"Fake it till you make it" (or "Fake it until you make it") is an aphorism that suggests that by imitating confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset, a person can realize those qualities in their real life and achieve the results they seek.[1] [2] [3]
The phrase is first attested some time before 1973.[4] The earliest reference to a similar phrase occurs in the Simon & Garfunkel song "Fakin' It", released in 1968 as a single and also on their Bookends album. Simon sings, "And I know I'm fakin' it, I'm not really makin' it."[5]
Similar advice has been offered by a number of writers over time:
In the law of attraction movement, "act as if you already have it", or simply "act as if", is a central concept:
See main article: Facial feedback hypothesis. In the 1920s, Alfred Adler developed a therapeutic technique that he called "acting as if", asserting that "if you want a quality, act as if you already have it". This strategy gave his clients an opportunity to practice alternatives to dysfunctional behaviors.[6] Adler's method is still used today and is often described as role play.
"Faking it till you make it" is a psychological tool discussed in neuroscientific research.[7] [8] [9] A 1988 experiment by Fritz Strack claimed to show that mood can be improved by holding a pen between the user's teeth to force a smile,[6] but a posterior experiment failed to replicate it, due to which Strack was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for psychology in 2019.[10] A later 2022 study about strategies to counter emotional distress found forced smiling not more effective than forced neutral expressions and other strategies of emotional regulation.[11]