Fake It Till You Make It in 3 Simple Steps

By Tania Tetrault Vrga

I get it. It’s intimidating. Maybe you are brand new to the whole fitness thing, or maybe it’s been awhile since you set foot in the gym or joined an activity.

Maybe you are waiting for the perfect time to start. You tell yourself that you just need to get in better shape before you join. There will always be a good reason for why you shouldn’t start today.

Inertia is a powerful thing. It’s much easier to just keep doing what you are doing than to start something new. Joining a gym or taking up a new sport will require an initial period of adaptation. During this phase, you’ll have to ask a few questions and trust in your trainers or your teammates. You may feel awkward or uncomfortable for a while.

It doesn’t take long to benefit from the positive effects of exercise, and before long you’ll be the one answering the newbie questions, and you’ll be looking forward to training sessions.

So all you really need is a strategy to get through that initial discomfort.

One way to approach this problem is with the old adage “Fake it til you make it.”

1-Start By Looking The Part

Joining a new group is always more fun if you are wearing an outfit that makes you feel confident. That confidence will translate to better posture and better performance. It doesn’t mean you can’t be humble or ask questions, it just means that you are walking into this experience with the confidence of someone who knows what they want.

2-Decide How You React To New Things

Another aspect of feeling more confident you can fake is your reaction to the discomforts of training. Exercise requires pushing the limits of comfort sometimes. We are not talking about no pain no gain here. But if you want something you have never had you must be willing to do things you have never done.

So instead of grimaces and 'I can't' self talk, try controlling your breath and cracking a smile. Slowed breath and smiling are both well-researched ways of changing your body and brain chemistry to start accepting and enjoying new situations.

3-Start By Making A List

Fake it til you make it can actually be a life changing motto, if you interpret it to mean faking the daily habits that embody your goals. To make a change in your life, you need to pretend to be the person you want to be. Let’s say you want to exercise to enhance your mood, and to lean out. You’re not going to be successful by acting like an out of shape depressed person.

So do the exact opposite! Act like the fit happy person you want to be!

Out of shape depressed people generally don’t spend a lot of time exercising, and fit happy people tend to incorporate physical activity in their daily lives.

So fake it till you make it and imagine what your life would be like as that fit happy person. Write down real activities that you would enjoy doing everyday if you were that person and start to incorporate those habits into your daily routine.

You don't have to change everything at once. Start by choosing the most important thing to you on your list and try to do it everyday for the next week. If it's going for a walk, try just 10-15 minutes daily and then write down how it made you feel afterwards. Tracking your wins will also help you to stay motivated and focused on your goals.

Next week incorporate the next thing on your list. Keep this pattern up and you will wake up one day and realize that you are that fit happy person and that you don’t need to fake it anymore.

If you have any questions, drop us a comment below.

We are happy to help :)