I was recently chatting with a college friend.
One of those classic 9+ CGPA toppers.
Still at the same IT company that hired him from campus.
No big role. No exciting projects.
And when I asked how things are going, he said – “Bas chal raha hai bhai!”
Now here’s the strange part:
This guy was always the sharpest in class.
Could solve the toughest problems in minutes.
Teachers adored him.
We all thought he’d do something massive.
But he’s stuck.
And he’s not the only one.
What happens to the toppers?
I have a theory.
In school and college, the roadmap is very clear and the system rewards –
✅ Knowing single accurate answer
✅ Following instructions from fixed syllabus
✅ Focusing just academic aspect instead of holistic growth
✅ Hyping up failures to a level that students feel it’s wrong to fail
What I still hate about schools and colleges is that you’re mocked for asking questions.
But the real world?
It rewards the opposite:
🔥 Understanding that there can be multiple approaches
🔥 Solving real problems and not just solving textbook ones
🔥 Learning from doing everything as you can’t “study” your way into growth
🔥 Taking calculated risk and learning from failures
So while toppers are waiting for the “right” opportunity or the perfect plan, others are trying, failing, learning and growing like crazy.
The curse of being smart
- Smart people overthink everything.
- They want clarity before action.
- They fear losing their “topper” identity so they avoid uncertainty.
- They optimize for stability. And often, that becomes their prison.
Meanwhile, I’ve seen average students:
- Launch side businesses without thinking much
- Take messy paths
- Say “yes” to weird opportunities
- Learn by doing
Importantly, even if they fail, nobody questions them because nobody expects anything from them.
I was never the class topper. You can say I was above-average.
Then I started side projects.
Wrote online.
Took freelancing gigs.
Worked with SaaS products, small businesses, and communities.
And kept exploring — sometimes blindly.
Now after years of hands-on work, I genuinely feel the growth.
Not just in skills, but in my mindset, ability to tackle things.
Maybe I did get better opportunities along the way.
But more than that, I shaped myself.
Not because of grades.
But because I still keep exploring things.
TODAY’S ACTION ITEM
If you feel stuck, ask yourself:
- When was the last time I felt excited about my work?
- What’s one small project or skill I can explore outside my job?
- What would I do if I wasn’t afraid of failing?
You don’t have to burn everything down.
Just start something. Write. Build. Collaborate. Learn.
So what will you create next?