OK, so we’ve all heard of the mind-body link and you can probably think if you try now of a time when you weren’t sure if your mood created your day or your day created your mood. The answer of course is yes. Both are true.
What we focus on determines our thoughts and feelings, which influences our actions, which creates the results we get and all of this is driven by our beliefs. Logical when you think about it – but have you stopped to consider the incredible ramifications? This means if I’m not living the day/life I want to live, I can start to change that simply by changing my thinking and my behaviours. In a nutshell -
If you’re not yet as successful as you want to be: fake it TO make it! It’s not cheating, its a step on the path to your success – yes, I’ll explain…
If you’re not as happy as you want to be: fake it TO make it so.
This is the age old ‘chicken vs egg’ conundrum: which comes first? Your excellence or your belief it is so? Your happinesss or your decision to be happy? If the idea of faking it bothers you, consider that even for the most successful people in the world, the knowing did not necessarily come before the doing, the ‘being great’ could not possibly come before creating the situations in which they proved themselves to be so, and in fact, the ‘knowing how’ did not necessarily precede the acceptance of the challenge that they would find a way. The great people that have gone before us took a leap of faith – sink or swim style and realised they could swim. Before we can prove we can, we need to create the opportunity or platform to perform. In this way we NEED to fake it TO make it. So…
Will you?
And what does this mean for you and staying motivated?
We often go through life thinking we need to avoid stress, only bite off as much as we can chew, but what we often forget to remember is that a certain level of stress (called ‘eustress’) is actually a good, motivating thing. We NEED to challenge ourselves and stretch ourselves sometimes. So, how do we turn this into actionable steps?
It’s simple really… Two thoughts worth thinking about:
If it feels scary, move your focus from just what could go wrong, to what could go right and really weigh it up – remember living happens outside of your comfort zone so challenge yourself - Make sure you venture outside of the known sometimes.
Remind yourself that that’s where excellence and growth occurs. Without giving ourselves the opportunity to succeed our motivation can wane.
So, it’s worth considering that by putting yourself out there you create space and opportunity for new experiences, achievements and greater satisfaction and recognition. Some people are motivated by internal satisfaction (that comes through stretching ourselves and knowing we did well), and others also enjoy external recognition – so go on – stretch yourself, focus on what is possible, even if you need to fake it for a while. You’ll likely surprise yourself and learn some amazing things along the way.
And, in summary – one final thought to leave you with. It’s not so much fake it till you make it so much as fake it TO make it – simply because action begets opportunity, and putting yourself out there could be the step you’ve been missing till now, in creating your greater success, happiness and fulfillment!
So, go well and think big. Have a positive, productive and pro active day!
The challenge is that this happens instantaneously and unconsciously; and because it happens so quickly it feels like the way we ‘see’ or experience that situation IS that situation. We forget that our map is nothing more than our best interpretation or map of the situation at the time, AND that others may be experiencing it quite differently. What we don’t know, until we stop to challenge our thinking, is whether our map is aiding us, or creating problems such as frustration, failure or conflict.