I was taught that a Freemason's lodge extends from E to W and N to S and from the center of the Earth to the Heavens, and I doubt that faking it fools the brethren in the temple in the heavens.
I find that the only person I am usually fooling is myself. My capacity to fool myself appears to be limitless. In order to protect me from myself I have adopted certain principles. There are two principles that I find most useful.
The first is to assume that everything is my fault. This allows me to see past the defenses I build to protect myself. let's face it, if I am in a bad situation I have done SOMETHING to get me there. Unless I can find and face that something I have little chance of dealing with the situation appropriately.
The second way I protect myself is to be ruthlessly honest about my faults. Even if I believe that I am only one percent at fault I try to focus ONLY on that one percent. The reason is that MY faults are the only thing that I can change. If I want things to be different I will have to change me. Ever hear the saying "You can't cheat an honest man"? Well, "You can't manipulate an honest man". If I have no secrets, no secret guilt or desire, then I have no buttons that you can push to manipulate me. And yes, sometimes I walk away from things I really want because I am not willing to compromise myself to get them.
If remember right, the first of Buddha's four noble truths is "Life is Difficult". The other three seem to be about how to deal with the first.