I loved seeing this article this morning in Huff Post talking about the science of the fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra. It's all about your own personal chemistry.
I personally like the FAKE IT TILL YOU BELIEVE IT version. Either way, your body chemistry is totally responding to what you feed it.
Whether it's building a new business or shifting out of a depression, your actions produce chemical reactions. While staying in bed or chronically scrolling through reels on social media produces certain chemical reactions in your brain (ahem, not the best ones, downward spiral), going for a walk or making a call or writing down your goals also produces a chemical reaction (ahem, the better ones, up spiral). So we have some control here.
“Deciding to stay in bed and going on a morning walk release very different chemicals in our brain, create starkly varying thoughts in our mind that then reinforce or break our emotional state.”
So your therapist knows that she is doing when she gives you homework. And your bff has good intentions when he says let's go for a walk.
Let's look at the business application here. Whether you are ...
starting a new business
taking your business to the next level
entering luxury real estate
re-entering your business after a sabbatical or after a slump
reinventing yourself & how you operate in your business
Here are some key takeaways
Repetition - “You want to become bored by what makes you anxious, apprehensive and uncomfortable. The more you do something, the less intimidating and threatening that activity feels. The less threatening an activity becomes, the less power cognitive distortions and maladaptive thoughts [have].”
Achievable Goals - setting achievable goals by focusing on one or two behaviors at a time and practicing them on a regular basis.
Scripts - this last point leads me (and I say this all the time) to the topic of practicing scripts. Confidence can be elusive when shifting into something new. Help your brain & your chemistry & your go-to vocabulary by regularly practicing what to say. It's definitely a confidence builder.