The statement ‘fake it until you make it’ is contentious. With all the rhetoric about being your authentic self, it can seem to completely contradict any idea that you should pretend to be something, or someone, who you are not.
Let’s be clear: I never think you should deceive anyone or misrepresent yourself. With that said, the only way to get different results in your business and your life is to do something differently than you have done in the past. The results you have now are NOT based on the person you are today. They are based on the person you were yesterday, last quarter, and even last year. change who you are today to get the results you want tomorrow.
So, what do you want in your business? If it is something different than what you have now, then you must become the right person who takes the right action to get the right results. You have to be someone who you are currently not. You need to fake it until you make it.
Change can be aggressive and cataclysmic, but lasting change should be incremental. Paint a clear picture in your mind of what you need to do differently, then determine one small thing to change today. Pretend to be the type of person who does that thing, and eventually, with some patience and consistent practice, you will become the person you want to be. Those actions will become your habits.
Another way to think about this is in terms of an actor preparing for a movie role. If you want to be a kind, altruistic top producer, then ask yourself, “What does this type of person do to start their morning?” or “How would this person spend their afternoons?”. List of a few things this person would do and when you start your day tomorrow, act as if you were that person. Do it for a couple of hours. Then a half day. Then do it again and again. Soon, you will become the person you want to be.
‘Fake it until you make it’ is about taking your personal core values and merging them into the person you have the potential to be. Start acting like that person today and you will build the business and life you deserve.
