IMPROV YOUR LIFE! BY ROB LEVOY

I’m sure your first thought was that I made a spelling error in the first three words of this blog and meant to say “Improve Your Life,” but I’m actually talking about a process that typically comes from comedy known as improvisation. Improvising can be defined as creating and performing (typically music or drama) spontaneously or without preparation. In a comedy sense, it’s speaking the first unscripted thing that pops in your head no matter how wacky or crazy it might be and without fear that the audience might not find it funny. This process absolutely fascinates me and I believe it can be applied to college as well as many aspects of entrepreneurship.

I first started researching improv after watching students do a few funny skits in class earlier this semester and realized that improv, at it’s core, goes against everything that is traditionally taught in school. We are taught in school to follow set processes and guidelines with everything that we do and to never veer from them, in fear of receiving a bad grade. Where’s the uniqueness in that? What’s the point of everyone doing something the same way? Where’s the actual growth and learning? I argue against this because following this “traditional” process has been causing me to struggle with being creative in college due to always trying to stay within the set of parameters that professors have built around me.

This problem stems from not being able to silence my voice of judgment or VOJ when working on class projects in fear that I’ll receive a bad grade because my project didn’t necessarily fit each and every guideline set. I believe that improv can be applied to life and more specifically entrepreneurship in the sense that we should never be scared of trying to do something a different way solely because we’re nervous that it might not follow the standards set or that other people will not agree with the concept or idea. I believe that true innovation and growth happens when we silence our VOJ and actually do what we think is right rather than what we think everyone else wants. I believe that we can improve our life by “improv-ing” it and not being scared to try something a different way.