‘If you cant make it, fake it….’

The Power of Positive Thinking…

I came across the saying ‘if you cant make it, fake it’ recently… What does this mean exactly?

Many psychologists, leaders (religious, spiritual, political), life coaches & self help educators preach the benefits & promote the practice of a positive mental attitude.  Mahatma Gandhi was quoted as saying ‘A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks about he becomes.’ Is faking positivity delusional & dangerous – even giving rise to the question of inhibiting self development?  There has been much debate regarding the relationships between positive thinking & reality & the costs of such beliefs that prove to be wrong.  There has been alot of research devoted to placebo effects, optimism & self fulfilling prophecies – all leading to evidence of a positive mental attitude being an important tool in achieving self development, happiness & goal attainment.  

My point is that if you tell yourself something time & time again, then sometimes we start to believe it. Therefore, if you cant make it, then fake it.  If the possible outcome will not put you in any danger, however can only lead to personal growth, then I promote faking it!! Many people have achieved this through self affirmations – to dispel negative thoughts about themselves.  It’s the same gig…. In the past 3 – 4 months I have accomplished breaking down 2 mindsets that were clearly not serving me well.  The first was that ‘I was a smoker & finding it very difficult to quit’… I changed this mantra to ‘I am a non smoker & it’s very easy to quit’… I faked this thought for a very long while & then one day it became a real belief!!  The second mindset was a relationship breakdown & feeling as though I was treated badly – this mindset only made me feel sad & confused. Thus, I started to ‘fake it’… My new thoughts associated to that situation became ‘I no longer wanted that relationship & I completely understand why it ended.’ In no time at all I had closure on that relationship. There was no longer sadness or confusion, but genuine smiles!

Some call it manifestation or self fulfilling prophecy – and other people may label it as false hope or optimistic bias… However if you are merely replacing negative thoughts with a realistic positive thought that serves us better…. then I cant fault faking it to begin with.

Basically, a successful mental attitude that includes positivity can translate into new perceptions of a persons perceived reality.

Buddha ~ ‘All that we are is the result of what we have thought’