How do you respond when you hear no?
Are you the type of person that takes no for a final answer or do you find a way to get what you want regardless? If you're the latter then you are a high agency person..
Happy New Week Everyone! I’m back with another mental model. This is regarded as one of the most important personality traits you can have.
Eric Weinstein defines high agency as "when you’re told that something is impossible, is that the end of the conversation, or does that start a second dialogue in your mind, how to get around whoever it is that’s just told you that you can’t do something?. For example “how am I going to get past this bouncer who told me that I can’t come into this nightclub? How am I going to start a business when I have no experience?”
High agency is how you react to obstacles in your way, it’s understanding that nothing is impossible and there’s always a way to achieve what you want. When you’re told ‘no’ or that you can’t do something, a high-agency person doesn’t accept it, whereas a low-agency person will just accept it. Person A is a low agency person and Person B is a high agency person.
I heard about “The Third Door” through a podcast with Alex Banayan, which was very interesting. Alex used an analogy of a nightclub saying that there are always three ways in which 99% of people take the same. The first door is the main entrance, where the line curves around the block. That's where 99% of people wait around, hoping to get in. There's the 'Second Door:' the VIP entrance, where the billionaires and celebrities slip through. But what no one tells you is that there is always, the 'Third Door.' It's the entrance you finesse your way into, whether that’s through a window, the kitchen, or the door that leads to the alleyway.
An example of someone finding the third door is Bill Gates. Bill Gates sold his first software by making a call he was afraid to make. When he was 19 years old, MITS released the world’s first minicomputer kit. Bill and his best friend wrote a letter to the founder of MITS, offering to sell software to run it. When they didn't receive a reply, they had to find a third door. Bill and Paul nervously called him up and managed to show him a demo which led to the deal being closed.
Like Bill, the potential to unlock your future is in your hands, you just have to find a way and not accept no or no response as your answer.
To practice being a high agency person, here are three methods you can follow:
Method 1: 100x your goal. If there’s something you’re trying to accomplish today/this week/ this month, ask yourself ‘What are some ways I can get 100x that goal’
Method 2: Fast track your success. Think of what you want to achieve in 10 years and break down all the steps to achieve it in 6 months.
Method 3: Fix your self-talk. Think of a goal you want to achieve, think of all the things you’re telling yourself that are stopping you from achieving the goal. Use this mantra “These limitations are not reality, they are just in my head. I will stop believing these limitations”.
Two things to end with...
“It always seems impossible until it’s done” Nelson Mandela
What is one goal you’re struggling to achieve? What is the third door you have to take?