I love playing the What IF game.

What if I act as if I’m confident, even when I’m not sure I am?

What if I act as if I know how, when my knowledge is limited, but I’m willing to train, practice, and get up to speed fast?

What if I act as if my business is thriving, when I’m still on training wheels, and I believe the services I offer will help people live better lives?

What if I quit my job? What would happen? What would I do next?

What if I told people the truth? Always tell the truth. That one never fails.

Acting as if is not faking it. It is rehearsing the future.

I know something about this. I spent years as a professional actor in New York. Actors pretend to be people they are not. They imagine and pretend for a sincere reason. When they become another character and the audience believes them, that is success. The pretending is real work, and it is honest work.

Seth Godin put it simply in a short blog post. He noted that some restaurants keep a picture of the local food critic in the kitchen, so everyone can raise their game if she walks in. The better approach, he says, is to act as if she’s always there. “We can’t know for sure. But we can act as if it’s going to happen.”

In a podcast interview, he made a related point: being a professional means acting as if. The surgeon doesn’t wait to feel ready or cancel because he is not in the mood. They show up and do the work.

IF is crucial. It propels you forward. It often creates results and outcomes you are proud of.

Here’s a recent example. I agreed to record a three-to-four-minute video for a real estate project I’m working on with two colleagues. I had hardly any experience filming with my iPhone. And I believed I could do it.

The IF inspired me. I asked my colleagues questions about the process. I studied YouTube tutorials. Then I spent three days learning the script, testing, rehearsing, recording, and flubbing. Many, many times. And I did it. It happened because I was committed to What If.

That’s the thrill of it. You pretend with sincerity until the pretending becomes practice, and the practice becomes who you are. You become what you want and hope for.

It won’t happen by wishing. It happens with work, the right state of mind, and belief.

So go ahead. Play the game.

What IF?

Thanks – Michael (he, him)

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This also is something to act on – Commitment Creates the Change You Want.

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