For most of Cal AI, there was a voice in the back of my head telling me I was a fraud.

It was pretty loud and constant, and it didn't go away when we hit #1 in the health and fitness niche or were pulling in millions of revenue every month.

It didn't even go away when we got acquired (if anything, the acquisition made it worse).

The story I told myself was this: 

Cal AI only worked because of Zach, Henry, and Blake. 

You were just along for the ride. You weren’t a main contributor, and you're lucky nobody's found out that you're not actually a killer.

For a year and a half, that ran on a never-ending loop between my ears.

And I couldn't argue with it, because on paper the evidence was hard to argue against in my head. 

What did you actually do, Jake? 

I built the systems, I kept us organized, and I ran the marketing plays that drove the revenue. 

And every one of those things came pretty naturally to me, so I couldn't take them seriously as high leverage skills.

That's a dangerous trap anyone can fall into, because when something is easy for you, you assume it's easy for everyone.

I didn’t realize until recently that not everyone has the same instinct for organization, or marketing, or virality. 

Because it felt nearly frictionless for me, I gave myself zero credit for any of it.

And the strange part about this whole mental dilemma is that two things can be true at once. 

I knew logically that I'd driven real revenue, but I still couldn't make that voice shut up. 

Knowing you're not a fraud and feeling like you're not a fraud turn out to be completely different things.

Most people would start looking for more proof to show themselves that they’re not a fraud.

But what has helped me move past this block was intentionally forcing myself into tasks I’m not the greatest at.

A lot of it does not come naturally, but I'm doing it anyway. 

Because every time I have a breakthrough on an unfamiliar task, I get this new feeling of accomplishment as I watch myself struggle through it and still make it work.

I can see the effort in real time, because I'm right there watching how not-easy it is.

That's when it clicked for me, and I know you can experience the same thing.

Imposter syndrome doesn't come from being bad at things. 

Your highest-leverage skill is usually the one that's invisible to you, precisely because it costs you little to nothing.

If you feel like a fraud, it's probably not because you're faking it.

It's probably because the thing you're best at feels so easy.

Moral of the story: get out of your comfort zone and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

It might just be the best thing for your growth that you haven’t tried yet.

- Jake