@ Zack – Yes, there’s a little theatre involved in all expertise.

@ Jay – Funnily enough, one of my highest grades in my Bachelor’s degree was for a subject I had little interest in. 3 weeks before the exams, I got someone to coach me on “the bare essentials the examiners want to see”. Sometimes less is more, I guess.

@ Adam – Actually I’m faking it on this blog. I’m making it up as I go along, you know.

@ Chris – I watched the chess player/football coach episode last night, definitely see what you mean. He was definitely more Wenger than Clough. The poor guy won the competition (I think his team won the final 4-0) but he was still sussed as the fake!

@ Daniel – Great post, thanks for sharing. Makes me think of some of the really successful perfomers I’ve coached, who’ve told me it doesn’t matter how great the reviews are or how rapturous the applause, compared to what they tell themselves about their performance.

Hugh’s point about society deciding who’s an artist makes me think of Robert Graves’ comment that the word ‘poet’ is always a courtesy title.

@ Cath – I suspect you’re right. I’m doing my best to reach them all…

@ JayCruz – “you don’t need to fake it, you just need to do it”. Exactemundo!

@ Kelly – Agreed, I think Paul was genuinely committed to discovering/expressing something in the time he had. He would have been much less convincing if he’d approached it more cynically.

@ Angiel – “To me, “faking it” means “acting as if”. Apparently when David Bowie started playing Ziggy Stardust on stage he used to ask himself “What would a real rock superstar do now?” Then find himself doing it…

@ Lisa

I think it comes down to taking yourself less seriously (”lighten up”) and MORE seriously (”but get to work”) at the same time. Put in your 10,000 hours with a smile.

That’s it! That’s what I’ve been trying to say on here for the last 12 months.

The punk rocker / symphony conductor episode is one of my favourites, really inspiring (and funny).

@ Javier – Alan Watts said we’re all playing games all the time – but some of us are playing the game of pretending not to be playing a game. Which is a very far out game indeed…

Children learn by playing (faking) characters and experimenting. It is sad, that in time we stop playing only to become stiff and unable to explore other perspectives. I don’t know whether the name of this show helps, since personal growth requires no faking, but just the discovery of our infinite creative potential that is kept under wraps by labels (you are this, you are not that) and limiting beliefs.

My message today is to start unleashing that potential that is kept as a hostage of our boring routines, reclaiming your ability to discover the many gifts that you still hold. Start today!

Start the One Million People Paradigm Shift Challenge!

Play and make it real!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIKnh716MnQ

I think it proves what tremendous focus, desire, concentration and support can accomplish in such a very short time. The rest is just mechanics and practice.

…whenever I TALK about what I’m writing, or planning to write, instead of simply shutting up and doing the work. This happens more often than I’d like to admit.

I see that doing the work, however imperfectly, is more “real” and more valuable than endlessly discussing and ruminating on how it COULD be made perfect and what you INTEND to do.

Allowing oneself the latitude to fail is essential, or paralysis sets in and you become a talker rather than a doer, nervously hoping that people (including you) will accept brilliant discussion as a placeholder or substitute for action. If that’s not faking it, I don’t know what is.

I think it comes down to taking yourself less seriously (“lighten up”) and MORE seriously (“but get to work”) at the same time. Put in your 10,000 hours with a smile. Treat your work like laying bricks and simply get on with it. I do manage it some days. I’d love to have more of those.

I wish we could see this show in the US, but you did a great job of describing it.

Now, back to my screenplay (actually WRITING it) !
Lisa

Paul’s story shows us that we are all free to move in any direction we want – and achieve whatever goals we set for ourselves.

“Act as if” you can – and you probably will. Unfortunately for many, the opposite is also true.

Ack! I am so disappointed that I can’t watch the video! Great writeup, great takeaways.

As one who migrated from the fine art world to… erm… making a living, I can say for sure that whatever our path we’ve got one thing in common and that’s the fear that we are faking it at times. To which, even without the show’s help, I’ve always said then go right ahead. I’m a firm believer in fake it ’til you make it.

As far as Paul’s specific story, it doesn’t shatter my illusions, maybe because I define art in a slightly unorthodox way.

To me, art’s what’s inside your brain, that decides to come out. Like a fingerprint of your brain. Music-painting-writing-acting-whatever the medium.

If you can move others in the way you hoped to, sure, you might become more successful as an artist, but A LOT of success in artistic professions is up to chance (and a lot is up to the hard promotional work we have to do in any business). So if Paul put fingerprints of his brain out there and “fooled” people as to whether he was a “real” artist, that’s because he was, for that month, doing exactly what real art requires, while the luck and promotion came via the show.

Now, if you told me he spent the month with someone else telling him where to put the brush (or whatever), defined the works randomly, and didn’t actually make works derived from his brain, I’d be a bit miffed at the deception. Sounds to me, though, that Paul was, however briefly, “an artist.” Good on him.

Regards,

Kelly