In college, I used to tell people who were struggling with life to “fake it till you make it”. I’m not sure why I said it, but my supervisor at the time laughed and always quoted me on it.
I think it was always something I’ve lived by as every time I’ve jumped into something that would scare me, I would have to fake that I could do it.
In my first job, I started the same day as the production workers at a brand new granola bar plant. My supervisor said I should never say “I don’t know” to the production workers. Instead, she said I should always say “let me check”.
When I started my first big kid consulting gig in Phoenix, I had no idea what I was doing, but I faked it and the guy went AWOL and three months later, he told me he had an existential crisis.
When I started My Food Job Rocks, my friend told me “why do you sound so monotone?”. So I faked sounding ecstatic.
When I started Better Meat Co, I felt like I wasn’t good enough to enter the plant-based meat space alone. So i faked being an expert.
But now things are different because people sometimes like my voice and Better Meat Co is getting a lot of press because we actually sold something to someone worth selling to.
Does that mean I’ve made it?
Sure.
I’ve made it. I have a good job, a lot of money, a great group of friends, and my family likes me.
So what happens when you’ve made it?
Making It
Fake it till you make it is such good advice, it became a TED talk.
Basically, if you act it, you magically become it eventually.
Faking it till you’re making it is very similar advice to Richard Brandson’s advice about saying yes.
“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”
Eventually, when you do it enough, you start to get used to it. Yes, sometimes you fail, but when you succeed once, then you’ve done it, right? Maybe.
Making It is whatever you feel like. It could be the fact that you graduated from got out of debt, started a business, ended a business, got a round of funding, sold a company, become a millionaire.
But from what I’ve seen, there’s always a trap. Because when making it to those milestones happen, when you don’t celebrate these achievements, it feels like you still have to fake it.
When you celebrate the small wins, maybe you can think you’ve made it.
So You’ve Made It
What does making it feel like? It’s a happiness spike for one day and then it’s back to normal the next. It’s cool, but that’s about all. Were the sleepless nights worth it? Were the plans you always canceled worth it? That’s what hits you when you make it.
But more importantly, you have two options in which can change the course of your life forever.
One, you could keep on faking it. Instead of acting like a millionaire, try acting like a billionaire. I’m sure you’ll be happier.
Or, you can go the other way and stop faking it. You can choose to let the weight off and just be honest to whomever’s listening.
I’ve seen many of my friends who are entrepreneurs who have taken both paths.
But for me, it’s better to go the other way. You realize that once you’re at a certain point in your journey, when you’ve made it, no one else really notices and you can let your hair down. Sure, a post on your favorite social media site that hits 100’s or 1000’s of likes feels good, but it goes away real fast.
That’s why what’s even better is when you talk about the hardships and the challenges of “making it”, people listen to you, they respect you more.
Being authentic is one of the hardest things you can do in the world where every post you see is someone’s happiest day of their life. But perhaps letting go of “faking it” will allow a big weight off of your shoulders. When you let go of “faking it”, your life gets a little bit quieter.
When you’ve made it, you realize the only person you need to tell you’ve made it, is yourself.
You Plant the Flag
You have full control if you’ve made it and when you’ve reached that point, you have a choice to plant the flag and stay and watch things grow while you stand there, or you can pick up the flag, and walk a random direction. You don’t know if you’re going backward or forwards, but perhaps it doesn’t matter.
Both paths are perfectly acceptable. Do whatever you want. It’s your life.
Some people will tell you that you’re crazy for moving the flag. Any direction you move, people will tell you you’re doing something stupid but it really doesn’t matter what they think.
If you’ve left a place better than you found it, isn’t that good enough? Some of the people who see your work say it won’t be. Does it matter? Some people will say your work will never make anything better. It’s important to capture the metrics that are important to you and translate it to something you’re proud of.
You control whether you’ve made it or not. You can grow your goals or not. Do whatever makes you happy and whatever gives your life meaning.
Have I Made it?
Yes, I’ve made it and I want you to make it too.