Want to guarantee failure? Do this: fake it ‘til you make it. I bet you didn’t expect to hear that.

I mean, how many times have you been told you need to fake it ‘til you make it to be successful? It has become the mantra for success. Unfortunately, its bullshit. Total complete bullshit. Fake it ‘til you make it is the insidious mantra of failure.

Fake is simply another word for something (or someone) inauthentic. Fake is the total opposite of the real thing. There are fake Rolex’s and there are fake IDs. There are fake cures (snake oil) and fake boobs (no comment). And there are countless people who are pretending to be someone they are not. They are being fakes, because they were told that is how you become successful.

And who can blame you, or me, or anyone for being fake? It is what we have been told to do. Plus the fake part is only temporary! In due time the fake-ness will become reality. When that happens we can finally be the real deal.

 

Fake Needs To Be Replaced By Real

But if it that was really true, that fake Rolex would become real – given enough time. And the fake cure, would start magically working miracle after miracle after miracle. And the fake boobs. . . well, you get the point. Obviously none of that will ever happen. Fake is fake. Fake can’t be changed. Fake can only be replaced with real. You need to have the real thing, to be the real thing.

In the best case scenario, being fake is uncomfortable. Worst case it is an outright lie. Try to pass off your faux Rolex as the real thing, and you may fool a few. But when you are caught, your whole reputation, deservedly so, turns to one of inauthenticity. And even if you fool everyone (good luck with that), you will never fool yourself. No matter how much you try to lie to yourself you will know deep down inside that you are being inauthentic. As long as you are fake, you will always feel uncomfortable in your own skin.

 

Be It To Be It

Here’s what you must understand: If you are faking it, you are being inauthentic. And inauthenticity will never get you to your destination. If you want to become something or achieve something, it must be authentically you. You must be it to achieve it.

What? Wait a second? I need to be it, to be it? That sounds ridiculously stupid. How in the world can you be something that you are not yet? Talk about the cart before the horse. . . this sounds like the cart before the horse was even born.

Let me give you some clarity. If you want to be it on the outside (the world recognizes you for it) you must be it on the inside (you must truly see it in yourself first). You need to be it (inside) to be it (outside).

 

Inside First

If you want to be a wildly successful entrepreneur, you must align your soul with it first. You must be a wildly successful entrepreneur inside first. All that other stuff, the big office, the cool colleagues, the dog walking around the office, is the outside manifestation of being it. What you experience in the world is determined by what you experience inside, and it is always in that order.

Fake it ‘til you make it, teaches us to have inauthentic appearances (the outside stuff) in an attempt to lie convincingly enough to ourselves into becoming it (on the inside). You’ll never get there. You’ll never be able to make a big enough lie. You’ll never be able to fake yourself out.

Here is the good news. . . you don’t need to fake it. All you need to do is be the real, authentic you. All you need to do is be 100% consistent with what your heart calls to do. Then focus all your energies on becoming that on the inside first. Once you believe it on the inside, you are it. And once you are it, the outside world will all come to recognize it and give you all the rewards associated with it.

Never again try to fake it ‘til you make it. It’s a fools game.

To be it, you need to be it.

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Now that you have the why, you probably want the how. I recently wrote an article that will give you a little guidance on “being it.” The article shares the two most powerful words in the world. Two words that you can (and already do) use in your life to become anything you want. I think it may help.