In my experience, “act as if” and what arises to answer “who would you be without your story” (which comes from The Work of Byron Katie) are opposites.

“Act as if” is about making up a new story. “Who would you be without your story” is about seeing life without any made up story.

I know it’s common for people to ask something like, “who would you be without the idea you have no confidence?” and answer “Self-confident!” But, of course, “self-confident” is just another story, a concept added to the worldess experience of considering life without the “not confident” idea.

Sometimes when the answer to “who would you be” is another concept, I’ll investigate THAT one, too… and discover something beyond the entire realm of the concept. In this case, beyond “not confident and self-confident”, beyond the idea of confidence.

But, even if we land on a concept, the action that emerges out of asking “who would you be without your story?” has a very different flavor than what comes from “act as if.”

The former has a feeling of clarity in motion, of something organic and obvious and natural. It’s done for the sake of ones own self, for the sake of living the truth starting in this moment.

The latter, has a feeling of forcing oneself into an ill-fitting suit for the purpose of attaining a goal. It’s done to support an idea of the imagined future, based on a fiction of what people in that situation experience.

In the Quantum Wealth class, there’s an application of The Work, where seeming problems reveal specific action steps that reliably lead to solutions. There’s no need to act as anything… there’s only clear action. At least, this is what’s reported by the people who’ve experienced this process.

Yes, the examples you cite are taken to the extreme, often by shysters. But at a more basic level…. “Act as if you had self-confidence. Act as if you didn’t need the booze to get by. Act as if you were likeable.” These are all ways to help a person move past the lies they tell themselves. If someone can’t visualize who they would be if they didn’t have that thought, the “act as if” technique gives them some actual experience with it, and that can help them get over the hump and dump the self-lie.

The problem isn’t “act as if.” It’s just a tool. The problem is the mis-application of the tool. “Who would I be if I didn’t have this thought?” will make me just as rich as “act as if”, except that it’s easier for me to be fooled by the latter than the former (but the former still could happen!). In exchange, “act as if” is more experiential than intellectual, providing a different way to solve the same problem.

Have you ever been told that ‘Acting as if’ something were so will, um, ‘make it so’? (Thanks Jean-Luc Picard.) Well, think again ……..

by the way, i got here by spotting a comment by you at the “meditations on meaning” blog. always enjoy your observations. speaking of which, i have some “spritual teachings” i’ve been posting online anonymously that i think could be commercially viable if you wanted to help me pitch it to a publisher. they might be just intriguingly unhelpful enough for people to want to buy the book.

now i’m going to go see what “Amazing Magical Clothing” is…………….

peace and love and hugs and stuff,
e.