Struggling Philadelphia Actor Watches Fight on Black & White TV

I`ve been a survivor all my life.  If I survived the marines, I can survive Ali. (Chuck Wepner)

Mohammed Ali versus Chuck Wepner circa 1975 courtesy http://danwmiller.hubpages.com/hub/Meet-The-Real-Rocky.

In 1975, a struggling Philadelphia actor watched a fight on his black and white TV.  The world heavyweight champion, Mohammed Ali, was paired with an unknown named Chuck Wepner.  While Ali won the match hands down, Wepner went the full fifteen rounds.  The actor, admiring his spunk, wrote a screenplay about him.  The following year, Rocky debuted in theatres, and the image of the boxer standing at the top of the steps in Philadelphia, his arms held high in victory, was forever etched on the memory of Americans.

Chuck Wepner fought his first fight in 1964.  At one point, he held the title of New Jersey Heavyweight Champion.  However, he later lost to big names like George Foreman and Sonny Liston, the latter fight costing him 72 stitches.  Wepner earned the nickname `The Bayonne Bleeder`.
But Wepner wasn`t about to go down without a fight.  After a loss to Joe Bugner, Wepner rallied and won nine out of the next eleven fights.

In 1975, crazy haired promoter Don King was looking for a new opponent for Mohammed Ali.  He chose the unknown Chuck Wepner.  Ali would receive 1.5 million for the fight while Wepner would receive $100,000.  The latter retreated to the Catskill Mountains for eight weeks of heavy training.

Ali and Wepner met at Richfield Coliseum, a city south of Cleveland, for the match.  When asked how he thought he would fare in the ring, Wepner explained:  Ì`ve been a survivor all my life.  If I survived the Marines, I can survive Ali.` Wepner did survive the fight, although he was badly beaten up in the process.

At home in Philadelphia, a young Sylvester Stallone watched the fight on his television.  He created Rocky Balboa, an underdog with a heart, to mirror Chuck Wepner.  Apollo Creed, his loud boisterous opponent who holds the world heavyweight championship, mirrored Mohammed Ali.  The script had all the ingredients of a blockbuster movie.

While Rocky required next to nothing to make, it earned 225 million at the box office and spawned a series.  Creed, the most recent in the series, is due out in November of 2015.

Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed in the 1976 movie courtesy http://www.vh1.com/news/4131/blockbuster-movies-low-cost/.

Fake It Till You Make It

American psychologist William James in his work "The Gospel of Relaxation" (www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/jgospel.html) said that not only can emotions drive our actions, but our actions can drive our emotions.  In other words, if you act differently, you will feel differently.  For example, if you're struggling with self-doubt, act confidently and eventually you will feel confident.

Can we translate this to the written word?  Is this theory something that bloggers can make use of?
According to D. Matriccino of Writer's Digest, it is (http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/fun/fake-it-til-you-make-it).  Mr. Matriccino says that it's a neuroplasticity thing.  If you keep telling yourself that you are an expert, that you are a professional, sooner or later your brain will believe it.  As Mohammed Ali, the great boxer, once said:  "To be a great champion, you must believe you are the best.  If you're not, pretend you are."  According to Mr. Matriccino, sooner or later, you won't be pretending.

On the other hand, blogger Jeffrey Davis of Tracking Wonder, (http://www.productiveflourishing.com/confidence-make-it-dont-fake-it/) thinks the "fake it till you make it" theory isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Why not?

People do tend to be charmed by charisma.  Some consider it a way to compensate for incompetence and to overcome self-doubt.  However, according to Jeffrey Davis:  "Because faking it gets rewarded so often, we put more emphasis on learning to project confidence than on acquiring actual competence."

Jeffrey goes on to say that the "fake it till you make it" strategy is a result of the mistaken belief that humility equals weakness.  People in turn try to ooze confidence to convince others that they know what they're talking about.  In fact, it's vogue to hack education, to hack business and to hack mastery.  Everybody's an expert in their field.

However, the "fake it till you make it" advice is short sighted.  You can't be someone you're not.  The strategy diminishes merit and hard work.  Remember, there is no substitute for experience.  So, if you're a brand new blogger, come clean, admit it.  Yes, you won't come off as an expert.  But at the same time, you will be genuine.  And your readers will appreciate your candour.

Blogger Darrell Vesterfelt (http://goinswriter.com/fake-it/) agrees.  In the world of business, people feel a tremendous pressure to perform.  The blogosphere is no different.  As a new blogger, Darrell tried to pass himself off as a professional.  However, he only told his readers half the story:  he left out the part about sleeping on a futon in his friend's guestroom.  He was an impostor.

Furthermore, using the "fake it till you make it" strategy, Darrell lost sight of two important things in his writing. Firstly, he forgot about the message; he focussed on what others wanted him to say rather than what he wanted to say.  He neglected telling the weaknesses about his story.  "The irony is our weaknesses are what make our messages believable, because they are what make us, as storytellers and communicators, relatable and reliable."  Readers want to read a blog that is reliable.  See my post about consistency at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2015/02/consistency-is-key-to-blogging-success.html.

Secondly, Darrell lost sight of his craft.  He wasted so much time and energy on faking it that he had none left for legitimate writing and for real growth.  In fact, he stopped writing on a daily basis, he stopped reading resources and he stopped inviting critiques of his work.  Darrell reminds us that if we can't write, we can't share our message.  "Don't lose your message because you're concerned with developping a persona."

Yes, confidence is important to writers.  However, you want to acquire it the right way.  Turn the saying around:  "Make it, Don't Fake It".  Then you'll feel that you've earned it.

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