Fake It Til You Make It?

Personally, I have never believed in this concept. I always prefer transparency. The worst thing about choosing the path of fake is that it deteriorates our habit.

Another way of looking at it is to "Act as if." I think this is an empowering mindset.

I've never been good at 'faking' anything. I prefer to just lay it all out there. However, in self-improvement...I do believe in "what you think about you bring about" and therefore my thoughts are towards success and happiness...financial freedom and being a stay-at-home mom again. As for testimonials, product endorsements, income proof...I always leaned on others and share their story/testimonial. And, when asked, I would say exactly how much I earned...LOL... got a question PM'd to me here the other day and I was completely transparent about my earnings...as well as my goals for my future....

but that is just me I guess... I pay NO attention to (un)reality shows, Dr. Phil or anything like that. So, maybe I am a bit behind the "times".

Just be you...because you have everything within you to be everything you were destined to be. That's my motto!

I love the term - fake it til you make it. I use it all the time - I apply it to myself when I'm working as well.

I think it depends on what you're using it for. There's a difference between being FAKE and faking it.

Example - I'm in a crappy mood. I'm going to just "pretend" I'm in a good mood, and put a smile on my face - EVENTUALLY I'm going to flow in that direction naturally - cause I'm going to fake that smile I'll it's real - eventually, it is real.

When I know I have to take some calls for work - many times I just don't want to!!! But, I put my smile on (cause I believe even over the phone, people can feel it) and I play my happy self until it's authentic - and it normally doesn't take long.

"Fake" implies that there is no inherent reality in what we want to manifest - but it already is a reality. Maybe not on this plane but whenever something is a "mental construct" it is a reality and destined to manifest.

"Living with the end in mind" is the ultimate "fake it 'till you make it" & is the only way we can manifest real change. Reality Creators are very good liars because they don't talk about "What is" or even "What has been" like most people do & even justify it, they talk about "What could be" and how "What could be" is in the process of becoming. And so it is.

Who got us convinced that we must tell it like it is? There is no creative reason in that because THERE IS NO CREATIVE REASON IN THAT...telling it like it is doesn't create - it's simply regurgitation.
Look at children: they always 'act as if' and the universe responds to that vibration. It doesn't care whether someone is living it or imagining it - it just responds to the offering.
What happens in "faking" is that we fool ourselves into not believing what could be believed and then act as if - that comes out screwy...but once you're feeling a reality - you're living it.

I've never faked anything until I made it. I've always been it before I became it - that's how I created every magnificent thing in my life Creation is about discovering what we have already created <3

Well perhaps it can work, like a pessimist should learn how to pretend to be an optimist until that is how he or she is naturally, an optimist? Very difficult to do but with practice like anything else, it can be done... especially if the pessimist realizes that the reason that life "sucks" is because of his or her own outlook and needs to change things in order for life not to "suck"...and is willing to do everything in his or her power to change that.

I recently traveled to Florida to spend a few days interviewing a group of clients who own several drug addiction rehabilitation centers. "Fake it 'til you make it" is a large part of their philosophies and I saw first hand among patients how this was applied.

The idea was that even though they may have only cleaned up two days ago, they should act as if they have been clean forever and will be clean forever. This is the same principle in practice as mentioned so poignantly by Jonathan about "Act as if."

If you act successful, you are more likely to become successful. It's the same idea as the ancient Greek and Roman strategy of telling students they were masters of one art or another, and in believing their instructors the students quickly became masters.

So yes, acting successful is a great way to achieve success. The only problem with this is that the internet allows people to hide behind a screen and pretend to be whomever they want to be.

For instance, I can't tell you the amount of times I've taken on a new client who had a nice website, acted like a professional and claimed to be in business for a long time. They engage my services claiming they'll be sending tons of business my way, but after a short time I discover it's really just some kid living in his parent's basement and pushing the term "fake it 'til you make it" to its limits. Next thing I know, they can't afford any more work and they want to do a JV where I provide work for free and they "build something" with it. Yeah right.

When you've been in this business for a while, you can smell someone who is faking it even behind all of this cyber anonymity. I'm certain the more experienced IMs here will agree that it's pretty easy to differentiate between who is "acting successful" and who is "faking it."

I agree that this is still a viable concept today and will be in the future. Mindset is very important in everything we do. Some of you may have heard the term "think yourself thin". It's the same idea. If you sit around eating ice cream and Doritos while WISHING you were thin - it's obviously not going to work. However, if you think like a thin person - ex. you think, "Would a thin person sit down and eat this banana split after dinner or would he go for a walk?" If you go for the walk, because you are thinking like a thin person - it will work! So, as Jonathon stated, "acting as if" is probably the best way to interpret the phrase.

I agree that it is not working nowadays,
Absolutely Not

.
The problem with that concept today is that the way it has
a) Been taught
b) Perceived in how it was taught

is that a subculture of "marketers" has emerged that have zero experience, results or credentials to back up the facade they are cultivating.

There is an old adage in the personal development realm which says:
"Be > Do > Have"

The principle concept was that you had to BE in your mind, what you wanted to become. Then DO the actions to get there and finally HAVE the "X" element of that goal.

Fake it till you make it has predominantly become a distorted version of that mindset.

Authenticity will always trump inexperience.
If you come to the game with zeal and dedication and focus on cultivating your position in the marketplace as someone your audience can trust, learn from and grow with, then you will find success.

There's no need to "fake it" in today's shift economy.
People are looking for that "authentic" experience. Give it to them.

Cheers!
~RB
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I too believe it is meant to be a loose interpretation, not literal. That said, in the beginning days of my business, I knew I was faking quite a bit. But it was not intentional. It was called survival.

Fake it till you make it does not mean you have to lie. It's positive thinking and positive acting. Act like the person you want to be, and you will be that person.

This pretty much sums up what I always thought of the phrase. I don't believe it was ever intended by the self improvement or positive thinking gurus, that I ever chose to consider, to be used as or intended to be deceiving or untruthful.

That would be the antitheses of the whole reason for self improvement.

Old Dog

If you have dream and ambition you need to work in order to achieve it.

I think the whole fake it tell you make it is a poor way of saying "If you don't put yourself down to start, then people will assume you know what you are doing"

I've used fake it until you make it as a tool to get out of bed and go to work in a job I hated (years ago). It really helped to understand within myself that although I didn't want to be there, I could act as if I did. That type of thinking really helped me get through a bad situation until I found a better work environment.

I don't think that saying means to lie to anyone, including yourself. It's just a way to get yourself motivated to do what you don't really want to do.

Being honest I thought it was complete CRAP.

But it was the only reason I am still sober today...I had no concept of a recover program, nor at the time want one.

But I faked it and made it. No joke.

I think it depends on what you are up?

If you fake it can you get away with it or will it be a reference point for others in future?

Fake it at your own risk.

"dress in a colonels uniform" and you get called sir. What movie was that from? i.e you first have to look and act the part.

Fake til lyou make it..doesn't that imply fraud? Pretend to be something you are not until you get there? I know many did (are doing it..) Or is it meant some other way?

personally i seem to be crap at faking it cos i put a high value on authenticity and integrity

i do prefer the term 'Act as if'

i think its difficult for those of us who are intrinsically wired to self doubt as in Steven Reiss High Acceptance motivation
(see the 16 basic desires that motivate our actions)

to 'fake it' or 'bluff it'

altho i can see that in a dating scenario
confidence is far more attractive than lack of confidence


the difficulty with self doubt is that we tend to under promise and over deliver
which means we are not great at selling ourselves

but at least we dont promise what we cant come thru on

IMO there is more call for a person to 'fake it 'til they make it' now than ever before!

(ie - believe they are who they aspire to be)

People ARE down about their lives, and with good reason - there have been some really harsh blows out there in recent years.

Anything that can motivate a person to believe in themselves again is OK by me.