I can attest to the power of "acting" even in private. When I was a teenager, I had incredible difficulties getting myself to study. I was behind in every single class and the stress created a vicious cycle where it became harder and harder to study due to the paralyzing anxiety.

One day I got fed up with that huge pressure / inability to move and said, "Damn, how is this so easy for Anne, or Josh!!! How do they do it?" Then suddenly, "wait... how DO they do it?"

I tried to put myself in the shoes of the best student I knew. He was quite autistic, moved his face and body in unusual ways, but he loved learning and always read the books before term even started. I had a bit of experience with acting, so I adopted his body language, movement patterns, and mindset. "Wow," I thought, "I frigging love learning!!"

I got to work on my math homework, worked with effortless joy for the next hour, and was so weirded out by the experiment that I never repeated it.

(I later overcame my fear of math "myself" thanks to meditation: I realized trying harder didn't work because it only made me tired faster, I had to learn to truly relax—then study became effortless for me.)

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I later learned a technique from Napoleon Hill where you have a big meeting in your imagination with folks whose wisdom and character you admire. In this way you use your "hardware" (brain) to run different OS (mind) using an "emulator" (imagination).

It might sound silly but I'm always amazed at the fresh perspectives I'm able to obtain when I ask "someone smarter" for advice in my imagination. Truly my range of thought is severely limited by the constraints of my own self-concept—it's good to let go of it from time to time and see what else comes up.