Business Advice: Fake Your Energy.

Warning:

This will be one of the most important articles on the site - so though I expect many first reactions to the word "energy" to be recoil - I strongly advise you keep an open mind until the end.

There's a phrase that many success 'gurus' advise and that is to

“Fake it until you make it.”

And that is supposed to mean "pretend that you're a success until you actually become one." I like that advice - BUT - it isn't a suit you put on only when you're 'at work' - and when you treat it that way it is INEFFECTIVE.

Another way of putting it is to Practice your Attitude. Practice feeling like a success. Practice BEING a success.

Become: 'Be' first, and THEN it will 'come'.

[Donald Trump, Real Examples of How to Make this Work for You]


You can't be down about sales, or down about revenues, or down about your standing in the company all day and then - during that short part of the day when you are actually making the sale or you're actually at work, you won't be able to convincingly portray a sense of confidence, power, and leadership. You will not be able to compete.

You need to be pretending or practicing ALL DAY LONG. That's the whole point. The point is that you pretend to be a success so often - so frequently - that you actually start to believe it. And once you BELIEVE it - you will GENUINELY portray it during your sales pitches, while you're at work, when it counts.

Someone in a forum recently asked the question:

“How do I respond when someone asks me how much money my business is making when it's not doing so great at that moment? The question makes me feel bad about my business even if it's getting better. How should I respond?”

To answer that question there are plenty of responses that MIGHT work:

“It's doing pretty well and it's exciting to watch it consistently improve.”

“Sales are OK but the interest level is REALLY there. I can tell things are about to hit and I'm just trying to get ready for it.”

But the important thing here is that NOTHING will feel good to you when you haven't been pretending or visualizing. So when you find yourself in this kind of situation - where someone asks you a similar question and you feel your gut tighten in response - get through your answer but then MAKE NOTE that you have some 'pretending' work to do on this particular subject.

Thank GOD really that they showed you where you have some cleaning up to do. If you never noticed it and never cleaned it up - nothing would change for you. And that's exactly what happens to most people.

So fake it - but remember to Fake it consistently. Fake it when you're in the shower, when you're watching TV, when you're talking at the dinner table - do it all from the point-of-view that what you want is already your experience.

Ever seen kids playing basketball at a park - counting down the end of the game and visualizing, pretending or PRACTICING winning the game with a last-second shot? Kids have a lot more intuitive knowledge than most people will ever know.

A Trump Thing.

Someone once came off bossy to a client of Donald Trump and he asked her: "Why did you do that?"

She responded: "Well, you know how they say 'fake it until you make it?'"

He gave her a look of confusion and disbelief that you will see if you tell someone that aliens served you a peanut butter & jelly sandwich today.

He said: "I don't know what you're talking about. You don't do that."

Now SHE is most likely NOT practicing that feeling on a consistent basis and 'The Donald' is just lost at the whole idea.

Classic Donald. No one has ALL the answers.