Making it. What does that mean? When a person uses the phrase it suggests they have achieved a goal, reached a destination or gained the success they were looking for. I don't mean so much a point A to point B physical journey here, more a process of doing things that carry one forward to the realisation of a task. It could be a relationship, work, personal or sporting goal I guess, plus many others. Making it, means different things to different people as it's personal.
Fake it until you make it, is another phrase I've heard many times, the most recent of which was this week when someone told me that's what they intended to do in their work scenario. I nodded and smiled, but in my head I was thinking, nope, that's not right. I call, bullshit, on the phrase and think it's one of the worst pieces of advice someone could give...and it's even worse to take on the advice and deploy it. That's just my opinion folks, it's ok if you disagree.
Face it until you make it, is a slight twist on the former phrase mentioned and, for myself at least, it's a more responsible way to move forward.
Action
Face it until you make it, means different things to different people, but for me it means many things and, should I list and explain them all here, the post would be very long; don't worry, I'll not bore you totally, just maybe a little bit. Read on if you wish.
To me the phrase prompts me to get up and take action. Activity creates activity and by getting the hell up and taking action one is more likely to move forward. Of course, the right actions must be taken as we're looking for positive movement, not negative. For many this action-phase can be the most difficult to begin and that's where ownership and discipline are required.
Effort
From there comes effort; I like to say massive action. This encompasses such words as persistence, perseverance, accountability and the ability to get a little uncomfortable. Achievement doesn't always come easily, indeed it rarely does, so one must strive for it, work hard. I'm not sure if there's another way to be honest, for me there's not been. Getting after it, pursuing one's goals with passion and effort, is the only real way to attain those things we wish to reach and then...along comes failure.
Failure is the constant companion of success and it generally happens no matter how hard we try to avoid it; that's why I don't try to avoid it. Indeed, I have a fail often mentality because in doing so it means I tried often as well. The fear of failure holds one back and if one fails to move, act and make an effort, one has already failed. So, failure comes regardless.
Failure
What I find excellent about failure is that it crosses off one more way of what not to do from the list, and that it doesn't kill me, or hasn't yet.
It's not whether one failed or not that matters, in fact failure is a great teacher; it allows one to re-evaluate, strategize, plan and redeploy with a renewed vigour. What is also advantageous about failure is that it brings the opportunity to self-motivate, reflect then show some more ownership by standing the fuck up and facing the task, and its various elements once again. Facing it again. It's not an overall negative thing when failure occurs, just something that happens when one takes action.
Repeat
Once a person has done that, stood up and taken another step, they're on a righteous path. You see, it's not what went wrong that matters, it's what a person does when things go wrong that matters. When a person stands up they're accepting the challenge as above, the action, effort fail and stand up challenge. One may fail again, but one may succeed also. From here...It's simple...Fail again, try again, fail again, try again...until success is found, or a determination is made to pivot to different directions, at which point the cycle starts all over again focused on the new goal.
All of this may mean little to those reading it however to me this simple cycle means everything, and it permeates all aspects of my life from professional to personal and my use of this process has been instrumental in attaining failure...and has brought a lot of success. I am physically here, alive, because I applied this strategy to my life and, whilst I've failed many times, I've succeeded many times also.
I don't believe faking it until one makes it is much of an option. It brings rise to half-assed efforts with no strategy, an inability to focus on the goal and doesn't equip a person with the tools, skills and the attributes required to achieve true success. Facing it, on the other hand, gives one the tools and impetus to step forward, the understanding that one is responsible for one's thoughts, efforts and action and that it's ok to fail...if one learns from it and stands up again.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
The image is mine
So many people are afraid of failure. You're right. Failure is the best teacher. It's best to obtain failure quickly. If you don't, you're either a) procrastinating or b) don't want what you're failing to do.
Perfectly said, as I would expect from such a fine gentleman as yourself.
You got it all wrong. I'm not fine, nor a gentleman. Prime example of failure right there.
(Or is it a failure on my part to identify your correct observation?)
Who cares.
I guess you know yourself better than others so I'll defer to your self assessment.
Let me tell you a personal experience…
When I was at my thing… 😉
We had a tennis table that everyone was at it all the time, except me.
I always thought that table tennis 🏓 is a lame sport and it was just my wussy brain though…
Anyways, one day for some reason I asked one of my friends to teach me how to play…
Man I was a lame stupid beginner. Maybe the worst ever… 😅
The guy had to put aside the racket and throw me the ball with hand for me to be able to answer… 😂
Though for me to learn how play the game, I had to just go though the stupid phase. Because it’s just how it works. For you to get it, you have to fail and feel lame..:
And now, I’m not saying I’m the best, but I have something to say…
That is exactly how it happened for me when I started American Football 🏈… 🙂
Good story man. Persistence is one of th best personality traits one can have and combined with a few other things it gets things done.
You mention table tennis...A shit thing to watch but it's kind of fun to play. I play badly but will have a crack at it. Also, the American Football thing. I think we both relate to that one...A little more painful to play than ping pong but both require the same attributes in the learning and playing stages. Effort, persistence, ownership, discipline and more...The same things you would have had to apply in your other thing just recently.
Great response mate. Thanks.
A thick skin is all you need... ;)
I guess the question also becomes... when does someone recognize that they've made it?
I completely agree with what you wrote about failure... and I honestly wish everyone didn't see failure as such a negative. I remember when I was young my uncle complaining to my parents about a bad investment he made. He was so disappointed in himself and while, yes, losing money and time sucks, he no doubt learnt a ton in that venture. I really wished people celebrated failures as much as successes, because they are both attempts and both taught the person a bunch and honestly, the difference between success and failure is oftentimes just dumb luck. I'd rather fail than do nothing that's for sure.
Indeed, failing often is a good thing provided one learns from it. We all know what doing the same thing expecting different results is right? Madness or, insanity, is what they say. But taking the lessons one learns from failing and applying new strategies and plans them moving forward again? That's legitness!
Hahaha, all the legitness!
I've actually always struggled with that particular saying... just because there are always so many variables in every situation. It's so rare (maybe impossible) to do the exact same thing in the exact same way under the exact same conditions... but if that were possible then yes, that would be insanity... but the truth is... each new attempt at something is obviously going to be slightly different, and that difference may actually bring a completely unexpected result.
Excellently said indeed!
Boom! Kudos from the big man... what a great day this turned out to be!
I guess it's just the idea the word "failure" connotes. Nobody wants to be seen as a failure in general, but to fail at something or to fail at an attempt at something, does not make a person a total "failure" as a whole.
It's like we need a different word for when we try something that doesn't work and then have to figure out a different way to do it. It is a lesson after all and how else are we going to learn? Just because we try something that does not get the end result we were seeking, it just means we need to try a different way, not that we are failures.
I really just think it is the word.
I agree that the word has a negative connotation for sure. It probably starts when one is a child getting told not to do this or that by parents. You know, don't colour outside the lines and so on. It becomes so ingrained in a kid and then they go to school and here the same thing. Wear your uniform, stand in line, talk when you're spoken to, write like this. One gets to work and...Same thing*.
So yes, it's the word, but there's other factors as well I think.
Also, people have the choice as adults to see the word for what it is and make a change. Most don't.
"Face it until you make it"
I came across your post and stopped to read it, I'm glad I did.
I'm going through a stage of my life in which I feel I'm not being able to advace as much as I wished I did, so reading the concepts of taking actions, making efforts, failing and repeating until achieving has come very handy to me today.
Thanks for creating this post, my firend! Greetings from Spain.
I'm happy my post made you think about yourself and your life, how you're currently thinking and acting. That's why I write these things; reminds myself and may help others. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Sadly, most of the people I see are just faking, thinking that they're gonna be "making it" sooner or later. Little do they know, they're actually stuck inside a loop.
Yep, exactly. It's a cycle, a spiral really, downward. It's a shame because so many people could benefit by doing a little more, taking some additional ownership and applying some effort.
Cheers for your comment.
People just want the easy way out these days, the word effort is almost nonexistent in many people's dictionaries. It truly doesn't take much. Yet, people would rather create a fake scenario in their heads and keep on dwelling there.
Cheers brother. 🥃
You say it well and I agree.
I hate the fake it till you make it malarkey. You come across these people all the time and they are indeed just bullshitters that hold everyone back because they have to be babied.
That picture of yours above, lol!
Yep, they steal valuable air away from the rest of us valid individuals right? Those buttholes are everywhere though.
One must improve one's looks with an emoji of oneself from time to time. 😆
They do. It is exhausting shepherding them through life when you encounter them.
Engage - EMOJIVISION! :OD
I can't help it if my emoji head is far superior to the real version. 😁
It is a problem we all have!
We must rely upon whit and charm.
And Emoji face, once you let the emoji face out of the box it can never be put away ;OD
A GM I worked for asked me one time, "Why are you stressed?". I replied that I want to get it done correctly. I said, "I don't want to fail."
He looked at me funny and said, "What's the problem about failing?"
I guess it was because at school you received a sticker & a tick for getting it right.
When you got it wrong, there were no stickers or ticks, just disappointment from the teacher.
His rationale was, "You know what you're doing. That's why I employed you. And I know, that if you didn't know, then you'll keep at it, until you do know.
Legit.
Parents start the backslide by saying things like, colour within the lines and other such nutbaggery. That sinks in and when added to by all the other influencers we have...Fear of failure happens.
I agree that the "fake it until you make it" does not work in a lot of situations. You see it in the corporate world where people are in high positions because they used the lower level jobs as stepping stones, and they jumped from company to company to get promoted. Those people often can't do the work of the lower positions and don't even have a good understanding of them either so they look like idiots time and time again in meetings because they can't answer relatively simple questions and constantly have to bring in other employees to provide the answer. They really just become middle men in that their boss ask for a task and then they push it down the chain. They're email pushers lol. Often they get fired to, because they are redundant lol.
Your tweaked version makes more sense bringing in action, effort and practice and all that.
It seems there's more and more such people...Near enough is good enough for society these days, quality declines, understanding declines...We think we're so smart but really, all we really know how to do is Google it. (An exaggeration, I know...But I think you get the point.)
Haha, so true. Good way of putting it.
I know it's true...I googled it!
Lol. (Not really. Honest.) 🙂
🤣🤣🤣
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