Empiricism is a dying art. We’ve lost faith in our senses, in the evidence — any evidence — before us. We’ve lost the conviction that what looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck must be a duck. We’ve jettisoned the epistemological underpinnings of our historical belief systems. We’ve convinced ourselves that what is real is imaginary; that what is imaginary is real. And maybe we’re right.
According to an article in Inc. — “How to Beat the Odds and Stay Married As an Entrepreneur ” — all you have to do is:
“Act as if” your spouse is a really big deal … By tricking your brain to believe you are something, you then become it.
Translation: Fake it till you make it. That got me to re-thinking some of my most fundamental and longstanding personal, professional, and philosophical convictions.
I used to think substance and sincerity were necessary and counted for something. But I see now I’ve been way too serious in my thinking, conservative in my communicative approaches, and a tad stuffy. No more.
Having conquered my shortsightedness (thank you, Inc.), I’m about to open entirely new vistas. And I’ll be changing the advice I dispense utterly.
Here’s a start: If you’re broke, and you’re attempting to start a software shop in your Uncle Fritz’s garage, act as if your company is really a big deal. Rather than walking around with your tail between your legs; scrounging for venture funding; sleeping on the back seat of Uncle Fritz’s Packard, which is up on blocks in the garage that doubles as your World Headquarters; and eating out of dumpsters, strut shamelessly as if you’re a multi-national conglomerate. Trick your brain into believing you’re a well-to-do big shot and — Cha-Ching! — you’ll get out of hot water and into a hot business faster than you can say, “Crash and burn.”
It’s the real-world manifestation of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Selling vaporware? No problem. Just act as if your product cures cancer and heals lepers. Got multiple implementations tanking by the numbers? Fear not. Just act as if you’re bringing in every project ahead of schedule and under budget. Stretched so thin you have to take developers offline to handle technical support cases? Not to worry. Just act as if you have an endlessly deep bench and a never-ending stream of talent. About to stiff your investors to the tune of eight figures? Don’t lose a wink of shuteye. Just act as if money grows on trees and you have a humongous crew of migrant farm workers picking it by the truckload.
See how easy it is? It’s a miracle of modern psychology and contemporary communications.
Take it from me: I’m the most honest person you’ve ever met. I have the most unassailable credibility and the most inviolable integrity. I mean what I say, say what I mean, and succeed at everything.
Reality is so yesterday.
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Image by geralt, courtesy of pixabay.com.