I mentioned in last week’s tip that individuals who have a consistently hopeful mindset are more energized and motivated to achieve important goals. Then I covered the three steps that research shows actively cultivate a strong sense of hope: setting inspiring (to you) goals, cultivating a sense of agency, and developing a variety of ways through which your goals can be achieved.
If you’re like most people, the first and last steps probably sound logical or familiar while that middle step may seem foreign or less important than the other two. The concept of agency may seem a bit fuzzy because it’s related to mindset as opposed to being well-defined and concrete like having tangible goals and specific pathways to those goals.
But that’s exactly why it is important. In fact, I’d argue that mindset is the most important of the factors. It’s the glue that helps us do the things that achieving our goals require in the moments when we may not want to do them.
At a high level, the simplest way to cultivate agency is to build a string of successes. When we are able to look back at our efforts and recognize when we’ve been successful, it’s easier to know that we have what it takes to overcome future challenges.
I mentioned last week that using the WOOP process can help build agency as we work toward our goals. But there are also three other steps that research has shown develop a general sense of agency.
Control stimuli
In this hyper-connected world of emails, text messages, television, “everything is important” news, and social media, our attention is being constantly pulled in different directions. This negatively affects our concentration and makes us more susceptible to acting impulsively.
You probably know that there are few things as enervating as heading home exhausted after a challenging day feeling like you didn’t actually get anything done. This is obviously the opposite of feeling successful.
Alternatively, controlling the amount of time we allow ourselves access to distracting activities increases the time and energy we’re able to dedicate to completing the important tasks and projects that make us feel both fulfilled and successful.
Associate selectively
Spend any time learning about personal development, and you’ll come across the ideas that “you are the average of the five people with whom you spend the most time” and “the person you’ll be five to seven years from now is dependent upon the books you read and the people you hang around”.
Selectively associating doesn’t necessarily mean finding an entirely new group of friends. However, if one of your objectives is to increase your sense of agency, finding and spending more time with individuals or groups who take on inspiring challenges and believe that they’re responsible for their own development will naturally guide your mindset in the same direction.
Move your body
Physical activity—whether that’s intentional exercise or general daily movement like walking—produces numerous positive benefits, not the least of which are building physical and mental strength and stamina as well as tolerating discomfort.
So, intentional movement helps to build agency in two ways: first, by being an action that we can regularly complete successfully (thereby building a string of success), and second, by providing us with the mental and emotional characteristics that become the building blocks of strong senses of self-efficacy and confidence.
Putting it into practice
The first step in moving from where we are to where we want to be is determining exactly where we are. And if the first step to increasing our personal agency is controlling stimuli, that’s where we’re going to begin!
With that in mind, here are two simple and actionable steps that you can begin to implement over the next few days.
First, tally on a sheet of paper the number of times in a single day that you use your phone or computer to:
- Check email
- Scroll through social media
- Check the news
- Play a game
- Send a text
If you’re like most Americans, don’t be surprised if you need a second sheet of paper. (I kid, but only slightly. 🤷♂️)
Next pick a simple, physical activity such as standing up to stretch or doing a single toe touch, two push-ups, or three squats. Then for the next week, make the effort to catch yourself when you get the urge to grab your phone or computer and, at least occasionally, do the physical activity instead.
Doing so will certainly be challenging at first. But you’ll notice that it’ll get easier with practice. And as it becomes easier so will your sense of agency improve, for that and other more important goals.