Fake It ‘Til You Make It

Many times at the beginning of my coaching sessions, I meet resistance. I have clients tell me that I seem to have it all together and they just can’t imagine doing what I do. Let me set the record straight right now: I struggle too! Sometimes you have to fake it.

I’ve faced a lot of big mountains lately, and I have felt overwhelmed. So my new mantra is, “I can do hard things!” It might seem simple, but it’s true. I can do hard things. And so can you. Want to know how?

The phrase “fake it ‘til you make it” gets thrown around a lot, but what does it really mean? It’s more than just thinking positively and hoping for good outcomes. When I say “fake it,” I mean it: literally transform yourself.

Imagining A New You

We use this phrase a lot when talking about career and professional goals, but it really applies across the full spectrum of human experience. Say you want to pay off your debts. The best way to do that is to pretend that you’re debt-free already.

Imagine what it would be like not to have to worry about those debts. Imagine how you would behave and what your spending habits would look like. Does someone who is debt-free and wants to stay that way use credit cards for everything? No!

Make sure you’re budgeting well and using cash or debit cards only. Before you know it, you won’t be imagining being out of debt anymore—you’ll be there!

What if you’re not great at giving presentations? Or the idea of cold-calling makes you want to be sick? Fake it ’til you make it.

Pretend you’re the kind of salesperson who runs dazzling meetings and closes business every single day. Put yourself in the shoes of a top producer, and watch yourself become one.

Drill It

Practice makes perfect, right? Therefore, these are the sorts of things we should be practicing every day.

Sometimes there is no other way to get around a hurdle. Fake it ’til you make it. Pretend that you know how to do something better than you do because you’re not good at it—yet.

Try it once. Yes, your palms are going to sweat, and you’re going to be nervous. And then guess what? It’s not going to be as bad as you thought.

The next time will be even less awful. Talk the talk until you’re ready to walk the walk.

Pretending that you’re good at something you haven’t mastered yet may feel strange, but if you commit to it, it won’t look that way. It will look like confidence.

And it’s been proven that confidence attracts people. If the only way you can portray the confidence necessary to get something done is by pretending to be someone who is more confident, then go for it!

Walk a mile in this confident, successful stranger’s shoes. They might be a bit uncomfortable at first, but you’ll find that eventually, they mold to you. You might even be surprised to find they fit better than you expected.

We all struggle. We all have fears that cause up to build things up and make them un-slayable dragons in our minds. We put ourselves in the position of being a timid, small thing that can’t stand up against challenges.

But no one is going to do this for you. If you want to get past your fears, you need to imagine a new way. Once you do, you’re going to be a much better, happier version of yourself.

Until next time—go sell some stuff!