Faking it is underrated. In the sense that you're faking positive qualities to appear as a more put together person, not in the sense that you're being fake. If the world was full of people just being themselves all the time and not faking it, the world would be filled with adults acting like toddlers.
To make it as an adult you have to behave like and adult: You have to behave in a clever, socially acceptable and charming way, and the only way to do that is to fake it. Because, in retrospect, you have those qualities even if for the time being you have to remind yourself to act a certain way, eventually they'll be actual qualities you possess – maybe.
Think about it for a second. People only see the person you show them. They don't know the person you really are unless you unleash your problems on them that they probably don't care to hear about. They don't know about that awkward stage you went through when you were 13 and they definitely don't know about the unfortunately placed pimple you noticed this morning after your shower. They only see what you are showing them at this exact moment, not this morning or even 10 minutes ago.
Watch your language. I'll be honest, I have the mouth of a sailor, it's something you develop when living with two retired military parents, but that doesn't prevent me from holding my tongue. Watching your language isn't just about the four letter words we use as our pin codes for the ATM. Watching what you say includes your tone and learning to avoid certain topics that tend to start heated discussions. If you say something offensive, don't try to avoid them afterward or pray they didn't hear you, you apologize quickly instead. There are a few things you don't say in small talk with other people. Such as... who is sleeping with who, how many people someone has slept with, or any other topics that really are not any of your business. You don't want people knowing about your life, so stop prying into the lives of others.
There are a lot of different ways to show people around you that your are a respectable adult, but let's face it, you can only fake so much, so just start with being friendlier and tidier for now and build on it.
Faking it can seem inexplicably hard at first, but once you figure out the adult you are trying to be, you have some routines set in place for yourself. Learning to be friendlier and tidier is a good place to start and you just have to begin building from there. Adulthood is scary and the only way to fully and successfully mature is to accept that it's time to grow up and move on from the behaviors you once thought of as normal.
