You could theoretically change your life at any moment. Move here, date that person, work on that startup, write that blog, dye your hair, adopt a dog. Should I stay, should I go? I don’t know if this agency is freedom or burden. Perhaps all the best things are both.
reminds me of the charles broskoski quote that goes something like... and when nobody waits for you at night, and when nobody calls you in the morning - do you call that freedom or loneliness?
The kind of agency that comes from knowing how to win friends and get things done is important and should be learned. But without aligning it with wisdom—and without fellow travelers on the path toward less foolishness—greater foolishness often follows.
there’s no character trait more essential to individual and societal progress than agency. Agency is the embodied conviction that you have the power to create meaningful change in your life and transform your vision into reality. It’s the engine that powers human progress.
agency is acting with the belief that one can attain something by committing to it. Agency is a Stoic value, as it encourages one to focus on what is under their control—taking action, self-belief, and commitment—unlike success, which requires something outside of one’s control, mainly recognition from others.
whether you are “behind” or “ahead” is a delusion. others should serve as inspiration and a little healthy rivalry to fuel to your fire, but only one competitor can stop you: yourself. everything else is a distraction—a way to attribute your internal agency to something external: