Some people seem to use “what ifs” to ponder unusual types of hypothetical situations that are based of a person’s anxieties or fears. Such as “what if it snows or rains?” This is planning for an imaginal, non-existent event. It is a thinking error that is irrational because it does not exist. These are speculations that you fantasized and imagined as possibilities a person might consider if something was different and a person can use for planning even though the outcome does not exist. It contains conjectures and analyzations about an unknown future possibility.

A person could use any of the following words for their “what if scenarios:”

Hypotheticals: Situations based on imagination or assumption.

Speculations: Ideas or guesses about something unknown.

Conjectures: Conclusions/opinions developed with incomplete information.

Contingencies: Plans for unknown future possibilities.

Counterfactuals: Imagining the past differently (e.g., “What if I took the other job?)

It is possible to move from “what if” thinking to acting/pretending “as if” it is already happening.

Acting “As If” or “Fake It till You Make It.”

The "psychology of as if" is a technique where individuals adopt the behaviors, emotions, or mindset of a desired personality or mental state to initiate personal change.” As if” is from Alfred Adler’s therapy and explained by Richard Wiseman’s "As If Principle," suggests acting as if you are already confident or happy, which subsequently generates those feelings.

Behavioral Shift

One acts as if the change has already happened causing new feelings.

As if principle (Wiseman): Research shows physical actions can shift emotions and mental states (e.g., smiling to feel happier, sitting upright to feel more confident).

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This is a behavioral intervention to break negative thought patterns by forcing new actions.

Examples in Daily Life:

Confidence: Speaking and holding oneself like a confident person, even if feeling anxious.

Productivity: Working as if already successful to boost motivation.

Habit Change: Using the non-dominant hand to break automatic, unhealthy behaviors. This approach emphasizes that action is more effective at emotional change than thinking positively.



IF

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same…

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."

- Walt Disney.