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FMQ 516 Acting As If Without The Fake

Anxiety to Confidence - The Personal Development Unplugged Podcast

Release Date: 10/07/2025

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Acting As If Without The Fake

Welcome back to another Five Minute Quickie!

You’ve probably heard the phrase “fake it till you make it”—but let’s be honest, it feels like a lie, doesn’t it? That’s because it is. When you try to copy someone else—how they walk, talk, or behave—you’re not acting as if, you’re acting as them. And deep down, you know it. You can’t fool yourself.

So what’s the real power behind acting as if? It’s stepping into the version of you who has already achieved your goal. Not pretending, not faking—just allowing that future you to live in the present. That’s when you tap into the physiology and psychology of success.

In this short FMQ, I’ll share why “acting as if” works, why faking never does, and how to make it real so you can accelerate your goals, your dreams, and your enjoyment of the journey. 🚀

Why not share it with a friend

https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq-516-acting-as-if-without-the-fake

Have thoughts or questions about this? Email me: feedback@personaldevelopmentunplugged.com

Shine Brightly 🌟

Paul


Hey there! I’d love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at feedback@personaldevelopmentunplugged.com.


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Music Credits

Music by Wataboi from Pixabay, Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay, Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay, Music by freegroove from Pixabay, Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay.

And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism

 

Welcome back to amusing, a five minute quick amusing. Acting as if, but acting as if without fake, because it sometimes feels a fake and I'm going to tell you why it feels a fake, and how to make it real, real. You see, acting as if is one of the most powerful, I mean it, the real most powerful ways of achieving your goals.

 

To achieve your goals, not only to achieve them, but to achieve them quicker, bigger, better, and enjoy them. Because there's one thing about getting what you want, it's enjoying the journey, enjoying the adventure. Becoming who you really are in that adventure, in the journey, not just the start and the end.

 

And if you want to get ahead of the others, get ahead of the game, be in that top percentile that achieves their goals, above and beyond, quicker than anybody else, then acting as if is a thing. And I'm going to tell you now why it feels fake. You see, if you try copying somebody, copying their mannerisms, the way they speak, the way they move, as a copy, it's not you.

 

It's them, and you're not bloody them. And it will feel fake, because you cannot fool yourself. You know, in effect, you're lying to yourself when you're trying to act that way.

 

Because it's like acting like them, not acting as if. It's copying, and you're not a copy. Yes, you can model people, modeling is a different thing, it's a different art, it's not copying.

 

Modeling is getting into someone's mind and noticing the strategies they use, and then using the strategy, not just a copy. And that's why it feels like fake, because you're lying to yourself. But the thing is, how do you act as if? Well, I'm going to dive deeper into this again in a longer podcast, because I know it's so important.

 

And yes, Cloughie, you can say you've done it before, and I'll do it again, and I'll keep doing it, because the more I do it, the more I get better at explaining it, and the more, well, it'll be different every time. There'll be nuances, and you'll get it differently. Every time you listen to it, you'll learn a little bit more, because that's what happens.

 

But acting as if is how you would behave if you'd already achieved your goal. And that's the thing. It's how you would be.

 

So you're acting as if you've already got it, not acting as if you're somebody bloody else. So that would be then acting as if you're you, but just in the future. So bringing that future you who's achieved that goal into the present.

 

And that means you'll achieve your goal better, because you've already feel that you've got it. You'll be using the physiology, psychology of excellence of achieving that goal. Simple as that.

 

So we're going to dive deeper again, how we're going to do it, what we're going to do, and how to make sure that, you know, faking, faking, I hate the word fake. You know, fake it till you make it. It's a lie.

 

It's a lie, it doesn't bloody work. But if you want the power of acting as if to achieve your goals, to do your best, to be the best version of yourself, to create the life that you really want, you know, just imagine this. If you have this goal out there that you really want, and you're going to wait till the end to feel it, what a waste of time.

 

Why can't you have that feeling all the way through? Because that's the feeling that you want, and you're telling your unconscious mind exactly how you want to be. And that's how the speed comes, how you accelerate your goals, accelerate your dreams, and accelerate your achievements. There you go.

 

Calm down, Cloughie, calm down. Well, take a breath. Just take a little breath, and just think, well, that's what we're going to dive into on a longer podcast.

 

If, I always say this, if there's anything that, that comes up when you listen to this and you think about it, and you go, ooh, that feels a little bit, let me know what it is. Email me, feedback at personaldevelopmentunplugged.com, and I'll make sure that I can add things into it and create a little bit of a space for you to create a process that will allow you to be your best. Okay? Enjoy.

 

Go fly. And share this episode before you fly, as you fly. I'll see you in the longer podcast.

 

Ta-ra. But first. We all need time to de-stress, don't we? We all need that space.

 

Everyone needs space. Our own place of personal retreat. And going to retreats are great.

 

But if you can't, why not have one in your mind? You know, if you don't go to that special place, that stress just builds and builds and builds. But if you have a place in your mind where you can go and de-stress, work out problems, think of all the wonderful things that you'll be able to do. The wonderful feelings.

 

So that's why I've created this program of four hypnosis tracks to build and be and have your own inner retreat. You can have whatever you like in that inner retreat. There can be rooms, there can be libraries, healing rooms, different lighting, maybe a fire in the corner, a special chair, maybe incense, anything that you choose.

 

Some people have a computer that stores all the memories you've ever had. That library of everything you've ever read or everything you ever need to know. Maybe a healing room, a room where you can just go to and have your own inner healing or own inner relaxation.

 

So what have I done? I've created these four tracks. One to build, one to extend it whenever you need to extend it, and then to be able to go there for a particular period of time or even a longer period of time. So you've got two tracks of just going and being in that special place where you can take a problem with you, maybe muse it over in that special place, or you can leave it there.

 

Leave it to incubate in your own conscious mind so when you come back, well, you can just have the answers come, or they might just come consciously. It's all there for you. All you have to do is go to portcloughonline.com forward slash retreat, have a look, give you a nice little video there, just see if it's for you.

 

I think it's a lovely little program. There's nothing to lose because there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. It's a lovely program, and I think it was one I wanted to do for myself because I just thought it's such a wonderful thing to do.

 

I love retreats, but hey, this is your own personal one. Have a look, enjoy. Warning, you are now leaving the unplugged mind of Paul Clough.

 

It's time to fly in the air. Be brave, my friend. Personal development unplugged.

 Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited 

Personal development [self improvement] [self development] [NLP] [Hypnosis]