GNT #154: The skill that matters more than being smart

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I grew up in a family of three girls.

I was the youngest. And I idolized my sisters.

They were smart, capable, and fun to be around. The kind of people other people naturally trusted and admired.

And because I admired them, I made an assumption early on.

This is what success looks like.

So when they joined band, I joined band. When they worked the church cookie booth, I did too. When they took honors classes, I worked hard to keep up.

None of this felt forced. I wanted to do well. I cared. I tried.

But as things got more complex, I started to notice something.

I wasn’t struggling because I wasn’t trying.

I was struggling because I believed success was mostly about being smart.

And that wasn’t the full story.

In today’s newsletter, we’ll unpack the skill that matters more than being smart, how a lack of agency keeps capable people stuck, and three concrete ways to build personal agency so you can start building momentum on the ideas that matter most to you.

Let’s get to it.
 

Why being smart isn’t the bottleneck

Most capable people don’t feel stuck because they lack intelligence.

They feel stuck because they are over-relying on it.

They assume:

• If I understand this better, I’ll act
• If I think this through more, clarity will appear

But intelligence without agency leads to analysis, not movement.

Personal agency is the ability to see your options and act on them deliberately.

Not perfectly.
Not confidently.
Deliberately.

That is what turns ideas into progress.

Where capable people lose momentum

Waiting to feel ready

Readiness is rarely the starting point.

It is usually the result of action.

Agency looks like choosing a direction that feels meaningful enough and taking one step before certainty shows up.

If you are waiting for confidence, you are probably waiting too long.

Treating action as identity instead of information

When every action feels like a reflection of who you are, it becomes super heavy.

Agency reframes action as data.

You try something.
You observe what happens.
You adjust.

This makes progress lighter, faster, and far more sustainable.

Confusing responsibility with pressure

Agency is not about being harder on yourself.

It is about calmly saying, “The next step is mine.” Not necessarily the whole plan or the final outcome. But just taking real ownership of the next step.

Three concrete ways to build personal agency

Now let’s make this practical.

1. Decide before you optimize

Pick a direction before you perfect it.

Direction creates momentum. Optimizing it can come later. If you have been refining something for months, the next step is probably action, not thinking.

2. Shrink the step until it feels doable

Agency grows when action feels accessible.

Ask yourself:

• What is the smallest version of this I could test?
• What could I do in one focused hour?
• What would make this feel lighter instead of heavier?

Small steps build trust with yourself.

3. Close loops weekly

Agency strengthens when you finish things.

Once a week (maybe in your close-out-the-week meeting), ask:

• What did I start?
• What did I complete?
• What did I learn?

Completion creates momentum because it proves to you that movement is possible. 

Takeaway

Let me say this clearly:

You do not need to be smarter to move forward.

You need to practice choosing and taking action.

One intentional step.
In the direction that matters.
Taken consistently.

That is how ideas stop living in your head and start becoming real.

I'm always rooting for you. See you next week.

-Colleen

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