Fake it till you make it

"Fake it till you make it" (or "Fake it until you make it") is an English aphorism which suggests that by imitating confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset, a person can realize those qualities in their real life and achieve the results they seek.[1][2]

"Act as if" redirects here. For the band, see Act As If (band).
For the television series, see Fake It Til You Make It (TV series).

The phrase is first attested some time before 1973.[3] The earliest direct reference is a Simon & Garfunkel song "Fakin' It" released in 1968 as a single and also on their BOOKENDS album. There Simon sings "And I know I'm fakin' it, I'm not really makin' it."

Similar advice has been offered by a variety of writers over time:

Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.

Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our spontaneous cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully, to look round cheerfully, and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there. If such conduct does not make you soon feel cheerful, nothing else on that occasion can. So to feel brave, act as if we were brave, use all our will to that end, and a courage-fit will very likely replace the fit of fear.

— William James, "The Gospel of Relaxation", On Vital Reserves (1922)

In the Law of attraction movement, "act as if you already have it", or simply "act as if", is a central concept:

How do you get yourself to a point of believing? Start make-believing. Be like a child, and make-believe. Act as if you have it already. As you make-believe, you will begin to believe you have received.

— Rhonda Byrne, The Secret (2006)

In the 1920s, Alfred Adler developed a therapeutic technique that he called "acting as if". This strategy gave his clients an opportunity to practice alternatives to dysfunctional behaviors. Adler's method is still used today and is often described as "role play".

See also

References
  1. Powell-Brown, Ann (2003). "Can You Be a Teacher of Literacy If You Don't Love to Read?". Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 47 (4): 284–288. JSTOR 40014774.
  2. Nielsen, Kelly (2015). ""Fake It 'til You Make It": Why Community College Students' Aspirations "Hold Steady"" (PDF). American Sociological Association. 88 (4): 265–283. doi:10.1177/0038040715601889. S2CID 55139502.
  3. Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 93,748. Securities and Exchange Commission, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc., et al., Defendants-appellants, 474 F.2d 476 (9th Cir. 1973) (full text)
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