Agency is your ability to make things happen without waiting for permission. The foundation of agency is raw honesty - being completely real with yourself.

Here's a surprising truth: both extreme optimism and extreme pessimism lead to the same problem - doing nothing!

• The super optimist thinks everything will work out, so why bother?
• The super pessimist thinks nothing will work, so why try?

Getting feedback too early can actually hurt you. Figure out your own thoughts first!

The Michael Phelps Example
When his goggles filled with water at the Olympics, Phelps swam blind and still won gold. His coach had trained him for disasters. He told himself "I've done this a thousand times" and kept going.

That's agency in action - when your skills become so automatic, you can handle anything.