June 30, 2014

Five ways your proficiency is hindering you

Your own proficiency is hindering you. By definition, it’s inevitable. Proficiency is about gaining skill through repetition. The more skillful you become, the less energy it takes to sustain your level of competence. When it comes to how you ...

June 27, 2014

What I learned from my shadow

I saw my shadow today. It had the shape of independence. Often, when my inner critic speaks, I get an earful about my penchant for acting alone. Perhaps my inner critic is merely echoing what someone told another about ...

June 26, 2014

How reading can lead to your next great beginning [podcast]

My wife, Anna, is a voracious reader. She’s also the smartest woman I know. I don’t think those attributes are unrelated. She’s smart because she reads and she reads because she’s smart. I’ve not always been so smart. Up ...

June 23, 2014

How to cultivate a bias for action

I’m a huge proponent of smart action. As the intelligence researcher Robert Sternberg put it, “The essence of intelligence would seem to be in knowing when to think and act quickly, and knowing when to think and act slowly.” Our ...

June 20, 2014

Are you hosting makeup conversations?

Recently, I was waiting to meet a friend at a casual dining restaurant. Seated a table or so away from me were four women engaged in in a very lively conversation—about makeup. I couldn’t help but overhear them talk about ...

June 19, 2014

Are you persevering or merely being obstinate? [podcast]

I'm told by others I'm headstrong. (I don't think they're referring to my intellect.) Perseverance is a terrific quality until you continue to pursue something you should really not. Then it's stubbornness.

June 18, 2014

Valley taught: The stuff that fuels your ascent

I grew up at the foothills of inspiration. Right outside my front-door loomed Colorado’s majestic Pikes Peak. One of the first things I noticed when I moved to Minnesota was that there were no mountains—lots of gorgeous lakes, but ...

June 16, 2014

Review “Making Ideas Happen” by Scott Belsky

Recommended resource: Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky

“Most ideas are born and lost in isolation,” writes Scott Belsky in his book Making Ideas Happen (Penguin, 2012). If you want to take your idea production game to the next level, this book is for you. It’s packed ...

June 13, 2014

The genesis of a productive day

'Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant' - Robert Lewis Stevenson

Did you have a productive day? I ask myself that at the end of the day, and I ask my friends and family too. The answer I’m looking for is based on how much got done. Productivity means completion. ...

June 12, 2014

How to create habits for your next great beginning [podcast]

Mark Twain once quipped, “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.” What’s so easy to see in others, is difficult to spot in ourselves— especially so when we set out to create habits that support our long term ...

Leary Gates | Venture coach

Turn your vision into venture. Ideas into action.