You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Fake it till you make it”. But what does that mean? If you want to be rich, does that mean you spend all your savings on clothes? If you want to be thin, how do you fake it?
The reason this phrase doesn’t always work is because you cannot fake the external. You can’t fake your appearance, your accomplishments, or your bank balance.
However, what you can do is shift your thinking when it comes to how you see yourself. Start thinking like the person you want to become by behaving like they would. Have the self-confidence, the discipline, the perseverance, and the dedication that your future self would have. Believe in yourself. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
How does this work? For one, we know that what we tend to focus on becomes our reality. If you focus your energy on behaving and thinking in a way the person who you want to become would, you will create new neural pathways in your brain. Changing our thinking also gets us out of the victim mindset because we are taking massive action every day to behave like the person we want to become would behave.
Get Out of the Victim Mentality
As long as you continue to think like a victim, you will stay where you are. The reason most people are stuck is because they don’t take responsibility for their life and get into a rut of thinking thoughts like, “This is just the way it is. I can’t do anything about it”.
If you want to improve yourself, feel confident, and achieve your goals, then you have to change how you think. You have to expect that you CAN change your life. That you are capable and that you have the power to improve yourself and your situation.
How do you do that? By thinking like the person you want to become, because they believe that it is possible.
How to Think Like the Person You Want to Become
Make Decisions Like Them
We create our lives by the choices we make. So if you want to be a different version of you, you have to ask yourself what your future self would do. For example, if you have the option to get an ice cream sundae or get a fruit bowl, ask yourself what the future you would choose. By doing this, you can start making the small decisions that will get you closer to the person you want to become.
Challenge Your Inner Critic
The next time your inner critic comes around and starts bullying you with thoughts like “you aren’t good enough” or “you always fail”, question them. When you look in the mirror and don’t feel good enough, change the negative, critical thought into a loving one. Choose the type of thoughts that your future self would have.
The person you want to be KNOWS that you are successful. You know you are good enough. So switch your self-critical thoughts into the positive thoughts.
Adopt a Growth Mindset
No matter how amazing a person you want to become, you will always face challenges. The difference, however, will be in how you react to those challenges. Your best-self will face challenges with a positive attitude, knowing that you have already overcome numerous struggles successfully.
So the next time life presents you with a challenge, instead of running away from it, sulking, or wallowing in the corner, consider how the future you would react?
Look for the silver lining. Find a solution. Change the negative into a positive.
If you want to change something and become a better version of yourself, you have to start thinking like the person you ultimately want to be. When you change your thoughts, you change your behavior. By focusing on changing these small things consistently, one day you will wake up and look around and realize that you are a lot more closer to being the person you want to be.
