Brian Johnson presents a short +1 micro-episode (~one-off short podcast) about personal agency. He links Mel Robbins' Five Second Rule to the psychological construct of agency (and locus of control), and highlights the book The Power of Agency by Paul Knapper and Anthony Rao, which defines agency as the ability to act as an effective agent for yourself. The episode invites listeners to practice decisive action and imagines a playful "secret agent" exercise to motivate immediate steps.
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You're listening to Optimize with Brian Johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last little flurry of plus ones, we had some fun with Mel Robbins. Five second rule. Have you tried it out yet? Five, four, three, two, one, Go. That might be the most elegantly efficient tool we've discussed to help close the gap between who we're capable of being and who we're actually being. Operationalizing arete for the win. Now, one of the key themes of Mel's book and reasons why that tool is so powerful is the fact that in addition to getting us to take action right now on what matters most, her five second rule also builds something that scientists call a agency. Mel actually doesn't use the word agency to describe it. She focuses on a parallel idea called locus of control. We'll save that idea for another time. Agency. It's a beautiful word. One of my favorites, in fact. And science says it's one of the secret sauces to optimizing. So when I fortuitously stumbled upon a book called the Power of Agency on Amazon and I immediately got it and read it. It's written by Paul Knapper and Anthony Rao, two leading consultants and clinicians who have both held academic positions at Harvard Medical School. In their great book, check out the notes. They define agency as the ability to act as an effective agent for yourself, reflecting, making creative choices and constructing a meaningful life. In the book, they provide practical, scientifically grounded wisdom on, as per the subtitle, the seven principles to conquer obstacles, make effective decisions, and create a life on your own terms. We'll explore a few of the most powerful practical ideas on how to build our agency over the next several days. Today, I just want to make the connection between doing what needs to be done and and cultivating a strong sense of personal power, AKA agency. Well, that and I also want to have a little fun. Imagine that you're a secret agent, Double O U perhaps short for optimizing Optimus U. Of course. You work for your daimon. What mission is he or she asking you to carry out? Have you chosen to accept it? What's your next step? Get on that. This message will self destruct in five seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Go. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Optymyze with Brian Johnson. To find out more, go to Optimize Me.
