Behavior #2: Allow enthusiasm to dictate action

Time

Jan 17

Ironically, the greater your Agency, the more the world will conspire to take it from you.

Seeing your competence, your accomplishments, your vigor, and your profound lack of need, others will be drawn to you – offering employment, partnership, or patronage in exchange for your time.

When this happens, be rational. Ask yourself if the opportunity presented will further your personal goals, framing your examination through the lens of Health, Wealth, and Time. Will it move these elements of Agency in ways you will enjoy, or if it will do the opposite?

And should the opportunity pass this primary filter, ask yourself one more question: am I excited about this? If the answer is yes, proceed headlong. If it is no, trust yourself, and execute a polite dismissal, regardless of the other facts.

Too often, we over-rationalize, examining pros and cons and opportunity costs while failing to listen to the voice inside ourselves that is just not that psyched. Instead, we overweight our dispassionate analysis, and say “yes” when everything but that inner voice points to the affirmative.

When this happens, you will have surrendered your time for ephemeral gain, because your lack of enthusiasm will eventually catch up. When it does, you’ll find yourself in the throes of burnout, resentment, and the desire to quit, the aftershocks of a choice that considered the rational benefits without properly attending to the emotional consequences.

Instead, listen to the voice. Save yourself all the time you would have spent on that not-quite-right opportunity, and instead seek one that will move your Agency properly while leaving you unremittingly psyched about the future.