This was initially going to be my second post on imposter syndrome, but I’m trying to set myself up into a more positive mindset, so here I am talking about faking it until you make it. Because let’s be honest we’re all making it up as we go along a little bit right?
In my “real job” I’ve just taken on a new role. If I’m honest with you all, I’ve been struggling with it. Even though it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, it’s out of my comfort zone and it’s hard to feel confident and own something new, especially when you view yourself as a junior. So, I’m currently trying to fake it until I make it my own, in exactly the same way I’m trying to tell myself (and the rest of the world) I’m an illustrator until it feels true.
When it comes to successfully faking it until you make it, there are two key elements as far as I know the physical elements and the mindset elements, they’re both about changing how you think but how you get there is slightly different.
First, let’s get physical. I feel like we’ve all heard of “power-posing” and done our best wonder woman stance in the mirror at this point. While it feels pretty silly to start with, there is something in trying to make your reflection mirror how you want to feel on the inside. There are whole books on this subject, but I’m going to keep it simple today with 3 ideas you (and I) can try out straight away:
- Think big – stand tall and take up as much space as you can. When we’re feeling small, we act small. But you deserve airspace as much as anyone else. Being big also means being seen and heard, because you need your ideas to be heard if they’re going to move forward
- Move slow – I don’t know about anyone else, but when I get nervous I talk a million miles an hour. Moving and speaking more slowly not only forces you to tackle the adrenaline in your system it also makes you appear in control and like you know what you’re doing. Plus, the more time you give yourself to think the more in control you actually will be. I promise no matter how slow you feel you’re going no one will think you’ve turned in to a slo-mo robot so really own it.
- Dress the part – I love clothes, I always feel weird saying that but I do. How you look is the least important part of how you are, but it can have a huge impact on how you feel about yourself. So dress for the role you want. That doesn’t have to mean rocking a power suit (unless you want it to) or buying a whole new wardrobe, but rather just asking yourself the question “if I was [insert the thing you want to be] what would I wear today?” when you reach into your wardrobe.
Now for the tough stuff, we need to get all up inside our own heads. While the physical stuff can help you trick yourself into believing the only way ‘faking it until you make it’ really works is if you believe.
Whenever you end up doing something new, the best thing to do is to find someone who’s really great at that thing and try to mimic the things they do, even if you feel like a fraud. You have to understand you’re a work in progress, and that faking it is part of the learning process like copying great masters when you learn to paint or even just using guidelines when you learned to write for the first time.
There’s a whole load of science behind the idea that if you act “as if” something is true you can make it so, which has been boiled down wonderfully in this sketchnote video by Richard Wiseman. What would you be doing if you were confident in your new role or you were a successful author? What would you be doing if you loved networking? Okay now do it – trust me I know it’s scary and awful, but it is possible and you can make it happen.
