Fake It Till You Make It: Is It Really Alright to Do So?

There are people who fake it till they make it. We can use card players as an example. Let’s say a group of people are playing poker, would a person holding a bad deck of cards show in their face that they have a bad deck of cards?

Let’s also take the competitive world of boxing or mixed martial arts. Would a boxer or mixed martial artist signal to their opponent that they are hurting and is just about ready to be knocked out?

But these are good example of fake it till you make it. There are also bad examples like when you hide to your investors that your business which they invested in is losing money and you instead deceive them by telling them that your business is running well.

Even governments engage in fake it till you make it strategy. For example, many governments would tell their citizens that they are winning a war when it truth they are losing. This might be a gray area when it comes to ethics as government don’t want their citizens to lose faith in them.

Simply put, there are instances in life when it is permissible to fake it till you make it. The idea being that you are not causing harm to the people you are trying to convince: Note: This information was taken from my actual experience in bulk grocery shopping and from various small business sources online. —>

The Details:

1. Meaning

Fake it till you make it has varying meanings to different groups of people. However, we can define it as faking your emotions, perceptions and/or competence until you gain the benefits of actually having it.

For example, there are social media influencers who pretend that they are rich and famous. However, what is usually true is that they are only semi-famous and not rich.

They do this because they know that people tend to follow social media influencers whom they perceive as successful, rich and famous.

So they pretend to be what they are currently not, in order to become what they want to be. Many social media influencers and aspiring celebrities actually do this.

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2. Ways People Do It

As already stated, there are people who fake it till you make it. For example, in poker, the general rule is to fake it till you make it. Here’s more:

2.1 Acting as If You Already Are:

There are life coaches who tell their students to dress and act the part of whom they want to be.

For example, a person aspiring to become a rich person would be told by some mentors to dress sharply and act as if they have money already. These people and their mentors believe in the saying that you become what you act to be.

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with emulating the people you want to be or aspire to be, this way of thinking can be harmful at times to the person involved and the people they interact with.

For example, a lot of people have fallen deep in debt trying to make people believe that they are rich, when the truth is that they are just getting by.

2.2 Acting As If You Know:

There are a lot of smart people, but no one can claim to know everything. Unfortunately, there are people who won’t admit that that they have little to no knowledge of subjects presented to them.

This might be due to their fear of being thought of as dumb or out of touch. Have you ever encountered dumb people who pretend that they are so smart that they have an answer to your every question? Chances are, you’ve at least met one person in your life.

It’s hard to feign ignorance especially if you’re talking with someone who is an expert in the subject being discussed. Usually, the outcome is embarrassing.

How many times have you heard of a story where a job applicant puts in fake credentials in his resume and when he got job he applied for, he is unable to do it and is ultimately fired unceremoniously.

2.3 Acting As If You’re Fine:

Pretending as if everything’s fine and even excellent can be good in situations where you are competing with someone else.

Going back to poker players and other card players, it is not uncommon for these people and other competitors to fake it till they make it.

This is because people who compete normally don’t want to show their weakness or their weak hand. It is generally regarded that such forms of strategy or camouflage/deceit is permissible.

But pretending that you’re better off, especially financially, when you’re not; is not alright. For example, you might already be deep in debt, but you still don’t cut down on your spending and just pretend that your debt problems would disappear by themselves.

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3. Imposter Syndrome

Let pause for a while and discuss something commonly associated with the fake it till you make it strategy. This is “Imposter Syndrome”.

Firstly, there is a difference between an imposter and the fake it till you make it people. An imposter is someone who willfully deceives people in order to harm them and/or gain something from them.

Imposter Syndrome is a feeling that you are unqualified for something that you have been positioned for.

At first glance, the fake it till you make it strategy seems similar to being an imposter. But many people who adopt the fake it till you make it strategy usually have no intent to harm the people they are putting an act for.

Imposter Syndrome is a feeling that one gets when they feel inadequate for the position they were positioned for, while fake it till you make it is a strategy which is aimed to gain a position that one doesn’t hold yet.

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4. When Not To Do It

There is a very thin line between the fake it till you make it strategy and being deceitful. It is advised that you don’t employ the fake it till you make it strategy unless you have to, and that you have good reason to use it. Here are when it is ill-advised to do it:

4.1 Skills and Qualifications:

This is especially rampant among people who are applying for job positions they are not qualified for.

Skills are impossibly hard to fake and qualifications are often checked. Despite what you might think, recruiters and companies have a good way of finding out if you are faking your skills and qualifications.

4.2 Understanding:

A lot of people don’t want to be perceived as being a fool or dumb. That’s why when these people are asked if they understand the message or the question being said to them, they’ll say they understand.

As a result, a misunderstanding develops which could lead to bad and even fatal consequences between all parties involved.

For example, an employee might feign understanding of an order given to them by their boss which could lead to a disastrous financial loss for the company.

4.3 Wealth:

Wealth is the biggest status there is today. A person without even doing nothing can become famous just because they are wealthy, and there are a lot of people who want to be famous.

This is the reason why many fake their wealth and pretend that they are very rich when in fact, they are just average when it comes to wealth.

Many people have gone into serious debt by posturing as one of the “wealthy people”. Don’t be deceived into thinking that your worth as a person is only due to your money. A person is not measured based on wealth alone.

Be wary of people who judge you based on your wealth alone. It is advised that you stay away from these people.

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Final Words

Without a doubt, the fake it till you make it strategy is controversial because it borders on deceit.

But there are instances when the fake it till you make it strategy can be useful, like in competitions where you pretend to your competition that you’re actually better or have a better hand than them.

But there are also instances when it’s not right to use the fake it till you make it strategy. For example, when you intentionally deceive people that your financial standing is in order, but in reality it’s not.

More importantly: Skills & Qualifications, Understanding and Wealth are areas where you shouldn’t employ the fake it till you make it strategy because it never leads to anything good for yourself.

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