The statement “Fake it til you make it” is not new to everyone. Someone may have given you this specific advice at least once in your life. The logic behind this is to “fake your confidence” so that you eventually become confident. Sounds good right? Maybe. Here are three reasons why you should not fake it until you make it.
Let’s contextualize this list with an example. Imagine you are pitching a business idea to a possible investor. People believe that your idea is excellent and extremely innovative. You believe in the same thing too. However, you only have thought of the short term development. No particulars. You resorted to fake your confidence in hopes of getting through the pitch.
Reason #1: You will end up looking dumb
This is a legitimate concern when you employ the fake it til you make it strategy. Using that strategy is all good and well until you make a massive mistake.We sometimes get a fake surge of confidence whenever we feel like everything is doing well than expected Then it will exponentially deplete when we make a mistake.
Imagine yourself in the scenario we set above. Everything was doing fine until you mentioned details in your pitch that were not matching up with each other. People will sense that you’re not telling the truth. This will make you look dumb. It’s also a dangerous situation.
Reason #2: You won’t learn
Exuding extreme confidence despite the lack thereof hurts your chances of getting help and attention from experts. If in their point of view you were able to fool them, they won’t give you help. If they see that you’re doing well on your own, what help could they still bring?
Improvising your way through the pitch may be thrilling. Just imagine the on-the-job and extra education you will receive for free if you were just honest with yourself. Just why would you want to fake something when you can learn it?
Reason #3: You’re not being honest with yourself
This is pretty self-explanatory. Imagine being considered that you’re “fake” all your life. Faking it until you make it implies that you’ll stop pretending one day. The real “making it” is when you recognize your flaw as a human. You will never be able to know everything at once. Knowing that you have limitations inform you of the possible things you may explore.
Lying while in a pressure cooker situation could crack you. If you haven’t done it ever in your life, the more chances that you’ll crack.
In Summary
Ask yourself, if you lie your way into a pressure-cooker situation, what will happen if I crack? The answer is all of the reasons we’ve said so far. The “fake it til you make it” attitude should be eliminated in our lexicon. It strips us of the ability to learn more. It deflects any possible help that we could receive. Do you want to know what’s better? It’s “Passion” and “Preparation”. Two powerful things that could propel you to new heights in whatever you do.
Did you enjoy this one? You might want to read about the top things young entrepreneurs should focus on, here.
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