Rohan's blog

The only way to grow in life is to become an imposter. Because you will never be ready. You have to take a leap of faith and act as if.

There are 2 types of people – planners and ‘yes and’.

Planning everything is a way to feel safe. If things go wrong, you can look at your plan and fall back on backup. And things go a certain way in some cases. But in the rest, no matter your plans – life throws you a curveball. And all of your planning goes out of the window. In the grand scheme of things – your life shouldn’t be lived as planned. Else, there is less excitement and room for life to actually happen.

But there are certain things you should plan on. For example, you are going to marry, have kids, buy a house, travel and get divorced. Plan for such things financially and mentally.

Sure, some might not happen, the rest will. But don’t fret about planning everything. Be open to change of plans. And that’s where the second type of people thrive.

‘Yes and’ is an improv concept. Improv is a type of comedy that isn’t planned. There is no practice of setups and punchlines. You go to a show, the comedian starts on a theme and then whatever the audience throws or fellow comedians suggest, they take it forward. No matter how absurd or difficult, in improv, you don’t say NO. You say ‘Yes and’ and move ahead with making jokes.

For things like your favourite restaurant isn’t available, it’s raining, you didn’t get to see the top attraction and many other things – you need to go with ‘Yes and’ attitude.

Yes, it has happened and now what can you do. And feeling bad isn’t a thing. You joke about it, find what can you do and just do it. You don’t stop because your favourite t-shirt isn’t washed. You accept it and move on with more energy with another t-shirt. When life throws you a curveball, you say ‘YES AND’.

Perfection is a myth. When you need to level up to be a leader, you don’t become one and you level up. You level up acting as if the leader and eventually you become one. You learn things and take risks. You grow because you have put yourself in that position.

Yes, some preparation is good and sometimes necessary. But ultimately you need to take that leap of faith.

Let’s take relationships for example. No matter if you are 10 years into a relationship, you will never feel ready for marriage. There will be nervousness, possibilities of things going wrong and all sorts of mixed advice. Ultimately, you decide one day you want to get married and do that. You weren’t ready but after you are married – you grow yourself to understand the next phase of your life. The same is the dilemma when you want to become a parent. You can have some money cushion, preps for becoming mom and pop and watch all the YouTube videos. But then one becomes a parent not because you were ready. You feel 80 % wanting to become one and go for it. And the rest you act as if you know everything and you become one.

Don’t hesitate in taking up new roles because you feel undeserved. If you get the opportunity to lead then jump in and act as if. And learn as you do the balancing act.

Another way to look at this is to understand that you can level up anytime you want. Because you needn’t be ready. Do your prep, have a deadline and then jump in. Of course, this in no way is to do a bad job because you are acting. Instead, it’s the opposite. You do more work to cover up and learn because you are doing that – learning on the job.

And all of this has been magnified on the Internet. Thousands of opportunities and among them, it might feel like you don’t belong. Act your way inside any community. Learn the ropes and join the discussion. Slowly start contributing and then leading your way.

If there is any place you belong 100%, it’s the internet.

Internet is evolving on a daily basis. There are some new developments in all the areas. How companies are forming to how to make a payment to how you can contribute. Pick one thing and then deep dive to make the most of it. Act as if and keep moving forwards. And on the internet, where you can be anything – be anything you want to be. Even if you are a distorted image with a whacky username, no one cares as long as you are delivering.

An imposter is often given the meaning of a certain kind. Where you become an imposter to do bad things by getting access or leverage.

And there is the imposter feeling where you feel like you don’t belong or don’t deserve it. This kind of imposter syndrome is something everyone deals with. And it’s fine to have it. In fact, as we have learnt, it’s the way to grow in life and now in the digital age, on the internet.

A classic example is when kings used to die suddenly. The young son was given the throne to rule. He is clueless, doesn’t know anything but if he acts that way, he dies or gets dethroned. He needs to act so he can learn, do a great job and deliver on the promise. This is an imposter who wants to become the personality which he is projecting and in the end, wants to do good things. Embrace your imposter feeling, you aren’t alone.

What do you want to become? Are you close? What would happen if you got that? Would you feel like an imposter? Share this with someone who needs this.