The Ryan Leak Podcast

The Willpower Muscle

What if the hard thing you've been avoiding is actually the thing that's making you stronger? In this episode, Ryan explores the science behind willpower and why discipli

The Perfect Plan Myth

What if the thing holding you back isn’t a lack of planning, but too much of it? We tell ourselves we’ll start when the plan is perfect, when we have more clarity, when

Even If You Don't Feel Like It

What if you stopped waiting to feel like it? The truth is, you get the same results from doing hard things when you don’t feel like it as you do when you do. The mile st

It's All Hard

It’s all hard. Building a career is hard. Leading people is hard. Marriage is hard. Parenting is hard. Starting over is hard. Staying the course is hard. But some hard t

Keep It Moving

Getting started takes bravery. Keeping going takes resilience. Life won’t always cooperate with your plans. Ideas flop. People disappoint you. Opportunities disappear. D

Stop Fighting the Wrong Competitor

We spend a lot of energy trying to keep up with competitors who aren't even thinking about us. We scroll through someone's highlight reel and measure it against our behin

Feedback is Data, Not a Verdict

Someone says “your presentation could’ve been stronger” and your brain hears “you’re a failure.” Someone says “I think you could listen more” and your brain hears “you’re

The Other Side of Me

There’s a gap between who we think we are and how people actually experience us. And that gap is where most of our relational problems live. Ryan asks the question he use

Thank God It’s Monday

We’ve built an entire culture around surviving the week just to get to the weekend. TGIF. We countdown the days. We post the memes. But if you dread five out of seven day

The Cost of Always Being Right

Would you rather be right or would you rather be connected? Ryan has met a lot of people who are always right. And he’s noticed something about them. They’re often alone.

What If They Aren’t Against You?

Your boss gives you tough feedback and you spend the whole weekend convinced they’re trying to push you out. Then Monday comes and they tell you they’re recommending you

Stop Waiting To Feel Ready

“I’ll start when I’m ready” might be the biggest lie we tell ourselves. I’ll start the business when I’m ready. I’ll have the conversation when I’m ready. I’ll write the

The Tax of Distraction

Nobody’s going to send you an invoice for being distracted. But research says it takes 23 minutes to fully refocus after a single interruption. Multiply that by a dozen t

Helped, Heard, or Hugged

Someone you love comes to you with something heavy. And because you care, you immediately start solving it. You’ve got a plan, next steps, practically a spreadsheet. And

I Don’t Know

There’s a word most people have never heard that describes something most people do every day. It’s called ultracrepidarianism, giving opinions on things you have no real

Trust Me

Only 34% of Americans believe most people can be trusted. The average person has about five people they’d truly lean on for anything. And yet Ryan has never met a single

Keep Going

In 1989, a 23-year-old social worker started teaching classes and researching a topic nobody wanted to touch. For 21 years, almost nobody outside her department read her

Brother Lawrence

Most people think God shows up in the big moments. The big stage, the big breakthrough, the big answered prayer. But one of the most influential voices in 400 years of Ch

Are You Okay?

The most underrated form of care in any workplace or family is the courage to ask one more time, are you okay? And actually mean it. One in five adults in this country l

Invited to the Table or the Trial?

Most of us walk into hard conversations with the wrong goal. We're chasing agreement when we should be building connection. We're choosing accuracy when we should be choo