You read about someone who made it big, and instead of feeling inspired, you end up thinking, “Sure, but that would never work for me.”
That’s what makes Ranveer Allahbadia’s story different.
See, most success stories follow a predictable script:
Prodigy starts young, catches some lucky breaks, and rides them to fame.
But Ranveer?
He was an engineering graduate dealing with depression, trying to figure out life like the rest of us.
Think about it:
In a country obsessed with traditional career paths, here’s a guy who decided to talk about mental health and personal development on YouTube.
In 2015, that wasn’t just unconventional – it was borderline career suicide.
But that’s exactly why his story matters now more than ever.
The lessons from Ranveer’s journey aren’t the usual “work hard and believe in yourself” fluff.
Whether you’re building a business, growing an audience, or just trying to figure out your next move, there’s something surprisingly useful here.
In the next few minutes, I’ll break down 9 key insights from his path.
But first…
Who is Ranveer Allahbadia?
Image source: YouTube
Most people think successful creators are born with a camera in their hands. Ranveer couldn’t figure out how to turn one on.
In 2015, while most of his engineering classmates were polishing their resumes for corporate jobs, he was dealing with depression, a failed subject, and what his family saw as a questionable decision to start a YouTube channel.
Picture that for a moment:
A guy from a family of doctors, telling his parents he wants to make videos about mental health and self-improvement.
In India. In 2015.
It’s like announcing you want to be a professional video game player in 1985. People don’t just look at you funny – they wonder if you need help.
But here’s what makes Ranveer’s story interesting:
He wasn’t some prodigy who had it all figured out. At 22, he was working as a personal trainer to fund his YouTube dream.
His first videos were, by his own admission, rough around the edges.
Think about how that feels. You’re training other people to pay your bills while trying to build something that everyone around you thinks is a waste of time.
He had two choices after engineering:
Follow the safe path or bet on himself. He chose the latter, but not in a glamorous “burn the boats” way.
He hustled as a trainer, learned video editing, and gradually built what would become one of India’s largest digital media platforms.
Today, his podcast “The Ranveer Show” sits at the top of India’s podcast charts.
He’s interviewed everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Priyanka Chopra.
Image source: Facebook
His company, Monk Entertainment, has grown from a basement operation to around a 150-person digital powerhouse.
Image source: LinkedIn
He didn’t have special access. Didn’t come from a media background. Didn’t even have a clear roadmap. What he had was a willingness to look stupid while figuring things out.
And that’s something worth paying attention to.
Let’s dive into the 9 crucial lessons to learn from Ranveer’s success story.
1. Embrace Change and Adaptability
The fascinating thing about adaptability is how it lets you thrive because of change, not despite it.
Look at Ranveer’s response when hackers hacked both his YouTube channels and associated it with Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Specifically, one channel was renamed @Elon.trump.tesla_live2024 and the other @Tesla.event.trump_2024, with content replaced by older streams from events featuring Musk and Trump.
Image source: Business News India
Most people would have panicked. Posted angry rants. Started a GoFundMe.
Ranveer celebrated with his favorite food (a vegan burger, in case you are wondering).
Image source: The Free Press Journal
That sounds crazy until you realize something crucial — the ability to adapt isn’t just a skill — it’s a mindset.
Remember how we talked about his unconventional career choice earlier?
An engineering graduate becoming a YouTuber in 2015 in India wasn’t just risky – it was seen as bizarre.
But here’s what most people miss about adaptability: It’s not about having a backup plan. It’s about being comfortable with uncertainty.
Ranveer didn’t just switch from engineering to YouTube. He worked as a personal trainer while building his channel.
When fitness content started feeling limiting, he expanded into mental health. When that gained traction, he moved into broader personal development.
Each pivot wasn’t a desperate attempt to find something that stuck. It was a deliberate expansion based on what his audience needed.
This is why most advice about adaptability misses the point. People tell you to “be prepared for change” as if change is this terrible thing you need to defend against.
But that’s like preparing for breathing.
Change isn’t something that happens to your career – it is your career. At least, any career worth having.
2. The Power of Authenticity
Think about authenticity like compound interest.
People treat it as a marketing strategy – “be authentic to gain followers.” That’s like saying “Be yourself to impress others.”
See the contradiction?
Real authenticity is more like debugging code. You don’t debug to look good; you debug because the program won’t work otherwise.
The real power of authenticity is in how it compounds:
- You share something real (like Ranveer talking about depression).
- Others connect with it (because everyone has struggles they don’t talk about).
- This creates trust (because shared vulnerability builds stronger bonds than shared success).
- Trust enables influence (which is different from mere attention).
- Influence creates opportunities (like interviewing Priyanka Chopra).
Each step builds on the previous one. You can’t skip steps or fake it.
Think about his interview with Priyanka Chopra.
Most interviewers try to prove they’re worthy of interviewing a star. Ranveer approached it differently – he was openly nervous, admitted his goals, and turned it into a real conversation.
Image source: YouTube
That’s the thing about authenticity: it’s contagious. When you’re real with people, they tend to be real back.
The paradox is that this approach, which seems risky in the short term, is the safer long-term strategy.
Why?
Because pretending to be something you’re not is exhausting, and exhausted people can’t build lasting success.
At the end of the day, authenticity isn’t a strategy. It’s the absence of strategy. Paradoxically, that might be the best strategy of all.
3. Prioritize Mental and Physical Health
There’s this idea in startup culture that killing yourself for success is somehow admirable. Like wearing exhaustion as a badge of honor.
Ranveer’s story suggests the opposite.
As discussed earlier, when Ranveer started his YouTube channel, he was working as a personal trainer.
Most people see that as the “backup plan” part of his story. But they’re missing something crucial.
Being a trainer meant he had to stay fit. Had to maintain his energy. Had to practice what he preached.
In other words, his “backup plan” forced him to prioritize his health.
Think about that for a moment.
While most creators were burning out trying to upload daily videos, he was building a foundation that would let him stay consistent for years.
Ranveer’s approach to meditation illustrates this perfectly. He doesn’t meditate to become more productive. He meditates because, in his words, it helps him “release emotional burdens.”
Image source: YouTube
That sounds soft and fuzzy until you consider what emotional burdens cost:
- Clouded decision-making.
- Strained relationships.
- Burnout.
- Inconsistency.
Each of these can kill a career faster than any external competition.
The same applies to physical health. Ranveer’s transformation from being overweight to becoming a fitness enthusiast isn’t just about looking good on camera. It’s about having the energy to show up consistently.
Image source: LLB
Think about it: In a world where most content creators burn out within a year, Ranveer has been consistently growing since 2015.
That’s not despite prioritizing health.
It’s because of it.
This might seem obvious in retrospect. But if it were, we wouldn’t have a burnout epidemic in the creator economy.
4. Continuous Learning is Essential
Just like eating does not stop after breakfast, learning should not stop after school.
Ranveer’s approach is more like building with Legos. Each piece connects to and strengthens the others.
His fitness background helped him understand discipline, which helped him stay consistent with content creation, which helped him build an audience, which opened doors for his podcast.
See the pattern?
Real learning compounds. Like interest in a bank account, except the returns are in opportunities rather than dollars.
Take his podcast, “The Ranveer Show.” Most interviewers prepare by researching their guest’s achievements. Ranveer prepares by studying their learning process (source).
When he interviewed Major Vivek Jakob, for example. he wasn’t just asking about his war stories. He was trying to understand how he thinks. How he learns. How he adapts.
Image source: YouTube
That’s the difference between performative learning and real learning.
That’s why Ranveer doesn’t just read books about business. He studies everything from psychology to philosophy to fitness.
Image source: YouTube
5. Financial Literacy Matters
The conventional advice is “save 20% of your income.”
Ranveer flipped this on its head. When he started making money from brand deals, he didn’t save 20% – he reinvested 80%.
This connects back to what we discussed about continuous learning. Just as he approaches each podcast guest as a learning opportunity, he treats each rupee as a potential teacher.
Ranveer learned his first financial lessons from video games.
Yes, video games.
Playing “Sims” and “FIFA” taught him basic resource management (source).
While parents were forcing their kids to memorize compound interest formulas, he was learning dynamic resource allocation in a virtual world.
Consider his concept of “financial armor.” Most people think of money as a weapon to attack opportunities. Ranveer spent his first five years building protection instead.
From ages 22-27, while others were trying to look rich, he was quietly building his armor:
- Living simply (no lifestyle inflation).
- Reinvesting in skills and business.
- Building multiple income streams.
- Only then considering traditional investments.
This approach seems slow until you realize that financial literacy isn’t about getting rich quickly but about not staying poor permanently.
Remember how we discussed his approach to mental health earlier?
Just as he views meditation as releasing emotional burdens, he sees money as energy that needs to flow, not accumulate.
6. Build a Strong Support Network
When Ranveer was banned from a gym due to jealous trainers, he didn’t just build a home gym – he built a community around it.
What looked like a setback became the foundation for something bigger.
Image source: The Times of India
This pattern keeps repeating in his journey:
When most creators would have panicked after getting their channels hacked, he stayed calm.
Why?
Because he had built systems and relationships that could weather the storm.
When he started Monk Entertainment, he didn’t just build a company – he created an ecosystem for other creators to grow.
Image source: LinkedIn
That’s the thing about real networks: they multiply value rather than just adding it.
The conventional advice about networking is all wrong. It tells you to:
- Attend events
- Exchange business cards
- Follow up
But real networks aren’t built through events. They’re built through shared struggles.
Remember how we talked about Ranveer’s approach to mental health?
The reason he could be so open about his struggles was because he had built a network that made vulnerability safe.
In Ranveer’s case, people know he stands for personal growth, mental health, and genuine connection.
That clarity attracts like-minded people and repels others, which is exactly what you want.
7. The Importance of Resilience
My perpetual lesson has been : Keep carrying on. Think, execute, learn, ask & grow. If life is hard and the goals are big, you’re doing great my friend. Carry on. The suffering of today becomes the strength of tomorrow. – Ranveer Allahbadia
Consider Ranveer’s journey from a garage to global recognition. Most “overnight success” stories skip the boring parts. But the boring parts are where resilience happens.
He spent years:
- Training people in their homes to fund his dreams.
- Running YouTube channels that barely anyone watched.
- Building a company from a garage.
- Publishing content consistently for a decade.
- Shooting 900+ podcasts.
When fitness content felt limiting, Ranveer didn’t stubbornly stick to it. He expanded into mental health. When that gained traction, he moved into broader personal development.
That’s the paradox of resilience:
Knowing when to persist and when to pivot.
Ranveer’s LinkedIn post about losing “friends, romances, money, mental health & simplicity” might sound like a typical entrepreneur struggle.
But look closer.
He follows it immediately with: “I wouldn’t wish this reality upon anyone.”
Image source: LinkedIn
That’s not just honesty (though it connects nicely to our earlier discussion about authenticity).
It’s a deeper truth about resilience – the goal isn’t to become invulnerable. It’s to become antifragile.
Antifragile means getting stronger because of stressors, not despite them. Like a muscle that grows from exercise, not one that merely endures it.
This explains why Ranveer could celebrate with a burger when his channels got hacked. Not because he’s unusually tough, but because he’s unusually adaptable.
8. Leverage Social Media Wisely
The conventional wisdom was to pick your platform and stick to it.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
Ranveer didn’t just randomly spread himself across platforms. He mapped each platform to a specific goal:
YouTube for building loyalty.
Instagram for brand collaborations.
LinkedIn and Twitter for professional opportunities.
Think about how Ranveer approaches content creation. He doesn’t just make videos – he tells stories. This connects back to what we discussed about authenticity in lesson 2.
“People gravitate towards HUMANS & their stories,” he says. This isn’t just some feel-good advice. It’s a fundamental truth about how human brains work.
We’re wired for stories. Always have been. Social media just gives us new ways to tell them.
The real leverage comes from understanding three things:
- Platform mechanics (how each platform works)
- Human psychology (what makes people connect)
- Personal sustainability (how to do this long-term without burning out)
Notice how this connects to his approach to mental health, which we discussed earlier.
You can’t build a sustainable social media presence if you’re burning yourself out trying to keep up with every trend.
That’s why Ranveer’s advice about delegation is so important. As he scaled, he built teams to handle different aspects of his social media presence.
It’s to be intentionally absent from some places.
Ranveer specifically advises picking just “1 or 2 social media platforms that you play games within.”
This might seem to contradict his own presence across multiple platforms. But look closer.
He didn’t build those presences simultaneously. He built them sequentially, adding new platforms only after mastering existing ones.
9. Innovate and Diversify Your Ventures
Ranveer owns 8 different YouTube channels, a medication app (Level SuperMind), and a talent management agency (Monk Entertainment).
He didn’t diversify randomly. Each new venture was like adding a new ingredient to a well-planned meal.
Fitness led to mental health. Mental health led to productivity. Productivity led to entrepreneurship content.
When he started Monk Entertainment, it wasn’t just another business – it was a natural evolution of understanding how the creator economy worked from the inside.
The conventional wisdom says “stick to what you know.” But what if what you know keeps evolving?
Consider his podcast, The Ranveer Show.
On paper, it looks like yet another interview show. But it’s actually a masterclass in strategic diversification. Each guest opens up a new domain, a new audience, and a new possibility for collaboration.
This brings us to an important distinction:
There’s a difference between diversifying and diluting. When Ranveer launched the Level SuperMind, focusing on mental wellness, it wasn’t a random jump into a hot market.
It was building on the credibility he’d already established talking about mental health on his channels.
I’ve noticed that the best entrepreneurs don’t actually set out to diversify. They follow their curiosity, and diversification happens as a byproduct.
The real lesson isn’t about starting multiple ventures. It’s about building a platform where each new venture strengthens the others.
His YouTube success made his podcast launch easier. His podcast network made his wellness app more credible. His talent management company made everything else run smoother.
Want to do it right?
Start with this:
Instead of asking “What else can I do?”, ask “What naturally extends from what I’m already doing well?”
That’s how you innovate without losing your core strength.
The Ordinary Path to Extraordinary Impact
When you’re learning to code, your first program isn’t going to be the next Facebook. It’s probably going to be a “Hello, World” that took you way too long to debug.
But you write it anyway.
That’s what Ranveer did with content. His first videos weren’t masterpieces. They were his “Hello, World.”
The real magic isn’t in being extraordinary. It’s in being ordinary consistently enough that the extraordinary becomes inevitable.
Remember how we talked about his approach to mental health? About authenticity? About building in public while learning?
These aren’t strategies for success. They’re permission to be human.
To fail visibly.
To learn publicly.
To grow messily.
Look back at each lesson we’ve covered. None of them require exceptional talent. They require exceptional patience. Exceptional consistency. Exceptional willingness to look stupid while figuring things out.
These are choices, not gifts.
You don’t need to be born special to make these choices. You just need to be brave enough to be ordinary first.
So here’s my challenge to you:
Start before you feel ready. Start before you feel special. Start before you have it all figured out.
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