I discovered you and your concept of high agency through your podcast with Chris Williamson. I immediately went to read your full article and was captivated by it – I found myself wanting to dive deeper into every concept and the individuals you presented. It’s the best article I have read in a long time.
You were absolutely right: once you discover what agency is, there's no going back. This article perfectly complements the other one, and I loved it just as much. Thank you for the good work.
I write about exceptional people (people who, I realised after reading your article, are high agency) and teach their most important lessons using storyteling. I’m planning to do a special series covering the idea of high agency, inspired by your ideas. Excited!
- They take advice, adapt it, break it, and make it theirs. Because advice is someone else’s recipe, with someone else’s ingredients. And they don’t want to be someone else.
- They replace "shoulds" given by society with personal "wants". This way, they ask themselves "How would I do it?" before asking "How is it done?", this way they arrive to unique solutions.
- They walk paths that cannot be seen, because no one has walked them before.
What a great list, I like how it highlights the symptoms of a high agency individuals! I see common themes here, e.g., seeing challenges as opportunities rather than problems, having a strong sense of control towards life circumstances.
That was pleasant. I had to be careful reading it though, pushing away the innate desire to tick each box and go "yay, high agency" at the end. More a series of cool concepts that it's worth looking out for, and if the opportunity to hit one comes along, just remember what your choice could mean.
if i may add just a teeny personal view, a mark of high agency isn’t always hitting each and every mark on this great list, but instead being able to recover when they don’t. it’s not perfection, but the ability to spot discrepancies, reprioritise, and bounce back - that creates a high agency individual. i’ve personally also found that they’re often not even aware of how high agency they are* in what they love! thanks for sharing george, appreciate this :)
*caveat: i also find that high agency is very dependent on the thing/task at hand; a person can be, and usually is, very high agency at Thing A but very low agency at Thing B and it doesn’t always translate!
I discovered you and your concept of high agency through your podcast with Chris Williamson. I immediately went to read your full article and was captivated by it – I found myself wanting to dive deeper into every concept and the individuals you presented. It’s the best article I have read in a long time.
You were absolutely right: once you discover what agency is, there's no going back. This article perfectly complements the other one, and I loved it just as much. Thank you for the good work.
I write about exceptional people (people who, I realised after reading your article, are high agency) and teach their most important lessons using storyteling. I’m planning to do a special series covering the idea of high agency, inspired by your ideas. Excited!
One of the best things I’ve read on Substack
Thank you Rory. Depth metrics > Width metrics.
You are a discovery man! I'll add my own takes:
- They take advice, adapt it, break it, and make it theirs. Because advice is someone else’s recipe, with someone else’s ingredients. And they don’t want to be someone else.
- They replace "shoulds" given by society with personal "wants". This way, they ask themselves "How would I do it?" before asking "How is it done?", this way they arrive to unique solutions.
- They walk paths that cannot be seen, because no one has walked them before.
"Should" is literally a denial of reality. I shouldn't say it so much
Top notch post
Amazing post. I second Rory Edwards — one of the best posts I’ve read on Substack as well.
Glad you’re on Substack now! Huge fan of your work finding you through modern wisdom.
Worth re-reading. It’s the highest compliment one can say.
Number 15 hits really hard.
Fantastic list and insight. Love it!
“Non-fungible human”
I’m going to start using this term in my conversations with people.
Excellent article!
You have to READ this else YOU ARE MISSING OUT.
https://substack.com/@guidedsoul47/note/p-176442933?r=5zq0wv&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Terrific post George. Thanks for sharing.
What a great list, I like how it highlights the symptoms of a high agency individuals! I see common themes here, e.g., seeing challenges as opportunities rather than problems, having a strong sense of control towards life circumstances.
That was pleasant. I had to be careful reading it though, pushing away the innate desire to tick each box and go "yay, high agency" at the end. More a series of cool concepts that it's worth looking out for, and if the opportunity to hit one comes along, just remember what your choice could mean.
if i may add just a teeny personal view, a mark of high agency isn’t always hitting each and every mark on this great list, but instead being able to recover when they don’t. it’s not perfection, but the ability to spot discrepancies, reprioritise, and bounce back - that creates a high agency individual. i’ve personally also found that they’re often not even aware of how high agency they are* in what they love! thanks for sharing george, appreciate this :)
*caveat: i also find that high agency is very dependent on the thing/task at hand; a person can be, and usually is, very high agency at Thing A but very low agency at Thing B and it doesn’t always translate!
I read this originally as a tweet a ~year ago? It's a great reminder, and I see you added some new points to the list. Looking forward to more :)