Are You the Driver or the Passenger?

In 218 BC, General Hannibal Barca set out to invade Italy by taking a route that everyone else thought was impossible: crossing the Alps - the largest mountain range in Western Europe.

When no one else could see a way for the entire army to cross with all their horses and elephants (yes, elephants!), Hannibal declared:

After willing his army across the Alps, Hannibal won a series of battles against the Romans and ultimately invaded northern Italy.

What was the most powerful driver of his success? Agency.

Insight:

Agency is our ability to make things happen, rather than letting things happen to us.

It’s the power to influence our life - not only by changing the world around us, but also by controlling the thoughts and feelings that define our experiences.

Our agency determines how effectively we drive through our limitations and make use of the opportunities around us; how well we play the cards we’re dealt.

High agency people hear the story given to them by others, and see it as just that - a story. They take action and rewrite the script to give themselves a happy ending. Low agency people accept the story given to them. As Eric Weinstein explained on Tim Ferriss’s podcast:

High agency people act as the driver in their journeys through life, while low agency people act as the passenger.

Low agency people live within limits (picture A), while high agency people bend reality to their will (picture B):

Interestingly, it is possible to have too much agency. Friedrich Nietzsche believed that the ‘will to power’ is the main driving force in humans. Specifically, he wrote:

People with too much agency are overrun by their will to power, resulting in dominating, controlling, and entitled behaviour at the expense of others.

To will ourselves to power and achieve our goals without overstepping boundaries with others, we need to be aware of what determines our level of agency.

6 factors that determine our level of agency:

1. Intentionality: directing our focus towards a clear goal.

2. First-principle thinking: going against the grain by not accepting the truth as presented by others but arriving at it ourselves.

3. Locus of control: believing that control resides within us (internal) rather than in luck, fate, or other people (external).

4. Self-efficacy: believing in our ability to achieve the desired outcome.

5. Taking action: applying our skills effectively.

6. Resources: the more resourceful we are, the more resources we make available.

Let’s take Steve Jobs as an example:

1. His intention was to change the world by building things that other people could use.

2. He didn’t believe in conventional wisdom, such as phones needing physical keyboards (despite Blackberry’s market dominance). Instead, he thought from first principles and built touchscreen keyboards that appear only when you need them.

3. He believed that external expectations were not important, stating “all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

4. He believed that only “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

5. He launched products before they were perfect because he valued real-world feedback. As he said, "Real artists ship."

6. He recruited the people, raised the money, and built the technology to make it happen.

Jobs said it best himself:

Tool:

Agency is not a personality trait, but a thinking pattern that can be learned. Often, this can be done by reframing your problem as an empowering question.

Here are some examples to help:

• I can’t afford it. → How can I afford it?

• I don’t know how to do it. → How can I learn to do it?

• I don’t have enough resources. → What can I do with what I have?

• I don't have enough time. → How can I make time for this in my schedule?

• It’s too much work. → How can I break this down into smaller tasks?

• I can't make a difference. → What can I do to help?

• They won't listen to me. → How can I better communicate my ideas?

Prompt:

Think of an obstacle you’re facing. It could be a difficult task at work, conflict in a relationship, or something bothering you about your health.

Try to shift your mindset from low-agency to high-agency by reframing your problem as a question as described in the tool above. 

Resources on Agency:

Written by Dr Manu Sidhu 🩺

If you’re interested in hearing founders, investors, and experts explain how technology is being leveraged to improve mind health, check out the MindTech Podcast, also hosted by Dr Manu Sidhu.

The most recent episode is with Michel Birnbaum, the Co-founder and CEO of Mindsigns Health. They understand the mind by reading the signs from smartphone data. Available on Spotify and on YouTube.

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