The space between fake it and make it

I wrote in last week’s blog How to Build a Successful Bookkeeping Business about how I tend to live my life in the space between “fake it ‘til you make it” and “don’t make a dick of yourself.”

The gap between those two points is most definitely outside the comfort zone but that is where growth and learning occur.

It's saying yes to something before feeling completely ready and then having the fear of making a dick of yourself propel you to be ultra-prepared, to learn or practice or do whatever it’s going to take so that you can deliver without feeling like you embarrassed yourself.

Last year when I put my hand up to speak at the ICNZB conference I was sooooo nervous. But after I said yes I became very driven by “don’t make a dick of yourself” so I was very prepared, as much as I could be with the time I had anyway.

I was still nervous if I'm being completely honest, but if you happened to be there in my session you may not have noticed. Fake it 'til you make it. Prepare as much as you can and then do the scary thing with as much confidence as you can muster.

Same thing with showing up on video or doing Facebook lives. I used to be terrified of doing them. I’d record like 6 videos, re-doing them as I stumbled over words or messing with my hair or fixing a camera angle, and then hold I'd my breath while I hit publish on a video when I was happy that it wasn’t too awful.

Doing that regularly increased my confidence on video which made me feel more confident about doing FB lives and now I feel a lot more confident.

Just to clarify, fake it ‘til you make it doesn’t mean pretending to be someone that you’re not, or being out of integrity with your words or actions. It just means that sometimes you have to stretch into your potential in order to grow.

Abraham Maslow said “You will either step forward into growth or step back into safety.”

So, this week I’d ask you to consider, where in your life you are living very safely at the expense of growth?

I hope you’re all doing well.

PS: Just a reminder that you can apply for a free strategy session with me if you’re feeling that you need some direction with your bookkeeping business. It's crazy times right now and I want to help. Just reach out.