Act as if

My brain finds it hard to believe me when I tell it we are going to do something big so I often simply ‘act as if ’ and knowingly delude my negative side.

After the Japanese guy told me about conveyor belt sushi bars, I rang up the Japanese trade delegation (this was pre-Internet days). I got all these catalogues in the post that gave a step-by-step illustrated account of how to set up your own conveyor belt sushi bar… in English! I found out they’d been going since the 1960s and there were 3,000 of them in Japan.

The conversation with myself went something like, “If this is such a great idea why hasn’t someone who knows about restaurants done it before?”

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As I set out to write the business plan, instead of thinking “I’m going to create the world’s largest chain of sushi bars and a retail brand called YO!” I simply thought “I am going to act as if I am someone who is going to do that… no pressure, just an enjoyable fantasizing, acting game, and just for today.”

Three months of ‘todays’ later, I had my brain completely convinced that not only was I going to do this, but that it was the best idea ever and would be an enormous success.

The rational side of my brain was aware that this could be delusion but the emotional side believed it.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

Mark Twain

Do you have a voice in your head that says things like “you can’t do that, you don’t know anything about it”, or “that won’t work or somebody would have done it before,” or even simply “you’re not good enough”? I do, and I have learned that my relationship and conversation with this voice is where success and failure takes place.

In fact I reckon when J.C. said “Get behind me Satan” that was what he was talking about. That voice can be wise too and knows a lot about you that you don’t.

  • Take Away

    Who did I act as if I was?

  • Richard Branson, the Virgin magician, was one – a bit cheeky and devil-may-care.

  • Anthony Robbins, the American development guru, who taught me a lot… Mr Enthusiasm.

  • Tony Hollingsworth, a TV producer I worked with who kept it simple, giggled and worked hard.

  • Julian Richer, the English hi-fi retailer, who makes business common sense and doesn’t use jargon.

  • Joe Simpson, the mountaineer whose rope got cut but who never gave up.

  • The Dalai Lama, who taught me that nothing really matters anyway, so why worry? And many, many others.