The Agency Test

Last week on the subway, I saw a woman wearing a button:

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”

She was scrolling Twitter, furious.

Meanwhile, in Ohio, a farmer with a mullet is scrolling Truth Social with the same fury.

Breaking Point

Heading into the 2024 election, both outcomes felt apocalyptic.

Politics had infected everything.

Dinners. Group chats. Conversations with old friends.

At the same time, I was running my businesses into the ground.

My life was falling apart at the seams.

I was doing everything I could to avoid accepting it.

Cost

I grew up in Minnesota, but most of my extended family lives in North Dakota.

We are split along political lines.

Siblings who aren’t willing to be in the same room.

A family member screaming at my 97-year-old grandmother about who she voted for and storming out of the room.

Kind, loving people, who would drop everything to help me.

Blackout

After the election, a friend and I went cold turkey.

For 156 days we’d step away from news, social media, and current events.

Instead, we’d read books.

We thought we’d come back wiser, more informed about issues.

But, we realized we’d been asking the wrong question.

Control

I started noticing which problems were mine to solve.

My failing businesses? Mine to fix.

My neglected friendships? Mine to repair.

My burnout? Mine to take care of.

The world kept spinning. Wars started and ended.

And I had the same influence as before: almost none.

Misalignment

The media makes us feel like heroes in their stories.

But we’re eyeballs they’re pawning to advertisers.

They sell whatever keeps us locked in.

But anger is the opposite of agency.

It’s fear with no outlet.

We’re spectators thinking we’re activists.

Agency Test

Can I change this?

Yes → Act.

No → Why torture yourself?

Shift

Washington isn’t my world.

Twitter battles aren’t my world.

Politics isn’t my world.

My world is the people I can touch and the work I can do.

Influence

Impact comes through building, not consuming.

The people running the world didn’t get there by scrolling Twitter.

Serenity Prayer

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”