I want to thank Tabitha Woods, a friend who recently gave me a very nice gift, a signed copy of the book, Who’s Got Your Back by Keith Ferrazzi. She knows I love books, and I was very grateful for her generosity and the effort she went through to have it signed and personalized by Keith for me. In his book, Keith takes an entire chapter to devote to the subject of faking it until you make it.
He tells of once hearing a radio interview with Ray Charles who said he didn’t know of a single musician who was any good who didn’t practice every day. Practice is simply a part of a great musician’s life, like breathing.
Have you ever known anyone who was born playing the piano or clarinet? Aren’t the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and many future attempts awkward and terrible? But successful musicians keep at it for YEARS as they get better, and eventually master their instruments. Not avoiding failure or continuing mistakes, they just keep playing.
In my experience in business most people either are lazy, cheap or fear failure and as a result accept mediocrity. They generally are in search of immediate gratification and want results now. We all want results now. The difference is whether we are wishfully thinking or determined to overcome any obstacle that gets in our way and press forward relentlessly.
Faking it until you make it has nothing to do with being a phony. Faking it until you make is as Keith Ferrazzi puts it, “changing your behavior with the support of others even if you aren’t ready to change your beliefs.”
“Fake it till you make it is one version of what is sometimes called self-fulfilling prophecy.” We can create negative or positive self-fulfilling prophecies. A shy person can pretend to be outgoing, experience how that feels, and as a result, over time, become a friendlier, more outgoing person.
You could decide to be the expert in your profession. It’s hard work; just apply 10,000 hours to the subject. It begins by relentlessly reading everything you can get your hands on in relation to your pursuit, studying, practicing, and applying what you have learned you will become the expert. A good book to begin with is Love Is The Killer App which Tim Sanders teaches how to invest those hours that you read. Also check out our own zeroinbox.com and learn how to get your runway clear so that you can begin thinking. Most people are unprepared to think, their business and life is cluttered.
Think about it, how many experts do you know? It is likely you know very few. Most are just going through the motions always intent on someday making it happen. What about you? Are you daily doing what it takes, or are you just pretending and playing the game like most of your peers?
Share below where you are at with your 10,000 hours. If you are just starting, congratulations, let the journey begin, let us know that too.