High Agency

Doing things to the world, not waiting for it to do things to you

Reflecting

People with high agency take action to achieve their goals.  If they don’t like their circumstances, they change the circumstances.  People with low agency blame those circumstances, relegating themselves to a role of explaining or complaining about things that they are powerless to change.  Think about your reaction when you’re told of something that gets in the way of your goals.  If you easily accept and accommodate yourself to defeat, that is low agency.  If you repeatedly reject impediments and look for a way around them, that is high agency.

So many of modernity’s default decisions – sugary, processed carb laden standard American diets, sedentary professions, sleep deprivation, and social isolation – are so unhealthy that high versus low agency becomes the crux distinction for success in health and fitness.  If you react docilly to what advertisers (or health authorities) tell you to eat and how to live, then you’re in a lot of trouble.  If you fight and make your own way, you are probably far better off regardless of the granular specifics you choose.  Just choose.  Be intentional.

This is why I eat a lot of meat for protein yet expend no energy arguing with vegetarians and vegans.  I’m focused on weight training, but don’t fault the people who walk past the free weights and head straight for the cardio machines each day.  I sleep eight hours per night, but don’t fuss at Jocko Willink about his habitually under sleeping (or for that matter, about anything else).  Tautologically, I think I’m right.  But it doesn’t really matter.  People choosing a plant based diet are better off and will on average outlive the norm, since the norm is gorging on boxfuls of sugary, oily grains.  Spinning on a hamster wheel is better than sitting on a sofa (even if it is not as good as picking up something heavy).  Just have a reason for everything you do and make sure your decisions all serve your purposes. 

Training

This morning’s whiteboard:

AMRAP 7 x 3 –

• 10 Cal Ski

• 10 Lunges 50s

• 10-20-30-40-50... double unders

Rest 3:00

Next run:

Fueling

Venison tomahawk, bison tenderloin, eggs, onion, and uncured/no nitrate bacon.

Supplementing

Have you tried shilajit?  This is a new recommendation to me; adding this antioxidant to my supplement stack as an experiment. 

Measuring

How much water are you drinking each day?  Adequate hydration is rare, especially if you’re sweating a lot.  After a long run, even when I force myself to drink I replace about half of what I lose (based on weight).  Keep water handy; I prefer to avoid plastics as much as possible so like to have these around. 

Recovering

I went back for a second Graston muscle scraping this week and found it much more tolerable than the first time; it is intense but you just have to breath through it.  Long Island Sound water temperature is 53.1°F in Southport this week; I joined some friends for a polar plunge.  It was colder than my usual ice bath and harder to settle into.  You just feel a lot more exposed on a day that looks cold.  I think that, like the Graston scraping, I’ll do better then next time I try it.  I want to incorporate more cold water therapy into my routine but my mind was rebelling pretty hard the first time in the Sound in January. 

Closing

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