Act as If – Become Your Ideal Self

 

ACT AS IF WHILE BECOMING YOUR IDEAL SELF

This principle affirms the importance of living as if you already are the person you want to become. It is impressively effective, and well understood by high achievers, because most successful people – at some point in their careers – realized the importance of acting as if they were already competent/successful.
One Friday morning, an eager young student at Stanford University stood before Louis Janin. He was seeking part-time employment from Janin, who informed him, “All I need right now is a stenographer.”
“Fine,” the young man said eagerly, “I’ll take the job!” Then he added, “But I can’t come back until Tuesday.”
Janin agreed, and the next Tuesday the young man reported for work as scheduled. Janin asked him, “Why is it you couldn’t come back before Tuesday?”
The young man replied, “Because I had to rent a typewriter and learn how to use it.”
This zealous new typist was Herbert Hoover, whose ’I-can-get-it-done’ attitude eventually led him through the doors of the White House.

I LIVE THE PART AS I DILIGENTLY PURSUE MY GOALS

Using your imagination to create positive images requires imagining those experiences as if they were true. Remember:

• Any belief can be reevaluated and challenged (they might be false ideas that you’ve acted on for years because you thought they were true).
• New beliefs can replace the old ones.
• When you focus, in great detail, on your new beliefs (your ideal self), your conscious mind directs your subconscious mind to accept these new images.
• Your subconscious mind always agrees with images your conscious mind creates.
• Then, acting as if it were true can make it true.

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Here’s an example of how this “As If” principle works:
Sharon, a brand new salesperson in her company, was thrilled with the product and the prospect of earning good money. However, she was scared to death of selling the product, and she didn’t believe she could do it. In fact, explaining the most obvious benefits of the product to her closest friend seemed an impossible feat.
When Sharon heard about the principle of acting as if, she agreed to give it a try. This is what she did in her mind as she prepared to give her first presentation:

1. Sharon thought, in great detail, about the experience relative to her physical appearance. She first imagined what she would wear: a good-looking business-casual pantsuit. She imagined exactly what her jewelry looked like, and how she’d wear her hair. She thought about her posture and her facial expressions.
2. Sharon imagined every detail of the presentation. She planned how she would diligently prepare. Sharon knew that preparation would result in knowledge, expertise, and confidence. In her mind’s eyes, she saw herself on her couch reading the material she’d present. She saw herself practicing the presentation in front of a mirror, and she imagined the exact way she’d look as she presented the information to customers.
3. In her mind, Sharon visualized herself communicating positively (with both her body language and verbally) during the presentation. On the stage of her mind, she saw herself smiling and poised, standing with the confidence of an expert. She imagined understanding the challenges of her customers, and felt compassion. This gave her insight regarding the best way to sell to them. She imagined herself speaking clearly, kindly, articulately and authoritatively. Sharon smiled as she realized that she really could do this!
4. Sharon then imagined herself explaining the benefits of the product in a way that customers not only understood, but motivated them to buy. She saw they were excited about the product and asked questions that Sharon easily answered. Then, she imagined one customer asking a question that she couldn’t answer. She heard herself calmly reply, “Mr. Smith, I don’t know the answer to that question, but I’ll find out and get back to you this afternoon.” She noticed that she didn’t lose her composure, but remained poised and confident.
5. Sharon saw herself closing the deal authoritatively. Her customers bought the product and ordered even more than Sharon had anticipated. She was pleased, as she imagined sharing the good news with her family at the dinner table.

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If you imagine scenes like this, over and over in your mind, your confidence level will increase, your performance will improve, and you will be able to act AS IF you already are the person you want to become.
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Now let’s look at the example of Sharon actually making the presentation and let’s see how she took it beyond the mental practice to acting as if throughout the entire process:

1. As Sharon dressed and got ready on the morning of her presentation she repeated this in her mind: “I love what I do! I’m a confident, successful salesperson who wants to share the good news about my product with everyone I meet.”
2. As Sharon drove to the presentation, she continued to fill her mind with positive thoughts. When negative, doubtful thoughts pushed their way in, she replaced them with positive ones. As Sharon walked in the door of the building where she was to meet her customers, she squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and said to herself, “I can do this!”
3. Sharon smiled radiantly as she met her potential customers. She immediately put them at ease and connected with them as she asked questions about where they lived, their families, and their activities of the day.
4. Sharon then moved into her presentation with ease and confidence. Because she was well prepared, she boldly described the characteristics and benefits of her product. She then enthusiastically explained how much she and others enjoyed using it. As Sharon spoke, she was acting as if she was the person she’d watched on the stage of her mind so many times. She was the person she had imagined herself to be!
5. When Sharon closed the deal, it wasn’t as easy as she had imagined. For just a moment her confidence wavered and she stumbled a bit when her customers countered in ways Sharon hadn’t anticipated. However, she regained her composure by honestly saying, “I understand how you might want to go that direction, but let’s look at it this way . . .” and she maneuvered the conversation around to review the benefits of the product again.
6. Although Sharon didn’t sell as much product as she’d imagined in her mind, she did sell a good amount and closed the deal with a discussion of future sales.
7. At the dinner table that night, Sharon described her experience in glowing terms. She acknowledged that imagining in great detail and acting as if were the keys to her success.

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Before we leave this principle, remember that as you act as if while diligently pursuing your goals, you should schedule into your morning and evening routine just 10 or 15 minutes of relaxation. This is the time to both rehearse in your mind, and emotionally enjoy, the experience of achieving your most important goals. Imagine with great detail – see, hear, feel – and try to create the exact sensation you’ll feel when you reach your goal.
This exercise, if done twice each day, will make deep impressions on your subconscious mind and will create neural pathways between where you are and where you want to go. It will be especially effective at night because of how the subconscious mind internalizes experiences while you sleep. Before long you’ll find yourself feeling a sense of absolute certainty that you’ll reach your goals. This certainty motivates the actions that guarantee success.

~ Dr. Paula

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