There is an impactful technique used by executive coaches to help their clients to develop new and empowering mindsets. The ‘As If’ technique involves thinking about your old personality as being on vacation, while you act ‘as if’ you are a different personality.
For instance, act ‘as if’ you are calm, confident and successful for a period of two weeks, just so that you can test out different styles of behaving, thinking and interacting to see how they work. Keep a diary of your experience. At the end of the two weeks, explore what you have learned.
Envision success
One of my current clients is an entrepreneur who is struggling to see herself as super successful. She is good, and does some great work to develop her products, her brand and her business. Yet she remains convinced that there is some missing ingredient that separates her from those at the top of her industry.
She recently confessed to me that despite being committed as an entrepreneur, she still explores the employment adverts in the paper regularly to see if there is anything that would fit her skills better.
By adopting a “I will act ‘As If’ I am a super successful entrepreneur already” attitude, and role-playing how a super successful entrepreneur might behave in various situations, this dynamic women has stepped into her own power. Confidence. Self-belief. Affirmation. Magnetism. These are just some of the side-effects of this transformational exercise.
Develop your own ‘as if’ approach
Take the following steps to develop your ‘As If’ approach;
- Write a description of your current entrepreneurial and life style and ways of behaving
- Write a description of your preferred entrepreneurial and life style and ways of behaving
- Behave ‘As if’ you are in the second scenario for at least two weeks. Of course, you must be sensible here – don’t take unnecessary risks in the spirit of the game. This is an awareness-developing experiment.
- After the two weeks, explore what you have learned about yourself and which aspects of the new lifestyle you would like to keep. (I recommend doing this with the help of your business coach)
- Develop strategies to ensure that the chosen new behaviours become fully integrated and sustained.
What if you were the most successful entrepreneur you’d ever met? I see you as you that. Join me.
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