A lot of people say “fake it till you make it.” It sounds like the flex. It is not the same thing.
The flex is display. You perform for an audience. The display is the whole thing. There is no becoming on the other side.
Fake it till you make it, done right, is about behavior. You act as if you are the person you are becoming. You take the meeting before you feel ready. You speak with confidence before you feel it. You hold yourself to the standard of the person you want to be.
The faking is pointed at yourself. It is courage, not costume. And underneath it, you are doing the work. The faking is a bridge, and there is a real become on the other side.
Here is how you tell the difference. Ask one question: does the fake point at yourself or at others? If it points at yourself, act like the person, do the work, it is growth. If it points at others, look like the person, skip the work, it is flex.
And one more rule. You can borrow confidence, but you cannot borrow a record. Claiming results you don’t have is not faking it. That is fraud. The record has to be built, not claimed.
So yes, fake it till you make it. Fake the courage. Fake the posture. Fake the willingness to show up before you feel ready. Then do the work until the fake becomes real. That is not showing off. That is becoming.