Reinventure Me

By What's next in life? | Explore your future with Leary Gates & Armin AssadiBusiness Religion & Spirituality Christianity Careers

Reinventure Me episodes

December 01, 2015RMT006 How to use recommendations to increase your credibility on LinkedIn (with Viveka von Rosen)
Do you know how to build your credibility on LinkedIn? It’s no surprise that recommendations and endorsements are key. The trick is getting them. This toolbox episode offers quick tips to help you do just that.
LinkedIn expert Viveka von Rosen shares the following recommendation-building strategies with Leary Gates:
Connect with people who have written you recommendations in the past. Send a message including their old recommendation and ask if they’d copy-and-paste it as a LinkedIn recommendation.
Recommend others first. LinkedIn will encourage them to write one for you in return.
Get 1–2 recommendations per job listed on your profile.
When asking for recommendations, remind people how they know you and give them some talking points. Let them know what you’re looking to have recommended: “Can you speak to my ability to….”
Endorsements are akin to Facebook “likes,” telling others that you are skilled, well-liked, and influential. Here’s how to use endorsements to increase your credibility on LinkedIn:
Keep all endorsements, but delete the skills you were improperly endorsed for.
Thank others for their endorsements.
Think of endorsees as “warm leads” and ask how you can be of service to them.
How else do you use LinkedIn recommendations and endorsements to increase your credibility? Share your tips in the comments below.
Resources mentioned in or related to this podcast:
LinkedIn.com/recs: LinkedIn’s direct URL for recommending someone.
How to use use media to increase your credibility on LinkedIn with Viveka von Rosen, Toolbox Episode 2: provides three tips on how to use media to increase your credibility on LinkedIn.
How to use LinkedIn to supercharge your next transition with Viveka von Rosen, Episode 31: provides practical tips, and a few cautions, as you prep your profile and gear up for change.
How to Use LinkedIn Publisher to Get More Visibility, an article by Viveka von Rosen: offers insight on the elements of a good post, how to determine publishing frequency, sharing best practices, and more.
B2B LinkedIn Launchpad Training Series, Viveka von Rosen’s comprehensive ebook: gets you and your business off and running with using LinkedIn for B2B purposes.
14 min
November 19, 2015091 Put to use what you have (with guests Bill & Stacy Spencer)
How do you turn two spare bedrooms into 122 acres? Bill and Stacy Spencer did just that. In today’s episode, Leary interviews the couple to find out what happened when they put to use what they had.
When Bill and Stacy paused to ponder what they could do with what they have, it led to an adventure they never anticipated: housing and mentoring two young men. Eventually, this experience led them to exchanged their prized possessions—their house and their business—to sow into even more lives. Today, their ministry, Narrow Gate Foundation, has grown into 122-acre property just outside of Nashville, TN, where they welcome and disciple 36 young men every year.
What can we learn from Bill and Stacy?
They committed to partnering well with each other and with God.
They reviewed the resources they had, particularly those not being fully used.
They considered how those resources could be put to better use, and weighed the cost.
They chose sacrifice, stewardship, and service—and started using their resources differently, to bless others.
Quotes from Bill, Stacy, and Leary:
“We weren’t planning to start a ministry. It was not our intention. …We were saying, ‘What do You want to do with our lives?’ ‘What do we have to offer?'” —Stacy
“It’s not about figuring out, ‘What do You want me to do?’ but, ‘What do You want me to do with what we already have?'” —Leary
“‘What have You already given me? How do You want to use that?’ It started with the physical reality. We had extra room in our home, so we invited some guys who needed a place to live to come live with us.” —Stacy
“We had already said this prayer, ‘Anything, anytime, anywhere—we don’t care—You just use us until we’re used up.'” —Bill
“Ephesians 5:15 says, ‘Make the most of every opportunity.’ It doesn’t say, ‘Make the most opportunities.'” —Leary
“If I could give any piece of advice to husbands in America: Find the quality or qualities in your wife in her life that are the qualities of God. Call them out and call them up. Because you don’t actually add improvement in people’s lives primarily through correction; you add it through encouragement. People respond to esteem.” —Bill
“Good leadership always says this, ‘If I have the right people on the team, all I have to do is inspire them with the vision, equip them with the resources, and then get out of their way.”” —Bill
“If you haven’t practiced the art of admiring your spouse, you’re probably not ready to launch a ministry to serve others.” —Leary
This week’s Challenge Me:
There are so many things that we have that we don’t fully use. Think about the resources at your disposal. What do you have in your possession that you could use more fully? Take some time to jot down the things that come to mind and prayerfully consider ways you can start stewarding those resources better.
Resources mentioned in or related to this podcast that may be helpful to you:
Narrow Gate Foundation website
33 min
November 17, 2015RMT005 How to evaluate your ventures
Do you step back and evaluate your ventures from time-to-time? If not, your ventures are suffering. Join us as we talk about why this exercise is important and one tool that can help.
Reinventure Me toolbox episodes offer quick tips and tools to help you excel in life and in your life ventures. In this week’s toolbox episode, Leary shares a tool he created to help evaluate his own venturing portfolio.
Why is using a tool like this helpful? It makes it possible for us to:
Prioritize our time effectively.
Ensure that our ventures contribute toward our personal missions.
Understand why our ventures are important to us.
Determine important contributions we can make to our ventures in the next year.
Understand how our ventures benefit us.
Understand how our ventures tax us.
Determine how to best reallocate our time.
Leary says:
“Time is the one investment that [we] don’t get any more of…. [H]ow we allocate it among all the things we want to do in our lives is a really important question.”
“Whenever you’re looking at something that you’re doing, ask yourself, ‘Would I choose to do this if I weren’t already doing it?'”
“The question for you to ask is: Is there something better that’s a better use of your time, and would you choose to do what you’re currently doing if you were presented with it for the first time?”
How else can we monitor and evaluate our ventures? Share your tips and suggestions in the comments below.
Resources mentioned in or related to this episode:
How to have a personal planning retreat, Episode 46 of the Reinventure Me podcast
How to create personal mission statement, Episode 15 of the Reinventure Me podcast
Leary’s blog post, “Think like a portfolio manager to improve your return on mission“
Leary’s Venturing Portfolio Analysis tool (Word doc)
9 min
November 12, 2015090 If money were no object
What would you do if money were no object? Don’t answer that question. It’s stupid. Join us for this episode instead to find out why.
This week’s Inspire Me quote is from James Dean:
“Dream as if you will live forever; live as if you will die today.”
The question, “What would you do if money were no object?” is erroneous. Here’s why. It assumes:
Your dream is costly.
Your dream can be purchased.
Your real dream can be achieved instantly. (All it takes is money.)
Quotes from Leary and Armin:
“Our culture conditions us to think that anything that is worthwhile is going to take a lot of money to attain it.” —Leary
“If God put you here on earth to accomplish something, and He didn’t give you the resources to accomplish it, then either He’s at fault or you’re at fault.” —Leary
“We have this idea that we have to have something to get something. That’s not creating a dream. That’s buying a dream.” —Leary
“What’s costly about our dream is ignoring it, thinking that it takes money to fund it. Because every minute that you don’t pursue the thing you’re designed to pursue is a minute wasted waiting.” —Leary
“You have this idea and before you’ve done anything else beyond the idea, you’ve already come up with objections to the idea by saying, ‘How much is it going to cost in time?’ and ‘How much is it going to cost in money?’ Immediately, you have… reasons to say, ‘I’m not even gonna try.'” —Armin
“Every time you say, ‘I’ll have more time later’ or ‘I’ll have more money later,’ you keep waiting for something that’s not going to happen because you’re going to stay just as busy and you’re going to have just as many bills.” —Armin
“Sometimes the sacrifice that we think a dream costs is too much. But, for some people out there, the sacrifice of not pursuing your dream is the greater sacrifice.” —Armin
“We can lose out on a greater path for us individually when we think the only solution to a path is an economic one.” —Leary
“If you’re waiting for financial freedom before you pursue your dream, then you really don’t love your dream enough to pursue it—because you are looking to buy it, not to create it.” —Leary
“The absence of money that you have right now may be a test of your devotion to the dream.” —Leary
“Instead of thinking about money as a barrier, think about it instead as a constraint…. A barrier keeps you from advancing, but a constraint funnels you, focuses you, causes you to pursue options.” —Leary
“We can choose to be for God or for money. Is it possible that when we defer what we’re supposed to do because we don’t have money, that we’re deferring to the wrong boss?” —Leary
This week’s Challenge Me:
Take out a sheet of paper create three columns. Label them: $1K, $10K, and $100K. Below each, write what you might do with the investment. What can you be doing now to prepare for those kinds of investments? Make a separate list of all the preparatory things you can do that don’t require any investment at all. What’s keeping you now from doing those things?
Resources mentioned or related to this podcast that may be helpful to you:
Episode 29, “Are you frozen in place by linear thinking?“
Episode 81, “How to take risks (safely)“
Episode 28, “Principles to pivot in place: Moving from where you are to where you need to be“
32 min
November 05, 2015089 Five skills you can learn through failure
You can’t avoid it, so you might as well get better by it. In this episode, we throw around the F-word—failure—and talk about the five skills you can learn from it.
This week’s Inspire Me quote is from Winston Churchill:
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Whether we like it or not, we’re going to experience failure. It comes when we “do” and when we “don’t do.” How do we maintain enthusiasm in the midst of failure? By focusing on the five benefits it brings if we let it:
Resiliency: the ability to rise again.
Risk-tolerance: the ability to experiment.
Reflectiveness: the ability to accurately diagnose.
Relatability: the ability to connect to others openly, honestly.
Reframing: the ability to see bridges and connections to new opportunities.
Quotes from Leary and Armin:
“The more you avoid failure, the more likely you are to get it.” —Leary
“Failure is part of the DNA of the learning process. You can’t learn something if you don’t fail at it.” —Leary
“‘It’s not about how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can take a hit and keep moving forward.'” —Armin quoting Rocky
“Get up. Move on. Because God’s not done with you yet. That’s the first skill we have to develop from failure.” —Leary
“You’ll keep failing if you keep doing the same ventures… but… you[‘ll] find a better way to do that same thing better each time. You become more efficient. You learn how to expedite the process. You learn to foresee the problems coming.” —Armin
“It’s critical for us to develop the mindset of a learner.” —Leary
“If we want to really get the most from an experience… we have to study it.” —Leary
“The very fact of failure can be a bridge to new opportunities.” —Leary
This week’s Challenge Me:
What was the last failure you remember? Pick one of these skills and ask yourself the corresponding question(s).
Resiliency: How do I react to set-back? What’s my recovery time?
Risk-tolerance: What can I test and how can I test it?
Reflectiveness: What habits do I adopt to diagnose my condition and my approach?
Relatability: How forthcoming am I about the challenges and failures I’ve experienced?
Reframing: What assets did I acquire from this experience that will make the next one less challenging?
Resources mentioned or related to this podcast that may be helpful to you:
Leary Gates’ blog post, “Five ways to fail better“
Episode 81, “How to take risks (safely)“
Episode 24, “Why now is the best time to start journaling“
28 min
November 03, 2015RMT004 How to get in the door (with guest Steve Kloyda)
In this toolbox episode, we talk about how to “get in the door” so you can sell your idea to people who want it, but don’t know it yet.
This is our fourth Reinventure Me toolbox episode—a new format to offer quick tips and tools to help you excel in your life and in your life ventures.
In this episode, prospecting expert Steve Kloyda talks about selling ideas. His tips:
Be clear about your message. Have you taken the time to distill what it is you want the other person to know about you? You have just 10 seconds to get the person’s attention.
Remember the is, does, and means: what is it, what does it do, what does it mean to the person you’re approaching?
Create a prospecting gold list. Who do you think might want your idea? Prepare yourself and your message, do your research, and block out time to approach your prospects. Start with a phone call. One of three things will happen: you’ll reach a gatekeeper, leave a voicemail message, or reach the person you were calling to reach.
Steve says:
“We’re all in sales. Let’s face it: we have ideas, we have concepts. Have you seen a good movie lately? Did you tell someone about it?”
“Make the purpose of the call the purpose of the call, because confused people will not act, will not respond.”
“You have exactly 10 seconds to get the person’s attention. So you need to be really clear about your prospecting message.”
“How do we find out what’s important to the person we’re approaching? We have to do a little research, we ask them questions. We have to make it all about them.”
“Proper planning equals peak performance.”
“You need to develop a relationship [with the gatekeeper].”
“[Ask,] ‘Is this a convenient time to talk?’ …I’ve tested this and 99% of the time they will say, ‘That depends, why are you calling me?’ Now they’ve invited you in. You’ve earned the right to have a conversation.”
“Don’t say, ‘I was just calling’ or ‘I just wanted to touch-base with you.’ No. ‘The purpose of my call is…’ State the purpose of your call. And, at the end, ask a question.”
Have you found other ways of successfully getting in the door with prospects? If so, share your tips in the comments below.
Resources mentioned in or related to this episode:
Steve Kloyda’s website: theprospectingexpert.com
Dan Pink’s book, To Sell is Human
Leary Gates’ review of To Sell is Human
12 min
October 29, 2015088 Go ahead. Put it out there. (with guest Molly Kate Kestner)
If you’ve got it inside you, imagine what might happen when you take the risk to put it out there. In this week’s episode, Leary and Armin talk with guest Molly Kate Kestner, a small-town girl who took a risk that went viral.
Molly Kate Kestner, Leary, and Armin discuss:
Taking risks by putting your work out there, even if it’s not “perfect.”
Using your gifts to serve others.
Dealing with the pressure, change, and fears that comes with success.
Trusting God with the outcome.
Learning how to deal with ulterior motives of people wanting to be friends.
Building trust and relationships with others.
Finding good mentors for support and confirmation about big decisions.
Selected excerpts of what Molly Kate Kestner had to say:
“[I try to ask,] ‘How can I use this to make a difference and impact people?'”
“In art forms… you can feel like what you’re doing is wasteful because it’s hard to compare that to an 8-to-5 job, but, to inspire and be inspired, you need to have those times that may seem or feel kinda wasteful in the moment, but the result is something incredible.”
“As long as you know that what you’re doing serves a purpose… that’s what keeps me going: I’m doing this, regardless of what other people’s thoughts may be, regardless of my insecurities or doubts, I know this was what I was put on this earth to do.”
“If I stay with this, this will be good, because this is what I’m supposed to do.”
“One of the best decisions I’ve made this past year is finding people who can be mentors to me and speak into my life.”
“Sometimes that means me not just waiting around until I feel inspired, it means me taking the step to push through that—taking the experiences and emotions I feel to write something beautiful and inspire someone else.”
Are you waiting for perfection before you share what you’ve created with others? We hope this conversation with Molly Kate Kestner has inspired you to reconsider waiting. Sometimes, the best things are worth doing the best we can do them today. Go ahead. Put it out there.
And, if you’ve taken a risk to put it out there, we’d love to hear about it, and any lessons you learned along the way.
Share your story or leave a question for Molly Kate Kestner, Leary Gates, or Armin Assadi in the comments below.
Resources mentioned during this podcast include:
His Daughter, Molly Kate Kestner’s original song on YouTube.
His Daughter, Molly Kate Kestner’s song on iTunes.
32 min
October 27, 2015RMT003 How to create a brand promise
In this toolbox episode, we talk about how to create a brand promise for yourself or for your business.
This is our third Reinventure Me toolbox episode; a new show format that we are adding to offer quick tips to help you in your venture.
In this episode, Leary Gates answers the questions:
What is a brand promise?
What are the components of a brand promise?
How do I build a brand promise for myself or my business?
As you prepare for that next great beginning, create a brand promise for yourself or your business by addressing three questions: 1) what am I or my business helping someone do? 2) how do I want them to feel about my help or from interacting with my business? 3) what lingering effect do I want my help or my business to have on them?
The answers to these questions will help you distill the promises and benefits of your brand, forging your brand promise.
Have you created a brand promise for yourself or your business? If so, share your tips and leave yours in the comments below—and let us know what you think about this new show format.
9 min
October 22, 2015087 How to rise above any circumstance
Stuff happens. It may seem that you’re always reacting to the squeaky wheels in your life. In this episode, we talk about how to rise above any circumstance.
This week’s Inspire Me quote is from Anonymous:
“When it rains, most birds head for shelter; the eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts flying above the cloud.”
How does the topic of rising above any circumstance relate to transition and reinventuring yourself?
Circumstances and difficulties happen. We’re prone to becoming victims of circumstance. Whenever we feel our choices are being hijacked, it is easy to become angry, envious, or panic. Unfortunately, these feelings of being trapped often prompt us to react in ways that perpetuate our difficulties.
The good news is, we aren’t powerless. We do have a choice. There is a way out.
How do we get there? It starts with reframing our thoughts and behavior:
Affirm the existence of choice. There is more than one way to look at and respond to a situation; there are options.
Affirm the volition of another party. Avoid conflict by looking for a win-win for you and the other person.
Affirm responsibility to make the choice. You play an important role in what happens next in your life.
Affirm a creative rather than reactive choice. Look for what you can create—like harmony—vs. simply reacting to the friction.
In Path of Least Resistance, Robert Fritz writes that when we find the thing we want to create and determine where we’re at in relation to that thing, then we are able to take the steps toward it rather than reacting to circumstances. We now have positive motivation.
It’s like we are rats in a maze and the walls are our circumstances. When we stop asking, “How do I overcome this circumstance?” and start asking, “What do I want to create?” instead, we lift ourselves above the maze and we can see where it goes and how to get through it.
“What do I want to create?” is a reframing exercise, a transcendent, that gives us another perspective and a way forward.
This week’s Challenge Me:
The next time you feel that you are the victim of circumstance, ask, “What outcome was I expecting that I couldn’t control?” Then reframe to what you might like to create.
Resources mentioned or related to this podcast that may be helpful to you:
Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life, by Robert Fritz, on the steps of creating; the importance of creating what you truly love; and how to focus on the creative process to move from where you are to where you want to be.
Strategic Margin Workshop, Leary’s workshop (mentioned in this podcast) to help you escape reactive mode and creatively build the future you desire. Next workshop on November 6. Use promo code “REINVENTURE” to save $100.
32 min
October 20, 2015RMT002 How to use media to increase your credibility on LinkedIn (with Viveka von Rosen)
This toolbox episode offers three tips on how to use media to increase your credibility on LinkedIn.
This is the second of the Reinventure Me Toolbox episodes; a new show format that we are adding to offer quick tips to help you in your venture.
In this episode, LinkedIn expert Viveka von Rosen shares the three things that matter most when using media on your LinkedIn profile and preparing for that next great beginning:
Your profile photo matters. Make sure yours is a professional-looking headshot, and features a smile.
Banner ads add. Use banner ads that are consistent with your other marketing efforts to promote your business or activity.
Showcase your credibility. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s newer features: add a background image to your profile, upload videos and presentations, share anything that visually showcases your credibility.
If you use LinkedIn, share your tips in the comments area below and let us know what you think about this new show format.
Resources mentioned or related to this podcast that may be helpful to you:
How to use LinkedIn to supercharge your next transition with Viveka von Rosen, Episode 31, provides practical tips, and a few cautions, as you prep your profile and gear up for change.
How to Use LinkedIn Publisher to Get More Visibility, an article by Viveka von Rosen, offers insight on the elements of a good post, how to determine publishing frequency, sharing best practices, and more.
B2B LinkedIn Launchpad Training Series, Viveka von Rosen’s comprehensive ebook to get you and your business off and running with using LinkedIn for B2B purposes.
13 min

About Reinventure Me

From the publisher's feed

Find your next great beginning

Share Reinventure Me

Sign up to save your podcasts

Reinventure Me

Reinventure Me episodes

About Reinventure Me