3292: Manifestation Methods: Can You Actually Fake it Til You Make It by Renee Benes of The Fun Sized Life

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[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: WonderfulPistachios.com. This is Optimal Living Daily, Manifestation Methods. Can you actually

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: fake it till you make it? By Renee Bennis of TheFunSizedLife.com and I'm Justin Malik,

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: your host and narrator, back today with an article from Renee Bennis. We're going to jump right into

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: as we optimize your life. Manifestation Methods. Can you actually fake it till you make it?

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: By Renee Bennis of TheFunSizedLife.com. We've all heard the term fake it till you make it.

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: If you haven't heard of this yet, this is a phrase that is used to help encourage people to do hard

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: things in life. Things that they might feel apprehensive about or have a lot of self-doubt

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: about. There's definitely some truth to this phrase. In some senses you can fake it until

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: you make it. However, there are definitely things to consider first. In this article we'll talk

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: about the major pitfalls of faking it and what steps you can take to build real confidence.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Where did this even come from? While we could trace back the origins of fake it till you make

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: it to the early 1900s, the current meaning as we know it started with psychologist Alfred Adler.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Adler's theory around fake it till you make it was originally tied to his belief that

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: all humankind struggle with the sense of inferiority. To help people overcome this feeling

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: of not being good enough, he believed acting as if could be a successful antidote. In other words,

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: fake it till you have more confidence. This isn't an approach that believed you to just

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: fake kindness or be someone you are not. Rather, this practice encourages people to fake healthy

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: habits until they become ingrained habits. It makes sense why this method is still something

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that is shared or encouraged today and something that really can't be denied when you see the

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: results of it playing out in places like Hollywood. Faking it gone too far. We all have probably heard

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: of method acting and how the effects of it can do deep psychological damage to people,

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: especially if the character an actor is playing is particularly menacing. Most recently Lady Gaga

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: admits she began to lose touch with reality after staying in character for a year and a half

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: for her film House of Gucci. Method acting struggles gives us the perfect example that

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: faking a personality can truly make an impact, not always for the better. This can be troublesome

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: when you consider the average person trying to fake it until they make it. Actors have teams

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_00]: of people there to support and back them up as they transition from role to role and it's what

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: they are paid to do. What about the rest of us? While we might just be hoping to fake confidence

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: in our job or relationships in hopes of gaining real confidence, we might accidentally slip right

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: into a feeling of grandeur. There are things you can't fake. I think we can all think of a person

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: who happily struts through life with a strong confidence that really hasn't been earned. They

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: think they're greater than they are and brag about accomplishments that might not even be very real.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: That's why it's important to remember when working on building a stronger self-confidence,

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: faking it. It's also important that we remember to do the work. Build the confidence to apply for

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: grad school. Encourage yourself to ask that person out. Stand tall enough to make that public speech.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Build the confidence and then do the work. Sure you can fake confidence when making a speech in front

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: of your classmates or pretend to be interested in something when you're really not. What you

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: can't fake are things like knowledge, degree, credibility. You look pretty foolish if you've

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: spent all of your time feeling really proud of yourself only to have built absolutely nothing

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: to be proud of. If you're working toward a big goal in life or have the desire to get into a certain

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: line of work, then it's important to remember faking it will only take you so far. You also

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: have to show up and make the results happen. Do we fake it or do we become it? If there are the

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: scary downsides to faking it, are there many upsides? Is there any proof that faking it actually

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: allows you to become it? In the case of Richard Branson, I think we would all have to agree yes,

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: this method actually works. Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, is famously quoted as

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: saying, if somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it,

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: say yes. Then learn how to do it later. Branson has largely attributed this mindset to his success

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: in life and in business. He is the perfect example of someone who has taken the risks,

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: built the confidence, and also done the work. How can we start faking it? One of the best examples

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: of faking it comes from social psychologist Amy Cuddy. Her TED talk on power posing and the

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: potential it has for boosting our confidence has gone viral and got her a book deal. Cuddy has

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: found that something as simple as power posing, like standing in the Wonder Woman position,

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: can increase our self-confidence. Power posing for only two minutes was shown to increase

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: testosterone and lower cortisol levels. In fact, in her book Presence, Cuddy shares that even

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: imagining oneself in a power pose can make a difference on how we view ourselves. There are

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: other small things we can start doing that have been shown to boost confidence and help us create

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: lasting change. Affirmations, gratitude, journaling, decluttering, and mirror work.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: All of these things have been shown to help people heal their sense of inferiority,

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: gain confidence, and show up in the world. You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Manifestation Methods. Can you actually fake it till you make it? by Rene Benis of thefunsizedlife.com

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll be right back with my commentary. Thank you to Rene. Good tips and an interesting question

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: to consider. Some other tricks also came to my mind, one that I heard long ago was smiling.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're feeling just meh or even sad without any logical reason and you're looking to sort of snap

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: out of it, not talking about depression or something really serious here but just like a mood fluctuation,

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_00]: smiling is something that can sort of trick your mind into thinking you're actually happy.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a study I remember hearing about where participants held a pencil in their mouth

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: horizontally, basically forcing a smile. They didn't really know they were smiling but they

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: reported feeling happier. Another example is laughing. There's a popular movement a while ago

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: where people would get together to just force laughs. I'm not sure if that's still a thing but

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I can see why it caught on. Pretend laughing usually ends up in real laughing which then

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: makes others laugh because it's very contagious which then makes you laugh even more and it's

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: like a snowball effect, all from faking it basically. The other ideas she mentioned are

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: definitely worth trying as well because they're super simple. The power pose is a great example

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: to get a quick boost of confidence if you need it. Again all it takes is two minutes. Then of

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: course what we regularly talk about on this show like gratitude, journaling, decluttering, affirmations,

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: all that fun stuff. But just pick one, try it out, and see what works best for you. Let me know how

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: it goes. Have a great rest of your day and I'll catch you tomorrow for the Wednesday show where

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: your optimal life awaits.