Gaining agency: the single most important step you can take right now.
These are challenging and overwhelming times for many of us. But our ability to act profoundly is just a few steps away.
These are challenging and overwhelming times for many of us. Democracy seems to be on the brink, with the U.S. sliding into a constitutional crisis. The ecological crisis is escalating, bringing dramatic climate changes and human disasters such as fires and floods. Add to this rising social tensions and violence against minorities and ___ (fill the blank with a crisis of your choice). These moments confront us with our helplessness. What can we do? Can we even do anything at all?
This helplessness does not reflect our true capability. Our power and our potential outstrips our beliefs and experiences. Our ability to act profoundly is just a few steps away:
You must understand that your helplessness is just a story, not reality.
You must discover what you want to change and create.
You need to take the single first step towards realizing this.
That’s all. Gaining agency and acting in challenging moments like this is very simple. It’s life-changing. It’s the most important thing to do right now. We all need all of our power and strength, and that means we all deserve to encounter the unique gift of you.
This post is part of transformative’25: a year dedicated to your transformative power. Join in. And share.
What is agency and why is it so important?
Agency is the power to act and the potential to influence the world around you, in order to achieve what you want to achieve. It goes beyond having a say, being visible or being part of a community. Having agency and living this agency is tremendously transformative: it frees us from the societal bonds we create for ourselves. It gives us and everyone around us the power to create the society and the world we want to live in. It allows us to change the current dynamics and thrive into a new humanity in accordance with nature.
How is your helplessness just a story?
The reality we experience is not reality at all. It’s an image we make ourselves, shaped by experiences and the world models we carry with us. All those feelings that show up are not a reaction to reality, but to our image of reality. So if you feel helpless or overwhelmed, it’s simply something you learned and chose to do—a story you are telling yourself. Your helplessness is self-created. It’s part of the social story we carry with us. It might not be easy to see such feelings as self-created, but it’s powerful once you understand that everything you create you can change. So your helplessness is simply a perspective and you can see the world differently.
Why is it important to discover what you want to create?
When we dislike something, we resist it and try to overcome it. This is working against rather than towards something: we are directing our energy toward what we dislike, not toward what we want to realize.
If we understand what we want to realize in our lives and what we want to create, we tap into another power source. This power far exceeds our resistance and anger, helping us overcome our inner limitations and rise to our true power. So whenever you get angry or overwhelmed, use those emotions to ask yourself what’s really at stake: What do you want to create? And if you want to free your mind, you can ask yourself: if I know I won’t fail, what is the one thing I want to realize in my life?
Take these questions with you. Allow them to unfold and take effect. Your dream may be shy and take time to show up.
And what is this first step all about?
Our dreams are vast and demanding, and they seem impossible the first time we recognize them. My dream is to build a global movement that rebuilds society so that humanity lives in accordance with nature. If you have such a dream, where do you start?
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," as the Tao Te Ching says. Our only obligation is to find the first step. This first step will lead to all the other necessary steps. And know that there’s always something you can do right now.
Surely, the realization of deep societal transformations demands, above all, profound inner changes. But you already have all that you need. You have had it since you were born. And it will show up in the very moment that you need it.
Agency is an ability that grows as you develop and use it. You won’t fail, whatever you try. Failing is just another social story we tell ourselves. It is just an opportunity to learn and to thrive. So step into your power.