Agency is giving yourself the permission to pursue what you want. Skill is not enough. Credentials are not enough. You are not your career — you don’t have to follow a template or conform yourself to the shape of the world’s expectations. The dog wags the tail, not the other way around.
Welcome back to Write of Passage Weekly, where we show you how writing online can give you the freedom to follow your curiosity.
Last week, we debunked the myth of originality; to be creative, don’t invent, combine. Today, we’re talking about the importance of agency and how it can lead you to more meaningful work.
Publish in a Day
Do you struggle to get ideas onto the page? Does perfectionism prevent you from hitting “Publish?” In these one-day workshops, students overcome their blockers to write, edit, and publish something they are proud of. Here’s a selection of articles from alumni of Publish in a Day.
If you’re looking for a deadline, feedback, and accountability, join us on Friday, January 19, to publish your idea in a day.
With equal sets of skills, two people can easily end up working in the same industry, at the same office, and with similar colleagues. But they can be completely different in the way they see their work: one person sees it as a means to an end, the other sees it as an end in itself. One person hates the late nights, the other doesn’t mind them because they see their work as meaningful.
Agency is giving yourself the permission to pursue what you want. Skill is not enough. Credentials are not enough. You are not your career — you don’t have to follow a template or conform yourself to the shape of the world’s expectations. The dog wags the tail, not the other way around.
Many of us can curate a gold-plated LinkedIn “Experience” section, but this is merely one dimension of purposeful work. It takes courage and agency to pursue a vocation.
Agency is about being the subject instead of the object, like having the freedom that an author has over the protagonist he writes about. It’s to initiate and to be the first mover of the change you want to see. Being high-agency requires that you commit to your craft as an end in itself, not a means to some ulterior goal. Agency is about doing things unconditionally and doing them because you truly want to.
Being skilled and qualified is how you might justify staying on a conventional path that’s not true to yourself. Even if what you’re doing denies your true desires, you might allow it if people perceive you as a skilled, capable professional. The more you deny your true desires, the more you grow complacent — falling into conformity, a casualty of the creep of mediocrity. You slowly forget that you are free. You let the mundane rob you of the transcendent.
To have agency is to have not just a head that thinks and hands that work, but a kind of boldness that commands you to seek meaningful work. Agency is about acting on your deepest desires and actively using your skills to achieve the life you want.
Ali Abdaal made his first dollar online at 12 years old. Now, his YouTube channel has over 4,500,000 subscribers and brings in $4,000,000 a year. He’s the founder of “Part Time YouTuber Academy;” plus, he writes a weekly newsletter, hosts a podcast, and published a book called Feel-Good Productivity. (Put simply, he’s a total creative force.)
Funny enough, it all started as a passion project. Ali rejects the Goggins-esque narrative surrounding discipline and instead, only chases work that feels good. He orbits around one question: “How do I make this more fun?” He’s a heat-seeking missile for his Zone of Genius — and that’s why he’s so prolific.
Ali is like the cool, smart friend you go to when you need advice. In this episode, he opens up about his battle with imposter syndrome and his commitment to doing work that feels like play. He sees himself embarking on the same journey as the reader: “I’m not a guru, I’m a guide.”
You’ll walk away with actionable advice on how to beat perfectionism, how to write like you’re talking to a friend, how to do work that lights your soul up, and how to “do the verb rather than be the noun.”
Tommy Dixon leans on his expertise as a recent business-school grad to advise one of his favorite writers on his LinkedIn strategy. This cheeky essay satirizes a platform that uses professional achievements and career credentials as social currency.
“Make sure to leave super genuine comments ‘Congrats!’ and ‘Well Deserved!’ at least 17 times a day on people’s job updates you’re definitely happy about and not at all petty or jealous (plus track it all in Excel) and also be yourself.”
Thank you for reading Write of PassageWeekly. This week, reflect on whether you are pursuing your deep-rooted desires and if not, what work you could do that would be more meaningful to you.
Happy writing,
The Write of Passage Team
Write of Passage, 10900 Research Blvd, Ste 160C PMB 3016, Austin, TX 78759
