Did you ever feel and maybe even say out loud, OFTEN possibly? Maybe you even wailed it:

“I CAN’T DO THIS!! IT’S NOT IN ME!!

I have. Often.

But the masters offered me a gem of insight that I pocketed for perpetuity and return to frequently for sustenance. I’ve shared it before and it’s been laid on my heart to share it again. As with most wisdom gems, it’s not new and it’s not a secret.

Operate in the fake-it mode until you’re feeling it.

Because utilizing the fake-it mode isn’t about being fake. It’s about training through habituation of practice.

It was put to me this way:

You will eventually come to understand that operating in the fake-it-til-you-feel-it mode is less about faking as it is assuming an identity within yourself that while foreign to you in the beginning, is not actually “false”, but merely unexplored. How can it not be a part of you if you pulled it from somewhere within you? You’re merely tapping a resource within that you had not yet chosen to access. Working a muscle that had previously been neglected.

It’s my belief that the muscles of your being are already within you, just as the muscles of your physical body are. Utilizing the concept of SAID (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) Principle (the body adapts to the type of physical stress and demands placed upon it) this same principle can be applied to our being.

Let’s say you’ve never made a habit of working out. Obviously, any previously neglected muscles are going to feel differently after your first workout than they will come to feel after your 100th. And while you may have felt like an imposter the first time you picked up those weights or got on that treadmill, sometimes “assuming the role” of the future self we’re endeavoring to become is essential in getting us started toward blazing a new trail.

A new trail that will eventually become the well-worn trail, gradually leading you to the next patch of unknown territory you’re meant to blaze.

It won’t be familiar to you. You may not know exactly where it will take you. You probably won’t look like you “know what you’re doing” at first because you’re not meant to.

You’re simply meant to lace up your hikers and show up with an open heart and mind and the willingness to be led into the day’s unfolding.

Faking it til you feel it is not an exercise in the false. Believing you have within you the capacity to strengthen, build, and grow EVERY muscle (especially those that remain visually unseen) is an act of faith that requires the very stamina of soul it’s helping you build.