangerous than a bad outcome».»
- ««My forecasts are reality».»