Check out his game face!

He stepped up to the starting blocks with a look of quiet determination. His competitors follow suit. Some seem to be in another aura, others with a look of stoicism, and still others carry a wrinkly forehead and a glare for those who dare to look. They all have the same goal today. To take home the gold. They were all winners to that moment and they know it is focus that takes precedence for this win.

While we associate a game face with athletic performance, most of us sport our own while we walk though life. A deep breath, a shrug of the shoulders might preface it and our reaction is relative to the situation at hand. Work life and personal life are not immune and while it seems almost fraudulent, it is a coping mechanism. Game face is the means of getting through a situation, and is a vote of confidence from you to you.

In the work environment, we walk ourselves though interviews, presentations and irritating co-workers. In every scenario the door will open, the podium will be ready, and the game face begins. You shine in an interview, nail the presentation, and smile at the co-worker, because you can.

In home life, we follow a routine to make sure everyone’s needs are met. Homework is more interesting, and the dinner hour is met with healthy conversation and opportunity to set a positive example. That is game face. I am not saying to ignore the stressors, set aside the tough stuff, but for a time embrace, cope and channel your energy into more positive approaches.

Together it means one thing. A game face is how we present ourselves for what will happen next. How you will present yourself in a situation. We all have one. Some just happen to be more vibrant than others. Some will roar like lions or growl like bears, others mimic a mouse, and in every scenario it is how we handle us.

Fake? More like integrity. We all walk into situations that ruffle our feathers, and often those situations are not a choice. You say good-bye to family members  leaving  on a deployment, you don’t get the job and remain unemployed, or everything changes with the announcement of an unexpected illness.  But, in every case, you step back up to the plate and keep moving forward.   To the outsider it might seem almost fraudulent, fake when in actually we are doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.  We cope. We wear our game face.

So walk the walk, talk the talk, and by all means,

Fake it until you make it….happen. 

 

The Daily Post: Fraud Exceptional