Act as if
Ask "what would I do if this problem were gone?", then try acting that way, as an experiment, for a set time.
Key takeaways
- Adler asked patients "the question": what would you do if you were well? The answer shows what the problem is keeping you from.
- We usually wait to feel different before acting differently. It often works the other way around.
- Act as if is an experiment, not pretending: one small behavior, for a set time, and then you look at what changed.
"The question"
In 1911 the German philosopher Hans Vaihinger published The Philosophy of "As If". His argument was that people live by useful fictions: ideas we can't prove, but act on as if they were true, because they help us find our way.
Alfred Adler was struck by it. He came to see each of us as moving toward an imagined goal, a picture of who we're trying to become. In his practice he asked patients a question that Adlerians still call "the question": what would you do if you were well? The answer often showed what the problem was keeping them from, and where to start.
Action first
We tend to wait to feel confident before speaking up, calm before going out, motivated before starting. But feelings often follow actions rather than lead them. Behavioral activation, one of the best-supported treatments for depression, is built on this: you schedule the activity first, and the mood tends to follow.
Acting as if means choosing one small thing the less worried version of you would do, and doing it for a set time, as an experiment. You don't have to believe it or feel it. You try it and see what happens.
It isn't pretending everything is fine, or hiding how you feel. You can be nervous and still act as if you belong in the room.
Question 1 of 2
You'd like to speak up more in meetings, but you don't feel confident. What would acting as if suggest?
How to do it
One experiment
- Ask the question
If this problem were gone, what would I be doing differently? Be concrete: what would someone watching you see?
- Pick one behavior
Small and specific: say hello to one neighbor, answer emails without rereading them three times, go to the party for an hour.
- Set the time
A day, or a week. Long enough to notice something, short enough to feel like a trial.
- Look back
What happened? What changed in how you felt, or how others responded?
Grace's new town
Grace moved to a new city for work four months ago. She feels like an outsider and tells herself she'll start joining things "once I've settled in and feel more like myself". In the meantime she works, goes home, and scrolls through photos of her old friends. When her neighbor invited her to a block party, she said she was busy.
Question 2 of 2
Sources and further reading
- Vaihinger, H. (1924). The Philosophy of "As If", translated by C. K. Ogden. Kegan Paul. (First published in German, 1911.)
- Ansbacher, H. L., & Ansbacher, R. R. (Eds.) (1956). The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. Basic Books.
Finish the lesson
0 of 2 questions done. Answer the rest to finish.