Fake It Till You Become It

I watched this video which was the TED talk by social psychologist, Amy Cuddy. The beginning part was very interesting and informative. She talked about the connection between power poses and body postures. Both of them acted as nonverbal communication. Take for an example, athletes spread out their hands widely when they win the tournaments in order to show their prides. On the other hand, if humans and animals were powerless, we wrapped and closed up ourselves. 

I agree by nodded my head while watching. The most inspiring part was she discussed about “fake it till you becomes it” by sharing her own story. The reason behind that was the body changed the minds, the minds changed the behavior and the behavior changed the outcomes. She was in the car accident when she was 19 years old, which make her IQ decreased 2 standard deviations. She often identified with being smart. When this smart identity away from her, she felt entirely powerless. 

People told her she wouldn’t be able to finish the college but she worked hard and eventually graduated. This took 4 years which was longer than her peers. Then, an angel advisor took her and she ended up in Princeton. She thought “I’m not supposed to be here, I’m imposter”. The night before her first talk, she was afraid and told the angel advisor she was quitting. Her angel advisor said

"You’re not quitting, I’m gambled on you and you stand, you’re going to stay. You’re going to fake it. You’re going to do every talk that you’ve asked to do. You’re going to do it, do it until terrified, paralyzed, and out of body experiences till you have the moment you say “oh my god, I’m doing this. I’m actually doing this"

And she finally did it. She went to Northwestern then to Harvard. Talk after talk and she no longer thought “I’m not supposed to be here” anymore. While she was in Harvard, a student that never talked in the class in the entire semester came to see her and said “I’m not supposed to be here”. At this time, Amy Cuddy’s tears started falling. That was the moment for her. She realized she did not felt like that anymore but the student did. She understood her student’s feelings very well. She told the student

"You’re supposed to be here, and tomorrow you’re going to fake it, you’re going to make yourself powerful, you’re going into the classroom and give the best comments ever"

The student did it. The student gave the best comments ever. They met again and she realized she faked it till became it. She changed it. So, 

"Don’t fake it till you make it, fake it till you becomes it”.  

Last but not least, she encouraged by saying “tiny tweaks lead to big changes”. Before facing stressful situations, hands on the hips for two minutes in the bathroom, elevator or behind the close door. It will configure your brain to cope in the best situation. We’ve to show who I’m in the certain situation and significant changed the outcomes of our life. So extremely inspired by this video after that. “Fake it till you became it” was my life motto. I must confident in myself, act like the person I want to be and worked hard on it. And I will win in one day. 

Here's the video: