Hey guys welcome back. We’re ready to keep it going here today what I want to talk about is a widely used self improvement technique that can really help you take your mental game to the next level. It’s not some secret thing that no one knows about but I do think that it’s an underrated strategy that’s often overlooked. It’s the “acting as If” technique. Like I said this is something you can hear about from all sorts of different places; therapy, motivational speakers, nlp training, life coaches etc.
I believe it would fall into the category of nlp actually.
But anyway its a fairly self explanatory technique but I’m going to drill down into why it’s so powerful and try to impress its value on you. So the whole point of the acting as if technique is that you’re basically tricking your brain into thinking that it’s more successful that it already is. you really are hacking your hardware here and getting more our of your mental abilities. So basically what’s happening is whenever you feel like you don’t have what it takes to accomplish something, that you’re not good enough or smart enough, when you feel stuck or just inadequate; what you’re going to do is take the time to act “as if” you were the kind of person who was already accomplishing what you want to.
If you guys listened to my episode on consistency that will help you understand what’s happening here a little better, but basically our brains really really hate it when we’re inconsistent. If we say that something is true our minds brains start looking for evidence that it’s true. If we act as if we believe something is true it’s extremely uncomfortable for us to admit to ourselves that we believe in the opposite. So for example if we constantly talk about how we hate our job, it’s going to be physically uncomfortable for us to act as though we do enjoy our job. Even if we have a good day we’ll still look to complain and it just won’t feel right for us to say “hey this isn’t so bad” because that’s inconsistent with what we’ve been saying for so long.
This discomfort is called cognitive dissonance, and it’s a really interesting phenomenon in psychology. People will go to ridiculous lengths to ensure that they don’t experience cognitive dissonance. And knowing this and how it works allows us to hack it.
When I was a kid I loved to argue with adults about everything. I still do really. But even when I was little it was so empowering for me to interrogate the grown ups and hit them with question after question. It was partially to outsmart someone in authority and partially because I knew that eventually I could irritate them to the point where I had gained some kind of victory over them. And doing this constantly as a kid I quickly learned that if I tried hard enough I could argue against everything. Even when I knew I was wrong I could find something to use as evidence and just make a case for myself. And looking back on that as a student of human nature now I understand that this is because the mind has an incredible ability to justify whatever it chooses to believe. The mind craves order and needs to make sense of everything. If it can’t justify why it believes something it experiences cognitive dissonance and just starts to fall apart. So to keep from feeling that dissonance it finds evidence to support whatever belief you have chosen. If you say that your job sucks every negative aspect of that job is going to stand out and take priority. Your brain goes “here, look at this this and this. Clearly my job sucks!” But if you really wanted to change your approach towards your work you might spend a day or two saying the exact opposite. If you spend enough time saying “my job is great” then things will start to change. They won’t change all at once, actually at first you’ll feel some of that cognitive dissonance. It will be uncomfortable and you’ll even feel it on a physical level. But eventually your brain will catch up and realize that “hey, I’m saying something different to things must’ve changed. I’d better start finding evidence to support this new theory.” Then you start seeing all the ways your job doesn’t suck. You’ll become grateful for what you have and you behavior will change to support that.
So this is how acting as if really works. It’s not some hype up nonsense. It’s a valid neurological reprogramming technique that relies on known psychological principles to create lasting change. So let’s get into exactly how to use it.
1st you have to figure out where you want to go. You need a clear vision of the end result and the person you want to become. This can absolutely be an idealistic person that seems out of reach. Actually the more ambitious your vision is the more likely it is to excite you. If you’re trying to change a certain behavior figure out what it is and what the exact opposite of that behavior would be.
2 next, you need to rehearse the behavior. Imagine some situations where you may be challenged to act according to your old habits. Ask yourself “how would the person in my vision act” and imagine acting as that person over and over again in your head. The more you can rehearse the better. Your conscious mind might know the difference between imagination and reality but your unconscious mind and your body do not. That’s why you get an adrenaline rush when you imagine monsters in the dark hallway. You’re hacking your unconscious mind and your body to respond as if you were really acting out this new behavior and making it a habit.
Maybe you can’t live up the the lofty ideals of your vision. But that’s ok just figure out what you can do, and do that. Make sure to ask yourself the best questions possible. The better questions you ask the better answers you’ll get. When you ask questions your mind has a way of coming up with answers on its own.
What actionable steps can you take right now?
How can I move into alignment with that vision I have of myself?
How would my ideal self act in this or that situation?
Start doing this and watch what you say think and do like a hawk. If you really commit to this technique it won’t be long before you create real and lasting change.
don’t forget to find me on Instagram at jack grey psychology hacks.
until next time.
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