Fake it till you make it!!

“You must be the person you have never had the courage to be. Gradually, you will discover that you are that person, but until you can see this clearly, you must pretend and invent.” - Paulo Coelho.

In simple terms, the above quote means why not fake it till you make it? Our minds can be tricked and trained to believe or to disbelieve and this is why we easily slip into a zone of negativity when things aren’t going our way. During tough times, instead of looking gloomy, sad and apprehensive, why not  try to look happy, cheerful and confident?? You may think that this is a silly theory coz how can you feel something but pretend to be something else!! The good news is that you can. Think about your difficult situation as a theatre. You have been given the role of playing a positive and cheerful person though you don’t feel this way in reality. As an actor your job is to act. When you are nervous and you pretend to be confident or when you are tired and act like you are energetic, your mind is tricked into believing that your pretence is your reality!!

When the going gets tough, pretend that it is easy;
When the seas are rough, act like you are in the midst of calm oceans;
When the money is tight, stand upright;
When your confidence is low, buoyancy you must show;
When your body aches, fake wellness;
Although you are feeling blue, you must look fresh and new;
Rather than changing from the inside out, you can bring the outside in!!

On days when you don’t feel like exercising, just put on your walking shoes and go out for a walk and keep faking this till you start to feel like you want to exercise. This also applies to our nervousness before an important meeting. When I feel nervous to even enter a meeting room, I simply enter the room pretending to be confident and within few minutes I actually start feeling confident.

So all you guys out there, stop making excuses of “not feeling well” or “not being a confident speaker”, and just fake the feeling of good health and confidence till you make it to feeling positive and happy in reality.