You've probably heard the expression "fake it until you make it." People ask me, is that something valuable? Is that something we should practice? Will that bring us joy?

My responses is, with new skills that we learn, as we master a new skill, we go through different phases. First, we're unconsciously incompetent. We don't know what we don't know and we can't do it.

Then we become consciously incompetent of a skill that we need. This is where 'fake it until you make it' becomes very valuable. While we're consciously incompetent we have to force ourselves to try this new thing, to build the skill and it will feel uncomfortable, it won't feel great, and there will be no joy. But the joy is in the long term. We know that we're pushing through this new ceiling, we're learning this new skill. We have to fake this until we make it and then gradually, over time, as we repeat it, we become more competent.

As we become consciously competent of this new skill the joy will start flowing, because now we're enjoying what we're doing.

The real joy comes when we're so masterful at this new skill that it becomes something we want to do every day. It brings us energy, because now we've become unconsciously competent about this thing.

So those are the four phases: we're first unconsciously incompetent, then we're consciously incompetent, then we're consciously competent, and then we're unconsciously competent. We have to grow through those phases, and faking until you make it, is a way of pushing us through this. We need to realize that during that period when we're pushing and learning this new skill, it will be a period of being uncomfortable, feeling a bit like a fake. So that's why we faking it until we make it, but once we make it the joy will follow.

Have a great week.

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