Have you ever heard that expression? I can’t imagine anyone old enough to read this hasn’t heard it. But have you thought about what it really means?

Many people interpret ‘faking it’ as a negative behavior and they would ‘never do that!’  But is it really negative? I don’t think so. I’m a big believer in FITYMI (“Fake It Till You Make It”). I see FITYMI more as practice.

• If you want to be a dancer, you’re going to have to dance – even before you know how.
• If you want to be a singer, you’re going to have to sing – even before you know how to make the right sounds.
• If you’re going to be a writer, you’re going to have to write, even before you know how to organize the story so it takes the reader down the path you intended.
• And if you want to be successful in your field or business, then you’re going to have to start acting like a successful person in that field or business, copying what others do who are successful, practicing what you should be saying and what you should be doing.

I’m not talking about lying or misleading yourself. You still have to be honest – especially with yourself. But if you don’t practice being successful – ‘faking it’ – then how are you ever going to learn?

FITYMI goes a little bit farther than just practicing or rehearsing. It involves believing. When you FITYMI, you begin to believe that you are the dancer, singer, writer, whatever that you’ve been practicing (faking it) to be. Little by little, you can begin to see yourself in that role. You become that character. And then you realize it’s not a role. It’s not a character. It’s you. And it’s your life.

What are you ‘faking till you make it’?