Let’s be honest…it requires courage to take on the things that scare us.
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
And even though most of us have courage within ourselves, sometimes it’s an underused muscle. Hell, sometimes it’s atrophied. But that’s OK, because starting today, we’re going to fake it ’til we make it!
Studies show that the human brain believes what you tell it, meaning that you truly can fake it ’til you make it. And rather than share the boring studies (which in all honesty I didn’t even bother to try looking for on Google), I will share this awesome TED talk in which Amy Cuddy addresses this very subject.
As we set out on this path of doing things that scare us, we may have to muster up the requisite courage by faking it a bit for now. But no worries. Even faking it gives the courage muscle a workout.
So today, fake some courage and do something that scares you a bit!
Fake it until you become it!
What did you do today that scares you? Share your story in the comments below.
I fake it ’til I make it all the time. I’ll never get anything done if I wait around until I stop feeling scared. Sometimes you gotta be brave and act like the person you want to become.
I love it, Sage! My thinking is jump in and learn as you go!
I heard something the other day that really hit home. If you want to be an athlete than you need to act like an athlete. What are the things an athlete does? Now I have no real desire to be an athlete, but it did get me to thinking. If you want to be a writer than what does a writer do? If you want to be an artist than what does an artist do? If you want to be a thin person than what does a thin person do? I find for me that the action part is always the most difficult.
Shari, I think the action is the most difficult. But I also think that the things we *really* want to do come more organically, rather than forcing it.