I shall either find a way or make one. – Hannibal
Agency is the ability to get things done regardless of circumstances. Agency is a powerful word, but you’ve probably not heard it used in this manner. If you have agency, then you can be trusted to get done almost anything that is capable of being done. If you have agency, you can be given responsibility for something and the person who gave you that simply knows it will get done and done well.
Agency is what we want from presidents, generals, project managers, employees, assistants, partners, babysitters—almost anyone. Here’s the best part: Agency is a capability that can be called from within.
Imagine you are broke but you owe someone $1,000. If they casually said they need that $1,000 in 6 hours, you’d probably dismiss this as not possible.
However, if you are broke but need $1,000 in 6 hours for a lifesaving medication for your loved one or they will die, it will get done.
It may require extraordinary energy, running all over town, calling, pawning, selling, begging, or maybe even something illegal, but the point is that most people can call up the resources within to get this done. This is agency, and if you place enough importance on a task, and as long as it’s capable of being done, you’ll get it done. Find it within yourself.
People that have agency tend to have a very simple outlook on getting things done along the lines of Yoda’s famous “do or do not, there is no try” statement. How do you lose weight? You eat less and exercise more. How do you get motivated? You wake up and start working on the most important task and motivation will come. How do you have that hard conversation? You call the person or meet them. There’s something that needs to get done, and they do it. There’s not a lot of over-complication or over-thinking in people with agency.