118: 3 Direct Components of Act As If to Expand Your Biz

This week, I’m breaking down one of the most powerful (and most misunderstood) tools in manifestation: acting as if. We are going to touch specifically on how to use it to grow your business without pretending, forcing, or feeling like a fraud.

You don’t need to fake it till you make it. You need to embody it till it’s real.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why fake it till you make it actually sabotages your manifestation energy
  
  
• The 3 components of true “acting as if” that align your business with abundance
  
  
• How to take actions that stretch you without betraying you
  
  
• The real reason performance energy slows your growth and what to do instead
  
  
• Why “embodiment” is a daily muscle you build (not a one-time mindset shift)
  
  
• The exact way to start holding the energy of your next-level self every single day
  
  

Whether you're launching a new offer, shifting into overflow, or ready to stop second-guessing your business moves, this episode gives you the mindset and method to show up like the version of you who already has what she wants.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Manifest Momentum Ritual - Your Personal Trainer for Acting As If Daily

Magic Marketing Machine* - How to Get Clients from Instagram 

Affiliate Disclaimer: 

*This episode contains an affiliate link to Magic Marketing Machine. If you choose to purchase through this link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend resources that I trust and believe will help you grow your business with ease!

Chapters

• 0:43 Welcome to Acting As If
• 1:58 Acting As If vs. Faking It
• 4:55 Embodying Your Future Self
• 10:16 You're Not Broken, You're Evolving
• 14:53 Three Components of Acting As If
• 21:12 Manifest Momentum Ritual Introduction

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:22

Welcome back to the Live Life Unapologetically podcast. I'm Shannon Kay and today we are going to get into hands down what I believe is one of the most powerful yet also one of the most misunderstood tools in manifestation for business growth, and that's the concept of acting as if. This is not a trend, though it seems trendy lately. This isn't about being delusional or doing cartwheels in your living room and pretending you're already rich. It's truly about embodiment. Acting as if, it's about alignment. It is about showing up like the version of you who already has what she wants and doing it in a way that feels real and not forced, which is really where the confusion comes in with this powerful tool and why people try it and they're like that didn't work, that felt weird, I don't like it. Then they blow it off and they don't use it anymore. So today we're going to go really into three components of how to act as if in your business and we're going to clear up some confusion along the way about this. Things that happen that are entirely not what acting as if is. So grab your favorite drink, cozy up and let's get started.

Speaker 1: 1:37

The first thing that we're going to talk about and really get out of the way, before we get into the components of acting as if, is the difference between acting as if and faking it till you make it? Because a lot of times we confuse the two and we think, well, I'm just going to fake it, I'm just going to pretend. If you've been trying to force that approach and feeling like a fraud, let me validate you. It's not that you're a fraud, it's the method, it's the thinking, because fake it till you make it is rooted in performance. This idea of faking it tells you to pretend to act like something you're not. This is about taking action that you think you should. There's that word should again, all these shoulds that we do in business or how we think we should show up, how a successful woman should look, based on outside chatter instead of internal alignment, not to mention the sheer label of fake it till you make it means that you're saying I am fake, so at a subconscious level, you're going to believe it. I'm fake at this. I'm a fraud. Fake is fraud, right? So you wonder why you feel that way. Well, you labeled it that way and now your subconscious is latching onto that you may end up doing some of the right actions, even if you're using it in this context, but underneath it, you're going to be reinforcing that you're not there yet, because you have reinforced that you're playing a role that you're not really that person, because you're faking it.

Speaker 1: 3:13

In simple terms, if you approach acting as if, like fake it till you make it, it's pretending or performing, which leads to imposter syndrome, it leads to self-doubt, it leads to emotional exhaustion. Because you're faking, you're doing once again what you think you should do, what that should look like, instead of doing it from a place of alignment. How is that even different than acting as if? Because a lot of people think, well, if I'm acting as if it's already happened, but it hasn't happened, then I am pretending and then I am performing and we're going to get into that.

Speaker 1: 3:54

Because acting as if is not pretending, it is embodying, it is fully being in that version of yourself. It is choosing to believe, to feel and act from the place of the version of you who already has what she wants. It's not let me act like I'm rich, so I'll become rich. It's let me feel into this version of me who knows that she is supported and capable and magnetic, and I'm going to align my thoughts and my emotions and my actions with her. That subtle difference is everything. It is everything.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Your business doesn't just grow from strategy, it grows from identity. See, if you're faking it till you make it and you're using someone else's strategy verbatim and trying to copy them and imitate them, and imitate the strategy, that is faking it, because that is not you. You see, you can use somebody else's strategy, but then you have to embody it into your identity to match who you are. I talk about this a lot in my blog and sometimes here, but I use Magic Marketing Machine for my social media strategy, but I am not Jenna. I love Jenna, but I don't go and make the reels for Instagram or my TikTok videos trying to be Jenna, trying to be like Jenna, and that's her. That's who she is.

Speaker 1: 5:25

If I tried to say, okay, I'm going to use her strategy and I'm going to implement it just like she does, which she doesn't teach, that y'all I'm telling you. She doesn't teach that. She gives you the strategy, but she says, hey, you can steal this from me. Like, isn't that great that somebody's like hey, steal this real idea, steal this B-roll idea. Like hands it to you, because I know when we're first starting with strategies we do need some hand-holding, but a lot of people take strategies in general and they try to mimic it exactly like the other person does it, so that that is faking it till you make it. That is pretending, that is performing.

Speaker 1: 6:02

You take your strategy in business but it becomes powerful when you put in your identity, when you adjust it to match you. So I use her strategy and there's things that I do that aren't quite what she teaches, but it fits me and it works for me, but it has the same premise. So, yes, I use it, but it's adaptable to my personality and who I am. If you're constantly trying to be like somebody else and that's where the shoulds go well, this is going to work. If I do it exactly like, then that's faking and that's why it feels icky. But when you're acting as if and you're embodying, then your business is going to grow because you have your strategy. But your strategy then fuses with your identity, your strategy, but your strategy then fuses with your identity.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Now maybe you're like, yeah, shannon, but this identity I have isn't necessarily the identity I want to bring in. So I do want to act as if, so that I can expand and grow into the business woman I want to be. That's exactly the power of acting as if, because if you're constantly thinking about your past self, if you're reacting from fear, if you're making decisions based on who you used to be, then your results are going to match that version of you. You're here and you're listening because you're like I want the version of me to show up. I want the business growth version. You know how I use my time version. I want that person, when you act as if, you're already that next level version. You're already that You're not waiting for outside circumstances.

Speaker 1: 7:36

You're not waiting for it to reflect in your 3D the woman who knows her work is valuable, who is trusting her timing, who creates and sells with confidence. That's when your business expands. Because you're expanding. The expansion comes inside first, and acting as if trains your brain, your nervous system, your behavior to normalize success before the external proof shows up in the 3D realm. That's really what manifestation is. It is your inner world leading the outer world. That is manifestation. It is creating from within, but it isn't an on-off switch and it isn't a one-and-done mindset hack. It's a practice.

Speaker 1: 8:18

Acting as if is a practice A lot of times, I think. With manifestation. We think I'm going to script about it one time or say this affirmation you know just willy-nilly and it's a hack. Right, it's a tip, it's a trick, it's a hack, it's a. Get there quick. Everything in manifestation is a practice, especially acting as if it is something that you build up to, because you're not going to wake up one day and say an affirmation and suddenly act like a million-dollar person. You know 24-7. That's just not how it works.

Speaker 1: 8:52

Acting as if is truly a developed habit Because, honestly, you're acting as if no matter what. You're either acting as if the current version of you or you're acting as if the future version of you, how you show up in the day, it's really habit. And acting as if is a developed habit, it is a skill, it is a muscle. And acting as if is a developed habit, it is a skill, it is a muscle and, like any muscle, it takes time to build. You didn't get into this version of yourself overnight. You built your way there, and the same thing happens with acting as if to a new version that you desire more than the current version of yourself.

Speaker 1: 9:26

I do want to clear this up when we're talking about a new version of yourself, because a lot of times we think that we're broken in our current state. So before we even go further, I want to free you from that, because when I say the new version of you and acting like the person you want to become, it does not mean you're broken and it doesn't mean you need fixing. You are evolving. You're not escaping. Like let's think about this as a businesswoman perspective you haven't always been a businesswoman. So the version of yourself where you are now, that might have been a stay-at-home mom, that may have been somebody who worked in corporate, that may have been somebody who worked in some kind of service industry, whatever that is, but it doesn't mean you're broken. You're going into a new realm in a new way. Or maybe you're taking your business to a new level because your nervous system says I'm ready for something new. So you're not broken. When we're talking about acting as if this new person, if I say you're acting as if, like you got here, acting as if the person you are now and you want to change it, and that's fine. So let's go and act as if a new person and build that person up. That just means you're evolving. You're not escaping. Your growth is not a rejection of who you are. It is an expansion.

Speaker 1: 10:42

Curiosity to do something new is not a criticism. You're allowed to want more without hating where you are. You don't have to say, oh my gosh, I can't stand her, so I am going to fix her because I don't like who I am. You can love who you are and still want to go and try new things or want more things, without hating who you are. You're not broken. You're brilliant. You're just birthing the next chapter Once again. Maybe you started out as a worker or stay-at-home mom or something else and now you're going into business. It's just a new chapter. So you need to act as if that chapter and you can love yourself and you can still want change. Once again, this is not about fixing. It is truly about unfolding into that next version, that next chapter in your life, that new season of your life.

Speaker 1: 11:35

It doesn't mean that the old season, that there was something wrong with the old season or it was bad. I am going into a new season of my life and it's going to be different and so I have to be different and that's okay. Like all of my kids all six of them the last one is graduating high school next week and, with that in mind, there may or may not be a podcast next week because we're gonna be celebrating him. But it's a new season of my life, so I will be different. We move through seasons of life and things change, so it is gonna be different. And everything I've done up to this point when it comes to that part of myself was, you know, a responsible mom who was responsible for my kids day to day and, you know, making sure they were getting up for school and staying on about their grades and all of that stuff. But that season is going into something different and so I am going to be different. It doesn't mean I was broken in that season. It doesn't mean there was anything wrong with me in that season. It just means that life is evolving. So I want you to know that life evolves and you can evolve with it. And it doesn't mean anything was wrong with the past version of you, the current version of you, or that the future version of you is the best thing ever. Just means it's a different season.

Speaker 1: 12:50

Now, once again, acting as if it is a skill, it is a muscle it takes time to build, like I don't think it's going to take time for me to build, getting out of the habit of running behind my kids about things in their life. That was my responsibility, but it's now their responsibility as adults. Of course it's a habit. So new me has to build a new habit, and that's the same in business. So you might start with just 10 minutes a day where you're really feeling that new version of yourself, where you think like her and speak like her and act like her, and then the next day maybe it's 12 minutes, then it may be 20 minutes, but over time you're going to hold that state longer, you return to her faster and eventually that is who you become, not just who you were trying to be, but that's just who you are.

Speaker 1: 13:40

When I first started a business it wasn't natural. I had to build into it. Same for you, right? Like, think about things in your life that you started to do that weren't so natural and you could hold them and it made sense for a second. But then you maybe doubted a little bit or you were a little bit scared. You weren't sure. That's normal, it's a habit. You just build it up and it becomes just who you are, and that is what acting as if does, as a practice. That's how you build that muscle or skill. You lock into who you want to be and how you show up and you practice. Give yourself that permission to practice. You are not doing it wrong because you can't hold the embodiment all day. You're doing it right by starting.

Speaker 1: 14:23

Now let's get into the three core components of how to actually act as if in your business, in a way that works, in a way that you can practice and build it up. The first one is thoughts that match your future. I know you've heard about what you think is what you attract, and it's true. So the first step is thinking like the version of you who already has what she wants. I want to make this very, very, very clear that I'm not talking toxic positivity and I'm not talking about ignoring your current reality. I'm talking about choosing thoughts that support your expansion instead of reinforcing your limits. So you start with awareness.

Speaker 1: 15:03

What does your self-talk sound like right now? Are you thinking things like no one is buying? I'm not good at selling. It's so hard to stand out, and we have been taught that in business. I talk about that a lot, about how we focus so much on what we're doing wrong in business because we're trying to grow right. So if we want to grow, we got to fix what's not working, instead of maybe looking at what's going right and also having your next level self repeat that. Is she repeating it? Probably not. Are you repeating? My audience is growing every day. My offer is valuable. I'm building momentum. I notice it every day and my manifest momentum ritual that's the key part, like that's what spurred me to make that ritual was to notice what was working instead of what isn't working, because we attract what we focus on. So if we focus on what is already working, we attract more of it. And those thoughts are not ignoring your reality, they're reshaping it. They are focusing you on what is working and that self-talk and is helping you to switch the self-talk into the version of yourself that has that confidence, because you're reinforcing what is going right.

Speaker 1: 16:15

The second component is emotions that align with the version of you you're becoming, because emotions are our vibrational magnet in manifesting. So a lot of people say like, be magnetic and have the vibrations and attract it to you. What is that? That is your emotions. That vibration is the emotions, the feeling. If you're thinking elevated thoughts but feeling anxious or depressed or stuck. You're not fully acting as if. So, we got the thoughts down, but now we have to pair it with the emotion, and that doesn't mean that you have to force yourself once again into toxic positivity all day. It means that you practice feeling the emotions your future self would feel. Would she feel confident? Would she feel supported? Would she feel calm? Tune into those emotions on purpose.

Speaker 1: 17:07

You can use music or visualization, journaling, whatever works for you to have that Like. I'm very much a meditative person and the more I can quiet, the more I can pull those emotions. Some people are very musical and, like my husband, gets so hyped up in music and he pulls emotions from music. So do what works for you to be able to pull those emotions that match the thought. This is why rituals like the Manifest Momentum Ritual are powerful, because within it, not only did I say wait, I need to focus on what's working. So that was the initial reason I created the ritual. But I understand manifestation and so I knew I had to pull that emotion. So within it there's a structure to activate the feelings how do I want to feel today, how do I want to embody this today? And bringing that to your conscious mind. Then there's an action that says, like, how can I get there every single day? Like, done for you, plug and play, because this is a practice. Right, your emotions don't just have to be reactions. Your emotions can be instructions to your body and your energy field.

Speaker 1: 18:16

The third component is actions that reflect your future. This is where it all comes together, right, like? I have my thoughts, I know how I want to feel and I'm embodying that feeling. Like I'm feeling the feels. I brought that feeling up to the surface. I can really feel it, you have it. But now it's time to take an action from that place. I think that's a big part of manifestation that a lot of people leave out, because we think if I just think the right things, everything will fall into place. I just have to think it. I just have to think it. You have to think it, feel it and then take action from that place. That doesn't mean hustling, that does not mean forcing, that does not mean showing up in a way you think you should show up. It is showing up from the thought and feeling. That is the aligned action. It's showing up as the embodied version of you, not the overwhelmed version trying to force results.

Speaker 1: 19:08

So if your next level self believed in her offer, what would she do today? Would she record the podcast? Would she post the offer? Would she reach out to someone? Would she rest? Would she unplug and trust? What would she do In that thought and in that feeling, what is the natural action that comes from it? Really, that is where we get tripped up, because you start taking action on, once again, what you think you should or what someone else said works, but if it doesn't match your line energy, then it backfires and it feels heavy and it causes resistance which slows down the growth. But you're trying to grow. So when you're acting as if the action is going to feel grounded Now I want to be clear on this too it may stretch you because you're going out of your comfort zone, but it doesn't betray you and that's the difference. So just to recap all that we've talked about today, because I'm so excited for you to start using this tool to grow your business Acting as if is not a performance, it is not pretending and it is not skipping steps.

Speaker 1: 20:17

It is full body, full energy, practice of thinking, feeling and acting like the version of you who is already in the business growth, the overflow, what it is you're looking for in your business. It is also not instant. It is gradual. It can be messy Because, remember, this is muscle building. But the more you practice these three components your thoughts, your emotions, your actions the more natural it becomes, the more magnetic you become, the more your business shifts, because you have shifted. Here's what I want you to do Practice this every single day and to do get my manifest momentum ritual, because it's going to walk you through daily to help you act as if and to stay consistent with it.

Speaker 1: 21:05

Remember, you may only be able to hold it for 10 minutes, but if you're consistent every single day, then you'll be able to hold it longer and longer and the results will come in, come in, come in.

Speaker 1: 21:17

Now, this ritual is going to include all of the elements for acting as if daily, to call in that abundance, to call in your business growth. Remember, it's building a muscle and this ritual is a personal trainer to help you stay on track daily. I'm going to link it in the show notes so you can start acting as if today. This is going to guide you through where you are now, where you want to go and then how to embody it daily with a practice to embody it every single day, not to mention the fact that I will be showing up in your inbox once you get this ritual, to encourage you, to answer any questions and to support you, because the life you want is not far away. She is already here. You just need to meet her. I'll chat with you next week Maybe, maybe not, because it is my son's graduation week. So if I don't chat with you next week, I'll chat with you the week after. I love you, beautiful souls.