What is the catalyst behind some of the greatest advancements in human civilization? According to Martin Seligman, Ph.D., a pioneering psychologist and one of the founders of positive psychology, the answer may lie in something we all can practice in our own lives: agency.
In his latest book, Agency: The Psychological History of Human Progress, Martin defines personal agency as the belief that we can achieve our goals. When we have agency, we persist longer, are more likely to overcome obstacles, and explore new possibilities. Without it, we can become more vulnerable to helplessness and disengagement.
“Agency is the mechanism. Agency is the belief that I can achieve my goals,” Martin writes.
To further his point, Martin takes us on journey through history pinpointing how agency has risen and fallen across civilizations. He offers examples of human agency that has coincided with periods of flourishing, such as Greece’s Golden Age. During this time, people increasingly believed they could make their own choices, influence their futures, and explore the mind more deeply, leading to progress in philosophy, science, politics, and the arts.
Conversely, he points to medieval Europe as a time when the lack of agency, or the belief that you have not control of your outcomes, experienced centuries of stagnation in areas such as science, art, and political freedom.
While much of the book is a history lesson making the case that agency is the psychological engine of human progress, Martin also gives us examples of how we can add more agency to our lives that create better outcomes and improve our well-being.
The Three Building Blocks of Agency
Martin explains that agency is defined by three important elements: efficacy, optimism, and imagination. Efficacy is the belief that we can achieve our goals today, which leads to active trying. Optimism is believing that we can achieve our goals tomorrow, which leads to persistence and maintains trying. And imagination expands the range of goals and possibilities we can see, opening the door to innovation.
Start small. One way to build efficacy is through mastery. Even if the task is small, once you set a goal and accomplish it, your brain sees this as a win: Your actions led to a positive result. If you let those small successes build over time, you can create a cascading effect that will create an engine of efficacy. Even seeing someone similar to you overcome an obstacle can reinforce the belief that achievement is possible.
Defeat your inner critic. Martin describes himself as a pessimist who often engages in catastrophic thinking. He has spent decades studying the stories we tell ourselves when we experience failure. When negative thoughts creep in after a defeat, instead of accepting your worst interpretation of why you failed as fact, challenge it with realistic evidence. He suggests asking yourself what the worst possible outcome is and the consider the best. Next, identify the most likely outcome and make a plan for how to handle the situation. Over time, this practice can help you tackle adversity with greater optimism and resilience.
Let your mind wander. Creativity often stems from giving our minds the freedom to explore possibilities, even if they don’t exist yet. Martin gives research-backed tips to encourage more divergent thinking and expand our imagination, such as finding multiple solutions to a problem, discovering unusual uses for everyday objects, or engaging in the arts. Creative writing or playing an instrument can give your imagination room to run. You can also spend 20 minutes imagining your best possible future and writing about it.
Agency is a good thing, but it’s not without limitations. Too much efficacy can lead us to believe everything is within our control and rampant optimism can create a blind eye to reality. We still live in a real world with real problems. Imagination can also take us down some dark paths. But the answer, according to Martin, isn’t to abandon agency. He gives several examples throughout our history where diminished agency coincided with stalled human progress. “The antidote is not less agency but wiser agency,” he writes. By cultivating efficacy, optimism, and imagination, while recognizing their limits, we can build more agency into our own lives.
And as Martin writes, “Believing that you can accomplish your goals now and in the future is a major contributor to happiness.”
