Fake It Until You Make It

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘fake it ‘til you make it’, and I hope we have all regarded it with at least some modicum of suspicion. Faking anything is inherently repressing some element of the truth, and in my personal experience, that hasn’t gone so great for me. The FITYMI slogan is something I hear a lot though, primarily in the context of social confidence, and during the past week I’ve revisited it to see if I still think it’s a dangerous idea.

When selectively applied, I think there may be some merit to it. During my usual ennui-fuelled Hacker News trawlings, I’ve read a little about changing one’s personality, and while intuitively the notion invokes a slight sense of fear, it is something I certainly want to (continue to) do. From my exceptionally limited understanding, talking and writing using a more upbeat tone can actually influence you to think more positively. And maybe there is some iota of wisdom in simply pretending to be confident - it will be a challenge to learn how to pretend, but if I can overcome it, then it might lead the way for meaningfully less anxiety in my life, something that I would relish.

The balance between being truthful when things aren’t going so great, but still remaining resolute and framing things in a favourable light is going to be a tough one to strike, but follow along dear reader, for you will get to see my attempts at such a balancing act right before your very eyes in the weeks to come.