1. Choose an area of your life where you would like to make changes. It could be home, work, children, whatever. You may have been paralysed with fear and inaction recently, because of all your 'what ifs' and 'yes buts' but all that is about to change.
2. Ask yourself this important question: 'If I truly believe that I matter in this area of my life, what would I do?' Make a list right now of 10 things you would do if you believed that you mattered.
3. Start doing the actions on the list. Right now. Step by step from one to 10. You are now 'acting as if' you believed you mattered. Suspend any disbelief that you matter, just pretend that you do. Fake it.
4. As you begin to take these actions, you will soon discover something that your confident inner self knew all along. You do matter. You do count. You can make a difference. You are no longer 'acting as if' - it is true.
When we wait to 'feel as if', we keep ourselves stuck in fear. When we 'act as if' the power of taking action moves us forward, and ultimately changes how we feel. We then want to take even more action. It's a beautiful, virtuous circle.
'Acting as if' is a simple confidence-building technique for moving forward despite fears and anxieties. I first discovered it in the book which is now required reading for all my coaching clients Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by self-development goddess Susan Jeffers. http://www.susanjeffers.com
