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The Dark Side of “Fake It Til You Make It”
He was a poseur, a faker, a phony from way back. But, in the end, the trap he laid for others destroyed him.
The problem was that Tony needed to be the center of attention in our neighborhood, all day, every day.
He tried the “big shot” routine, dwelling on his past successes in the oil business. Of course, he left out the part about his wife’s considerable fortune being the source of his “big spender” habits.
It did not work. No one cared.
He tried the “hail, fellow, well met” routine, calling out to everyone in the neighborhood and commenting on them to anyone who would listen.
It did not work. No one cared.
A routine that worked
Then he tried the “pity poor me, the invalid” routine and struck gold. Everyone in the neighborhood stopped by to see how he was doing. 
They came to chat as he languished in his wheelchair. He’d struggle to move from wheelchair to walker, but, of course, he never could make it and needed assistance from everyone in earshot.
It worked. Everyone cared. Everyone came to help.
I discover Tony’s trickery
Getting up before dawn to write, I saw a Tony I’d never seen before. Every morning at six sharp, he’d walk out of his house with no hesitation, no limping, no stumbling. He’d lean down, and pick up his morning paper. Then, effortlessly, he’d stroll back into his house. No walker, no problem!
Everything seemed to be working well for Tony, except for one thing he hadn’t counted on. Within a year, brain plasticity took over. Because he was spending 98% of his time acting the part of an invalid, his brain assumed that he was, in fact, an invalid. It reconfigured itself to match Tony’s pseudo-identity of “invalid.” Once that happened, Tony was no longer acting. The following year, he died.
I’ll bet you’ve known at least one faker in your life, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you could tell a similar story. However, I wonder if you’ve thought about just how powerful this strategy, identity change, can be, how it can be used for positive results just as easily as negative.
Suppose you spend 90% of your time acting 10 years younger than you are now. Suppose every day you vividly imagine yourself feeling 10 years younger. Will that make a difference in how you act, look, and feel?
It will. Given the right environment, your plastic brain will do its part, rewiring itself to make the inner and outer conditions match.
Act old and sick. Be old and sick.
Act vital and healthy. Be vital and healthy.
Your choice.
There’s profound truth in the saying, “Fake it until you make it.”