Fake It 'Til You Become It

What does it say about you if you're hunched over in a meeting? What about puffed out like a mating bird? Is something so seemingly small really a game-changer?

We've all bought into the idea that our body language affects the way others see us. You're telling the world that you're powerful, confident or meek simply by the way you show up.

But that's only half of it.

Your body language shapes who you are. Or that is what social scientist Amy Cuddy's research and life experience has shown.

We've all heard the term 'fake it til you make it', right? She goes one step further and says 'fake it til you become it'. At some point we stop thinking about faking it. We stop wondering if we're good enough. We become the person we've acted like.

In the meantime, she also offers up a quick (literally 2-minute) exercise that will change the way you show up to a situation - physically and emotionally.

I beg you... take 20 minutes and listen to her TED Talk (below). Then take 2 more to put one of the takeaways into action today. And, if you would be so generous, one final minute to return here and share with us what YOU discovered by posting in the comments.

I promise you I've done this (without knowing it) at times because of the urging of others who saw my potential and at other times because I intuitively knew it was the best way for me to reach something I wanted so badly, but that felt impossible.