The Power of Onlyness

Conviction is willingness to do the work, to live with uncertainty, to be open to asking for help, and not to worry about the end result.

Luckily, there’s an easily accessible antidote to imposter syndrome. It is simply to be yourself, and to be so deeply committed to a purpose that what matters is not how you appear to others but what is actually served.

onlyness: a different point of view grounded in one’s history and experience, visions, and hopes.

In spite of whatever indications suggest that an idea might not work out, you have to be “foolish” enough to make the attempt to make it successful.

For your idea to even have a chance, you have to give it room to grow.

first, by being willing to be foolish; second, by acting without evidence that he would succeed; and third, by enlisting help from some crucial new allies.

First, you stand in that spot in the world that only you stand in, then you meaningfully connect with others so that you (and, more to the point, your ideas) finally have a new pathway in.

You don’t have to be self-consciously “edgy” or stand out; you simply have to be yourself and keep advocating for the ideas that matter, thus creating the value you aim to bring to the world.

By keeping the focus on the gift itself, though, you can keep your ideas always at the forefront—even if they don’t fall comfortably into an existing “category,” even if there are many other people doing similar things.