Are You Acting “As If” to Jump Start Your Goals?
Acting “as if” with your life’s goals means embodying the mindset, behaviors, and habits of the person you want to become—before you’ve actually achieved those goals.
It’s a blend of psychology, mindset, and practical action. Here’s how it breaks down:
Mindset Shift
Instead of waiting until you’ve “made it” to think, feel, or behave like a successful entrepreneur, writer, or leader, you start thinking like one now. For example:
If your goal is to be a bestselling author, you act as if you are already a professional writer—committing to writing regularly, networking with other writers, and prioritizing your craft.
If your goal is to become financially free, you act as if you already are someone who makes smart financial choices—tracking expenses, investing wisely, and creating multiple streams of income.
Behavioral Alignment
By acting as if, you begin aligning your daily choices with your desired outcome.
Want to be fit and healthy? You eat, move, and rest as if you’re already that person.
Want to grow a thriving online business? You act as if your audience and clients are already showing up—so you deliver value consistently.
Building Confidence and a New Identity
Acting “as if” helps you step into a new identity, which builds confidence and shortens the gap between where you are and where you want to be. When you believe and behave as if success is inevitable, your actions naturally support it.
Practical Examples
Let’s say your goal is to earn six figures online. Acting as if might mean:
Dressing and presenting yourself like a professional online entrepreneur.
Speaking about your business with confidence, even if it’s just getting started.
Making decisions that someone with a six-figure business would make (investing in tools, learning, or delegating).
In short: Acting “As if” bridges the gap between current reality and desired reality by pulling your future self into the present.
A good question to ask yourself is:
“If I had already reached my goal, how would I think, act, and carry myself today?”
These days I have lots of confidence, but it wasn’t always this way. I used to second guess every decision and talk myself out of the things I wanted to achieve, but didn’t think ‘someone like me’ could accomplish. Have you ever had this feeling?
I learned about acting ‘as if’ at a seminar I attended when I was new online in 2006. Acting “as if” with your life’s goals means embodying the mindset, behaviors, and habits of the person you want to become, before you’ve actually achieved those goals. It’s a blend of psychology, mindset, and practical action. Here’s how it breaks down:
Instead of waiting until you’ve “made it” to think, feel, or behave like a successful entrepreneur, writer, or leader, you start thinking like one now. For example:
If your goal is to be a bestselling author, you act as if you are already a professional writer, committing to writing regularly, networking with other writers, and prioritizing your craft.
If your goal is to become financially free, you act as if you already are someone who makes smart financial choices, tracking expenses, investing wisely, and creating multiple streams of income. And the true magic occurs when you prioritize and take action on at least one of your goals every day.
Excellent connection — yes, both the Trickle-Down Effect and the Butterfly Effect can play a role in the “As If” strategy, though in slightly different ways.
The Trickle-Down Effect
Traditionally used in economics, but in personal growth it means: the changes at the “top” (your mindset, self-image, and identity) cascade downward into your behaviors, habits, and outcomes.
Example with As If:
- You start acting as if you’re already a confident, successful entrepreneur.
- That shift in identity trickles down into smaller daily choices: how you show up online, how you price your services, how you handle setbacks.
- Those micro-behaviors accumulate and create real, measurable results.
So the “trickle-down” is the flow from mindset → actions → results.
The Butterfly Effect
This principle says: a small change in one part of a system can create massive, unpredictable changes later.
Example with As If:
- You act as if you already have a large, engaged audience—so you publish a thoughtful blog post or host a small webinar, even if only a few people attend.
- That one action catches the attention of someone who shares it, and suddenly opportunities you never could have planned for emerge.
- Acting as if set off a chain reaction that only became possible because you stepped into your future identity early.
Here, the “as if” behavior is the tiny flap of wings that triggers much bigger transformations.
How They Work Together
- Trickle-Down Effect: Ensures consistency—your inner world filters down into aligned actions.
- Butterfly Effect: Allows for exponential, often surprising growth from seemingly small “as if” actions.
Together, they make the “As If” strategy both predictable (because your behaviors align with your vision) and magical (because small actions open unforeseen doors).
In practice: When you act as if, you’re planting both seeds. Some grow in straight, predictable ways (trickle-down), and some ripple out in unexpected but powerful ways (butterfly).
It is my sincere wish that you embrace this life and business strategy to change your life in amazing ways, and very quickly!
I’m bestselling USA Today and Wall Street Journal author Connie Ragen Green. My goal is to help at least a thousand people to reach six-figures and beyond with an online business for time freedom and passive income and to simplify your life. Come along with me, if you will and let us discover how we may further connect to achieve all of your dreams and goals. This is also why I want you to think about acting “As If” to jump start your goals. Perhaps my “Monthly Mentoring Program” is right for you.
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