Fake it 'til... (pt.3)

FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT...

FAKE IT 'TIL YOU BECOME IT...

BE IT 'TIL YOU BECOME IT!

Let's get right to the point. 

There is more in us than we know. 

More potential. More capacity. More ability. 

MUCH MORE!

Since I am for the moment enamored with Davy Crockett, I'll stretch the analogy out like salt-water taffy. Davy Crockett didn't become Davy Crockett at the Alamo. He was Davy long before. In fact, Davy Crockett was Davy Crockett all the time he was becoming Davy Crockett. Dizzying, but still with me? 

For just a moment you and I are sitting with Davy on the wall of the Alamo the fateful night before Santa Anna's canons reign down fire. You ask the legend, "When did you truly become Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier?" He smiles and as the light from a hundred torches dances in his eyes he says, "I've been Davy Crockett from the beginning. He's who I am, and who I am becoming." 

If I could sum up these last three posts in a phrase, it would be this paradox: 

You and I are who we are becoming... 

and we are becoming who we are!

I remember reading Malcolm Gladwell's wonderful book Outliers. In it Gladwell espouses the 10,000 HOUR RULE. His premise is that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. (The theory has come under fire recently, but It's really not the point here). Gladwell paints his picture with the stories of many successful people; among them John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bill. (That's The Beatles and Bill, as in Gates). 

It is however, possible to draw an errant conclusion from the 10,000 HOUR RULE. The Beatles didn't magically become the Beatles as hour number nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine ticked through the final of it's thirty six hundred seconds. They were The Beatles with every chord strummed and harmony sung the whole time they were becoming the Beatles. Bill Gates was the inquisitive, creative, focused kid during those nights and weekends tucked away in the Seattle computer lab long before Microsoft ever was. 

Two problems with Fake it 'til you make it... The first is that we really can't fake it. I know I can't. I value authenticity far too much and can't stand it's antithesis, inauthenticity - especially when I see it in the mirror! The second problem with the concept is in the destination - ... make it. What does it mean to make it? When have we made it? Will we know? And the corollary questions have haunted the successful for eons: WHAT NEXT? and; IS THIS ALL THERE IS?

So we ditched Fake it 'til you make it... in favor of Fake it 'til you become it... Definitely better; but the transformation isn't complete. It still has us acting outside of ourselves (i.e. inauthentically). It does, however bring a sense that journey is the point; destination is actually - dare I say it - kind of irrelevant. 

So we come to the final transformation: BE IT 'TIL YOU BECOME IT...

We act on our beliefs; what we believe about ourselves, others, the world around us, and the deeper purpose behind. (Herein lies the faith component I alluded to in the first post on the subject.) And though our beliefs are all the time being honed and defined, they make up the engine that drives us.  

Our Beliefs determine and direct our actions. 

It is important to note that we act on our beliefs and not on what we say we believe - a subtle, yet massive distinction! May I once again make a case for the gargantuan value of authenticity?! But I'll save this one for future posts. (I believe I will soon be writing a subsequent vein of posts delving more deeply into faith). 

So there you have it - or at least all I have to add to the discussion at this point. There is more in you than you know. More potential. More capacity. More ability. Much more! Believe it... Act on it... Become it! As (coach) Herb Brooks said to (goalie) Jim Craig after the USA was embarrassingly beaten 10-3 by the Russians just prior to the MIRACLE of Lake Placid: "Have you (Jim)? Given me your very best? Because I know there's a lot more in you, a whole other level, that for some reason you just don't want to go..." 

My encouragement to you... Go there! I used to listen to a radio preacher that closed every broadcast with these words:

You are who you are... because of the 

Master Artist who put you together. 

Enjoy the Journey!!!

BE IT... YOU ARE BECOMING IT!!!

For now...

D