What if I told you the key to life is to “Fake it ‘till you make it?”

You’ve heard that before, right?

Well, while you want to always ensure every decision you make is based on reality, you can at least give this idea some thought each time you have a decision to make.

Ask yourself, 

“How would someone with a thriving business, or a written book, (add your goal) do this?” 

Then, when you get the answer, figure out how you can do it within your means.

Scientists have discovered that the idea of pretending you’re already successful at something works. For example:

  • Smiling – Studies have shown that if you make yourself smile anytime you are feeling down, you will lift your mood. It will actually be improved; it’s not just pretend anymore. It’s pretend when you first start, but then it ends up being real. This is the reason many phone sales professionals have mirrors to look at during calls. They are told to smile at themselves so that happy voice carries through the phone. It works. Try it!
  • Posture – Studies show that your posture can make or break you when you’re in a room full of people that you need to network with or convince of something – such as a presentation for a loan. If you go in with confidence not afraid to take up space, shake hands with vigor, and speak and answer questions with confidence, you will be more likely to succeed even if it was all pretend. It’s okay if it’s pretend confidence.
  • Dressing the Part – You’ve been told this for sure about job interviews. That you want to dress a little above the job you’re shooting for, but you don’t want to make your interviewer uncomfortable lest you scare them away from hiring you due to your overconfident nature. This type of thing can flow over to, for example, webinars. If you’re going to do a webinar, get out of the leggings and sweatshirt into something still genuinely you but that exudes confidence to your audience.
  • Habit Building – One thing we know about habit building for sure is that you can trick your mind into believing things before it’s true. For example, if you are trying to build a healthy habit of walking briskly daily and not smoking, just start saying “I’m a non-smoker.” If someone asks, “Do you smoke?” The answer is “No” even if you snuck a cigarette in the bathroom before you were asked. Because eventually, it will be correct especially once you tell the first lie. Most people don’t want to lie, so they’ll become non-smokers fast.

So, the next time a financial decision comes up, or a opportunity presents itself that will build your idea, ask yourself – 

‘What would so and so, who has done what I want to do, do?’

Then make a list of the things they’d do and identify the things you can do now from that list. 

“When you step up and do the thing you can do, God opens the door to the next thing you couldn’t do and ushers you through”

~ Dany