When I was a kid I loved to watch wrestling, Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Junk Yard Dog, etc. Then at some point I learned from other people that not only were Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny fake, but wrestling was fake too. For a long time after that, I thought wrestling was the most stupid thing on TV. I couldn't understand why people would watch something that was fake. It's funny how such a little word can have such an impact on our perceptions. ...

At thesaurus.com the first words that come up as synonyms for the word fake are:
affected, artificial, assumed, bogus, concocted, counterfeit, fabricated, false, fictitious, forged, fraudulent, invented, make-believe, mock, phony, pretended, pseudo*, reproduction, sham*, simulated, spurious

What else in our world is fake? Are movies fake? Yes, even documentaries to a certain extent. TV, yes. What about reality tv? You can't get much more artificial, fabricated and phony than that - just because it calls itself reality and has very little to do with reality. There is plenty more in life that is in some way fake. In fact, the famous wrestler and seemingly:) good guy wrote a book called "Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling." It is a fun read and it deals with many of the perceptions we have about what is fake in comparison to wrestling.

Of course, I became a wrestler and now know how real professional wrestling is. What I would like to focus on today is the power of word choice on language. And instead of fake we will choose a synonym artificial. Today I read an article where President George W. Bush again talked about, and I quote,"an artificial timetable for withdrawal." If you take out the word artificial you have, "a timetable for withdrawal" or a deadline to get the troops out of Iraq.

In my experience there are no artificial deadlines and all deadlines are artificial. There are no artificial deadlines because the nature of a deadline is a made up time when things need to be done. Sure, sometimes they coincide with real world events that if not completed by could be detrimental to your goals, but that is about making up a deadline based on your goals ( which may include staying alive, well fed, having a roof over your head, etc. ). Yes, deadlines are artificial in nature, but they have been proven powerful in getting stuff done.

Many books on productivity talk about the importance of setting deadlines. The reason? If you don't set a deadline you will keep putting the task, or a part of a task off for another day. Set a deadline and you are more likely to do what it takes to get it done.

Obviously, war is more complex than me getting a project done at work or in my life. People die at war. More so than otherwise. However, I have enough respect in the capabilities of our armed forces to think that with a timetable for withdrawal, they could be more focused on getting what needs to be done completed on time. Of course, for that to work, they would need a clear idea of what needs to be completed as well. I think most people would like a clear idea of what victory looks like.

So the next time you are flipping through the channels and you see a movie, a tv show ( reality or otherwise ) and of course wrestling, sit back and enjoy it. Just because it is fake, doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch. In some cases, its very nature is to be artificial, and thank goodness.