You know that people smile when they are happy. Chances are, you also now that when you smile your mood lifts, i.e. you can change your state of mind by a physical act.
It gets even better: You can raise your confidence and lower your stress levels by taking “power poses”, such as “wonder woman stance” and “arms raised in victory” for 2 minutes. Watch Amy Cuddy’s astonishing Ted Talk to on how they researched it and how you can use it in your daily life:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc#t=23]
Before the next challenging situation sequester yourself for 2 minutes to take a power stance. Or in Amy Cuddy’s words:
Fake it, till you become it
I don’t know if you’re aware, but this is exactly how martial arts are supposed to work. In Karate, for example, you mimic the movements, gestures and stances of other Karateka until your mimics become the “right” movements. On a workshop, a karate teacher told the group that when they begin Karate, they are like cheap, fake watches, who might look like real ones from the outside, but in fact are not – and that everyone should strive to become a real Rolex.
The reason why I’m writing this is that with current trends in Software Engineering like Coding Katas, Coding Dojos or even Test Driven Development-Methods like ‘fake it till you make it’, those ancient insights steadily increase their impact on modern Software Engineering, with overwhelming results.
“Fake it till you become it” should become part of the agile mindset, it can improve the way you think about coding, learning and, eventually, about how to live your life.
Hi Philipp!
I’m familiar with the ShuHaRi concept but I’ve never heard Shu described as “faking it”. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!