Stop Faking It and Start Making It-- 5 Keys

“Fake it until you make it” is a cliche that has been ingrained into entrepreneurial culture for decades. The problem is, the more you think about this advice, the less sense it makes. Faking skills and confidence leads to fake relationships and drowning in imposter syndrome. 

There are lots of ways to move past the “faking it” stage and start out right, actually “making it” instead. In my latest article on LinkedIN, I laid out five strategies for “making it” rather than faking it. They are:

1. Be real, not fake. Showing your true self improves interactions with business partners, team members and customers. Authenticity and vulnerability is not a weakness, it’s a strength. 
2. Focus on your strengths. Take on the things you’re great at, celebrate your successes, and rely on others for the things you aren’t sure how to do. Don’t fake it by pretending you have it all figured out. Focus on the things you are good at. For everything else, ask for help.
3. The 80/20 rule. Your efforts should be 80% focused on things you already know how to do, and 20% on stretching toward developing new skills or products. 
4. Show compassion for yourself. Things will go wrong in business. If you’re building the right kind of business, you’re trying to do something completely new, not just to you, but to everyone. Don’t worry so much about the things that don’t work out, just learn from them and move on.
5. Stop being and start becoming. Comparison robs us not just of joy, but of progress. Trying to be what you think people want you to be won’t get you very far in business. Instead, focus on the future and how you will get there. Being is holding still, becoming is all about evolving. 

Faking it just isn’t a good business strategy. For more advice on how to overcome this mentality, check out the full article over on LinkedIn, or get a copy of my book, The Entrepreneur’s Paradox. 

Now get out there and start making it!