Quick thoughts on How to be More Agentic

Following up to my cross-post from this week

Readers – you should have just received a cross-post in your inboxes of the following newsletter from

Useful Fictions

. If not, you can read the full piece below:

How to be More Agentic

For those of you on the hunt for the tl;dr, here’s what resonated the most:

1. Court rejection – a great way to “lean in” and push yourself beyond your usual boundaries. It’s a very actionable way to unlock opportunities that you may otherwise write off preemptively because of incorrect assumptions about your own abilities and potential. I often catch myself being nervous to ask for something if I don’t think I’ll be met with an affirmative answer. However, in reality, the worst thing that can (generally) happen is probably a verbal rejection. So there’s not much downside to trying.

2. Increase your surface area for luck – incredibly phrased to capture a concept that I’ve struggled to put into words. But essentially, giving yourself more opportunities for serendipity. Intertwined with courting rejection, if you don’t put yourself out there and let others know what you’re looking for, how will they know to extend a helping hand when they can? The more opportunities for serendipity, the more potential to make your journey to your objectives smoother.

3. Assume everything is learnable – hard to believe at first, but I have felt this myself with agency and confidence. I’d like to see what else I can add to the list of learned traits over time, whether big or small traits.

4. Learn to love the moat of low status – not only does this make you more comfortable with struggling, but it can also be a really good way to build bridges with others. I have found that people I’ve put on a pedestal become infinitely more approachable when I see that they’re open to learning new things where they’ll probably suck. As I observed that, I’ve started to get more enjoyment from putting myself in situations on a regular basis where I know I’m going to struggle. This helps me build the muscle memory that it’s okay to struggle and makes me really comfortable with not trying to master everything I do.