Fake it 'til you make is a cute and common phrase I toss around every once in a while. It rolls off the tongue easily and has a quirky ring to it. I first heard the phrase back in my high school days and still say it today. I never really paid any mind to the saying until my friend said it the other day.
We were discussing getting through college and eventually finding jobs one day. I was discussing the career I want to pursue and what it takes to get there. To which she responded, "fake it til you make it."
What does fake it 'til you make it mean? It's fairly simple because basically means to act like you’re whatever you claim to be or what you want to accomplish. Fake what you have to until you do it. The more I think about it the more it sounds deceptive and not cute.
I’ve heard people respond with this to all kinds of conversations from talking about being nervous, to running for a position or applying for a job and heck even to just getting through a rough week. Lately, though the word fake has been plaguing me because I feel like we shouldn’t be encouraging each other to be something we aren’t.
Think about it, fake is a quality that is not admired and often is used to describe people we consider to be deceitful. A fake person we look at to be two-faced, we don’t trust and often, once discovered to be fake and we stop associating with. Fake things are considered to be tricks, like pyrite (fool’s gold) is looked at as less because it isn’t pure gold.
So is faking it 'til you make it a bad thing?
I think there’s a line to when faking things about yourself or faking who you are because you’re not reflecting who you truly are. I am all about being the person you want to be and literally starting today if you want to be someone new. However, if you’re faking being someone or faking qualities you do not possess then you’re not being true to yourself. You may just lose yourself in the process trying to reflect something you aren’t.
If you want to fake confidence in order to do a presentation or to push yourself through an awkward conversation then do it. I don’t think there’s any shame in telling yourself that you're gotta fake it 'til you make it this week because it’s gonna be rough. In that kind of a situation where you’re wanting to push past being stressed to succeed it could be okay or helpful at times.
I wouldn’t encourage you to fake it til you make it. I would say if you can, then be the purest form of you and don’t apologize for it. Maybe that warrants you to say, “things aren’t well” when someone asks how you then do it. It is easy for us to get caught up in what others think about us that we paint a faux image of who they think we should be. I do it and I know I am not the only one but we can’t let ourselves get caught up in being perfect or the girl who has it “all together” when in fact we don’t. Personally, I relate better to the girl who says I don’t have it all together but I am trying to. I admire that person because they are human.
Dare to be authentic.