AJ Jacobs: The Importance of Self-Delusion in the Creative Process

About this presentation

How can we apply the idea of method acting to our business lives? This is the question that lifehacker and bestselling author AJ Jacobs tackles in this insightful (and highly entertaining) talk on the benefits of faking it until you make it. Through a series of examples from his own life, Jacobs shows just how much our behavior shapes our thoughts and our perceptions. Thus, if we want to change our attitude about something, the best way is to "act as if."

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0:31 positive self-delusion is on of the greatest inventions in history
4:08 how do you become a better person?
4:15 deception.
5:04 "It's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than it is to think your way into a new way of acting." --- Fake it til' you make it.
5:31 foundations of cognitive behavioral psychology
6:20 "Whenever I'm feeling insecure or pessimistic I'd think - what would an optimistic confident person do?" And do it.
7:15 "My mind caught up with my actions"
7:26 strategy: just start typing.
7:57 the creative process is a dance between the planned and the unplanned
8:10 examples of how behaviors affected thoughts
9:38 when you do something it will change your mind
12:38 reframe the way he thought about marketing
14:36 "You can reach audiences you never thought if you think creatively"
14:41 how we move and hold our bodies affect our mood
18:46 "Sometimes, to make a miracle happen, you just have to dive in."





About AJ Jacobs

A.J. Jacobs is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, including The Year of Living Biblically (about his quest to follow every rule of the Bible as literally as possible); The Know-It-All (which chronicles the year he spent reading all 33 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica); and Drop Dead Healthy (about his attempt to become the healthiest person alive). He is the editor at large at Esquire magazine. He has appeared on The Colbert Report, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Oprah, among others, and is a contributor to NPR. He lives in New York with his wife and sons.


About 99U

The 99U delivers the action-oriented education that you didn't get in school, highlighting real-world best practices for making ideas happen.