A is for Agency: The Antidote to the Drift

By Daniel Nenning

If you stop rowing a boat in the middle of a river, you don’t stay still. You drift.

The current takes you where it wants to go, not where you want to go. The current of modern life is strong—it is a stream of algorithms, societal expectations, institutional demands, and other people’s agendas.

If you are not actively exerting force against the current, you are drifting.

"A is for Agency" is the recognition that you are not a passenger in your own life.

The "Non-Player Character" Trap

In video games, an NPC (Non-Player Character) has no agency. It waits at a specific coordinate, recites a pre-written script, and reacts only when interacted with.

Daniel Nenning’s philosophy warns us that it is terrifyingly easy to live an NPC existence. We wake up, check the phone (react), go to work (react), follow the procedure (react), and wait for the weekend. We let the default settings of society run our operating system.

Agency is the decision to go "off-script." It is the capacity to cause events rather than just endure them. It is the shift from being an object that is acted upon, to a subject that acts.

Agency and the Windhorse

If the Windhorse is the energy (the raw horsepower), Agency is the hand on the reins.

Without Agency, the Windhorse is just wild, chaotic energy—or worse, it’s suppressed energy that turns into anxiety. Agency channels that vitality into specific, directed action.

• The Drifter hopes the wind blows him to a good harbor.

• The Agent adjusts the sails to use the wind, regardless of its direction.

  
  

The Price of Agency

Why do we avoid Agency? Why is it easier to drift?

Because Agency carries the weight of Blame.

When you drift, you are innocent. If you don't like where you ended up, you can blame the current, the economy, your boss, or your upbringing. You can say, "This happened to me."

When you claim Agency, you lose the luxury of being a victim. You have to say, "I chose this."

• You chose to stay in that job.

• You chose not to speak up.

• You chose to prioritize comfort over growth.

  
  

Agency is not for the faint of heart. It requires the courage to look at your life and admit that you are the architect of your own condition—both the good and the bad.

The Practice: "I Choose"

Reclaiming Agency starts with your language. The passive mind says "I have to." The active mind says "I choose to."

• “I have to go to this meeting” becomes “I choose to attend this meeting because I want the salary that supports my family.”

• “I can’t do that” becomes “I am choosing not to prioritize that right now.”

  
  

This week, catch yourself drifting. Catch yourself reacting to the world as if it is something happening to you. Stop. Grip the oars.

Make a choice—even a small one - that proves you are the one steering the boat.

About Daniel Nenning

I am a strategist for the sovereign mind and a refusal to the status quo.

My work exists at the friction point where "what is expected" meets "what is true."

I write for the leaders, thinkers, and restless spirits who are tired of asking for permission to live their own lives. If you are looking for safety, look elsewhere.

If you are looking for your own unbridled Windhorse, welcome to the edge.