Personal-agency, also known as self-agency is a psychological term describing an individual with complete control over themselves and their entire life.
When someone talks about personal-agency, or when someone says that a person has high agency, they’re describing someone who is assertive and someone who believes that they are solely responsible for their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Others may influence their thoughts, feelings, and actions, but ultimate control resides with them.
People with high agency are critical for society because they have the willpower and the know-how to impose their ideas on the masses. Leaders and not followers.
Defining Personal-Agency
Personal-agency is the power to see things through, no matter what anyone else says or suggests. It’s the power of will that drives a person to face a dire situation and win. It’s a trait that defines successful people who just don’t take no for an answer. Personal-agency is one of the most important skills in life, and it’s what drives us forward against all odds. Everyone plays by the same rules, but people who have high personal-agency can see things through, no matter how impossible they might seem at the beginning. All successful people like Jeff Bezos, Sheryl Sandberg, Michael Jordan, and many others display this incredible trait, one which has helped them reach never-before-seen heights, that has forever changed the entire world. Personal-agency is power over oneself. A power that keeps you going forward until you reach your goals, no matter how big the obstacles may get.The Benefits of Personal-Agency
High agency comes with benefits that can shape the reality around people. First and foremost, this virtue can help you get out of pretty much any situation, no matter how tough and hopeless it might look. People with prominent personal-agency traits can think outside the box and risk everything to get to their goals. During this event, they have full control over their own feelings and thoughts, and always keep their eyes on the goal. Things might become complicated at points, but people like this can improvise, and they go and jump over any obstacle in their way. The control they have over themselves is full and complete. That means that they’re almost always on top of how they feel, what they think, and what they do. Their happiness doesn’t depend on others, how much money they have or material possessions. People like this can make themselves feel happy in any situation and at all times. It’s one of the most important factors every person needs, to feel good about who they are.Potential Drawbacks
While high-agency provides all kinds of benefits, everyone needs to get through tough times, and in some cases, it can be counter-productive. For example, if a person with high agency is surrounded by many low-agency people, they might seem too dominant and assertive to everyone else. They’re the overly positive person and when that doesn’t align with the beliefs of those around them it can create conflict. Others may also feel threatened and as a result, have a lower sense of value. Since achieving high agency takes a lot of work, low-agency people will often push high-agency individuals away, keep a safe distance or even attempt to lower that person's value through defamation of some sort. Not always because they’re bad people, but because they feel bad about themselves and feel like situations are out of their control. It’s like being the one person in the room that's not drinking alcohol or displaying a common situational behaviour. It makes people feel uncomfortable as the level playing field it creates becomes compromised. Another area where high-agency can have a negative impact is listening to orders. If a high-agency person gets an order that doesn’t look like the best idea to them, or if it’s just wrong, these people will have a problem completing the task. They often have a hard time doing something they wouldn’t normally do, or something they think is wrong. In this case, they will either try to find a better way of doing things or won’t do as they are told at all. That can have serious consequences at work, relationships, and other areas of everyday life. People like this will always stick to their own ways rather than compromise with others. It can also come across as arrogance.Consequences of Low Personal-Agency
Having low personal-agency means that you’re not fully aware of your existence and what life really is. In other words, you don’t have the skills needed to see further than what’s obvious. You may grow up in an area that has a common or defined path of life. You struggle to see beyond that process and look outside the confines of that narrative. Instead of focusing on important things in life, most of your conversations revolve around the information you’ve garnered from television or the internet. You struggle to cope with deeper or philosophical topics. Instead of trying to understand you choose to switch off and stay within your comfort zone. Low self-agency people don’t ask or refrain from asking questions. They take things how they hear them and rely on other people to frame their narrative. They don’t have the willpower to learn or to adapt, which is why most low self-agency people don’t have lofty aspirations or notable drive. To put in simple terms, low agency people won’t risk things, they won’t go against the tide, and they won’t question orders or other people’s thoughts.Can You Work On It?
Yes, yes, you can. Low personal-agency is usually the result of the way we live and the people we surround ourselves with, rather than a trait we are born with. It’s driven by mindset. Everything that keeps our attention away from the realities of life impacts our agency levels. Whether that’s watching things that remove us from reality, depending on computers and technology or stimulating our brain with other artificial methods, the result is a loss of will and disinterest in progression. Instead of acting like a true individual who wants to understand life the best they can, low agency people surrender themselves to others and enter a fully passive mode. You can fix that by taking control of your life and thinking about what makes you happy. Think about what life really is and understand that you have the power and ability to change the reality around you. Start refraining from letting others dictate your life and make the most out of it by living an active life, both physically and psychologically. To exercise and to educate ourselves is a prerequisite to living with purpose.Conclusion
Personal-agency is something we all need to get through life. It’s a driving force that makes us unstoppable and allows you to reach our goals if you truly believe in yourself. Modern society and media largely keeps us passive and puts a barrier in the way of us reaching our true heights. Wake yourself up from the slumber of technology and understand that you have the power to change the world.Blog posts
The First 7 Minutes After Waking: Why They Matter More Than You Think
Modern neuroscience confirms what ancient traditions have practised for millennia: the first few minutes after you wake up are biologically powerful.
Your brain doesn’t flick on like a light switch. It transitions, slowly and delicately, through a cascade of brainwave states:
Delta → Theta → Alpha → Beta
These transitions reflect the shift from deep sleep (delta), through drowsiness and subconscious processing (theta), into relaxed awareness (alpha), and eventually into full alertness (beta).
Gamma, the fastest and most subtle of the brainwave frequencies, is typically associated with heightened cognitive processing, insight, and peak states of consciousness. While not dominant in the first few minutes of waking, gamma activity can emerge later in the morning, or more rapidly in trained meditators, when the brain begins to integrate thought, emotion, and sensory input into a coherent experience.
This means that during the first 5 to 10 minutes of wakefulness, you’re not fully asleep, but you’re not fully awake either. You’re in a unique, mouldable neurobiological state that scientists call a neuroplastic window, where your brain is most open to new programming.
This is your most influential moment of the day.
What’s Happening in Your Brain
During this waking transition:
-
The Default Mode Network (DMN), the brain’s internal narrator, begins to light up. It controls self-talk, emotional tone, and how we perceive ourselves and the world (Smallwood et al., 2021; Edlow et al., 2024).
-
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) switches on. It decides what’s important by scanning your environment through the lens of your current emotional state (Negelspach et al., 2025).
-
Your brain hemispheres synchronise, promoting coherence, clarity, and creative thinking (Wang et al., 2025).
Stressful first thoughts?
The RAS filters your day through threat detection.
Grateful first thoughts?
It scans for opportunity, healing, and connection.
Your first thoughts are not neutral. They set your emotional and cognitive trajectory for the entire day (Yadav & Purushotham, 2025; Devaney et al., 2021).
You’re Not Just a Mind in a Body
You are an electromagnetic system living in a connected field of energy. Research now supports what mystics, monks, and performance experts have known for decades:
Your thoughts become biology. Your biology becomes behaviour. Your behaviour becomes your future.
When your intention (mental clarity) aligns with an elevated emotion (like awe, gratitude, or joy), you begin to create physiological coherence, a synchronised state between your brain, heart, and nervous system (Ahn et al., 2021; Bukkieva et al., 2022).
In this state:
-
Synaptic pathways rewire
-
Your immune system balances
-
Emotional resilience strengthens
-
Gene expression can shift
-
Your nervous system "memorises" a new baseline (Valenta et al., 2025; Titone et al., 2023)
Your 7-Minute Morning Protocol
You don’t need technology. You don’t need a perfect routine.
You just need awareness and intention.
Here is a practical protocol, backed by neuroscience, to help you rewire your mind and body from the moment you wake up:
Step-by-Step 7-Minute Morning Protocol
You don’t need technology. You don’t need a perfect routine.
You need awareness and intention.
The first few minutes after waking are a powerful biological window—a period of heightened neuroplasticity and emotional influence. What you do in this time shapes how your nervous system responds to the world for the rest of the day.
Here’s a practical step-by-step protocol to guide those first moments with intention:
1. Wake Gently
Let your body come to naturally. Avoid harsh alarms that jolt your system into a stress response. Give yourself permission to rise slowly, without urgency.
2. Avoid Your Phone
Reaching for your phone immediately forces your brain into beta waves (high-alert mode), disrupting the slower, more programmable states of theta and alpha. Stay in the softness of waking. Let your internal world settle before external stimuli intrude.
3. Place Your Hand on Your Heart
This simple act grounds you. It activates the vagus nerve, supporting emotional regulation and heart-brain coherence. Let your attention settle into your body.
4. Breathe Slowly and Deeply
Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds, exhale through the mouth for 6. Repeat for 3 to 4 minutes. This breathing pattern supports parasympathetic activation—bringing calm, focus, and internal alignment.
5. Cultivate an Elevated Emotional State
Bring to mind someone or something you deeply love. Recall a moment of awe, joy, or deep gratitude. Smile gently. Let your body feel calm, safe, and expansive. This is not about performance—it’s about coherence.
6. Speak Like Your Future Self
Now that your system is receptive, introduce affirmations—spoken internally or aloud—as your future self would speak them. Use intentional, emotionally resonant language.
Here are some modern, grounded affirmations to guide you:
Personal Leadership & Direction
Affirmations that reinforce clarity, self-trust, and inner authority:
-
“I lead my life with clarity and calm direction.”
-
“I respond with purpose, not pressure.”
-
“I honour progress over perfection today.”
-
“I am becoming the version of me I respect.”
-
“I trust my process. I’m already aligned.”
-
“I am exactly where I need to be to take the next step.”
Resilience & Adaptability
Affirmations that support emotional flexibility and grounded strength:
-
“Whatever arises, I meet it with presence and capacity.”
-
“I am wired for change and built for resilience.”
-
“Challenge sharpens me. I stay grounded in motion.”
-
“I move from centre, not from stress.”
-
“My nervous system is calm, and my mind is clear.”
Focus & Intentional Action
Affirmations that support mental clarity, focus, and productive intention:
-
“Today I move with direction, not distraction.”
-
“I choose energy that matches my intention.”
-
“I prioritise what matters. The rest can wait.”
-
“Peace is my default. Focus is my return point.”
Gratitude & Emotional Coherence
Affirmations that promote emotional alignment and heart-brain synchrony:
-
“This day is a gift. I meet it with quiet strength.”
-
“I feel supported, resourced, and ready.”
-
“My heart leads. My body follows. My mind aligns.”
Each of these is a message to your nervous system, spoken as if the future is already embodied. Use them in stillness. Speak them with emotion. Let your physiology anchor the future you’re rehearsing.
7. Visualise Your Desired Reality
Now, visualise your ideal day, state, or outcome, not as a hope, but as if it has already occurred. Let it play in your mind’s eye with detail and emotional texture. This isn’t wishing. It’s rehearsing coherence.
Why It Works
This process works because it aligns with your biology:
-
Neuroplasticity is at its peak during transitional states, especially when paired with strong emotions and repetition (Chen et al., 2025).
-
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) filters your environment through the emotional lens you set at waking (Devaney et al., 2021).
-
Coherence between heart and brain enhances clarity, memory, and immune response (Mueller et al., 2021; Jespersen et al., 2024).
-
Repeating these patterns daily helps your nervous system establish them as a new baseline (Dennison, 2024; Ma et al., 2023).
Final Thoughts
The first seven minutes of your day are not a luxury. They are leverage.
-
Coherence is the signal.
-
Intention is the vector.
-
Emotion is the charge.
So tomorrow morning, don’t scroll. Don’t rehearse stress.
Instead, tune your frequency.
Let your thoughts direct your biology. Let your body believe before your mind begins to doubt.
Your brain is listening.
Your cells are listening.
The field is listening.
Train it. Shape it. Repeat it.
References
Aggarwal, A. (2025). Brain connectivity using EEG data. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.26.634935
Ahn, J., Lee, D., Namkoong, K., & Jung, Y. (2021). Altered functional connectivity of the salience network in problematic smartphone users. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.636730
Bukkieva, T., Pospelova, M., Efimtsev, A., Fionik, O., Alekseeva, T., Samochernych, K., & Shevtsov, M. (2022). Functional network connectivity reveals the brain functional alterations in breast cancer survivors. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(3), 617. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11030617
Chen, J., Lewis, L., Coursey, S., Catana, C., Polimeni, J., Fan, J., & Rosen, B. (2025). Simultaneous EEG-PET-MRI identifies temporally coupled, spatially structured hemodynamic and metabolic dynamics across wakefulness and NREM sleep. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.17.633689
Devaney, K., Levin, E., Tripathi, V., Higgins, J., Lazar, S., & Somers, D. (2021). Attention and default mode network assessments of meditation experience during active cognition and rest. Brain Sciences, 11(5), 566. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11050566
Dennison, P. (2024). The enigma of jhāna and implications for neuroscience, consciousness studies and research methodology. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/ncp25
Edlow, B., Olchanyi, M., Freeman, H., Li, J., Maffei, C., Snider, S., & Kinney, H. (2024). Multimodal MRI reveals brainstem connections that sustain wakefulness in human consciousness. Science Translational Medicine, 16(745). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adj4303
Hardikar, S., McKeown, B., Schaare, H., Wallace, R., Xu, T., Lauckner, M., & Smallwood, J. (2024). Macro-scale patterns in functional connectivity associated with ongoing thought patterns and dispositional traits. eLife, 13. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.93689
Jespersen, K., Stevner, A., Kringelbach, M., Someren, E., Vidaurre, D., & Vuust, P. (2024). Modelling of brain dynamics reveals reduced switching between brain states in insomnia disorder – a resting-state fMRI study. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.27.625644
Ma, M., Li, Y., Shao, Y., & Weng, X. (2023). Effect of total sleep deprivation on effective EEG connectivity for young males in resting-state networks in different eye states. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1204457
Mueller, J., Pritschet, L., Santander, T., Taylor, C., Grafton, S., Jacobs, E., & Carlson, J. (2021). Dynamic community detection reveals transient reorganization of functional brain networks across a female menstrual cycle. Network Neuroscience, 5(1), 125–144. https://doi.org/10.1162/netn_a_00169
Negelspach, D., Kennedy, K., Huskey, A., Cha, J., Alkozei, A., & Killgore, W. (2025). Mapping the neural basis of wake onset regularity and its effects on sleep quality and positive affect. Clocks & Sleep, 7(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep7010015
Smallwood, J., Bernhardt, B., Leech, R., Bzdok, D., Jefferies, E., & Margulies, D. (2021). The default mode network in cognition: A topographical perspective. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 22(8), 503–513. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-021-00474-4
Titone, S., Samogin, J., Peigneux, P., Swinnen, S., Mantini, D., & Albouy, G. (2023). Frequency-dependent connectivity in large-scale resting-state brain networks during sleep. European Journal of Neuroscience, 59(4), 686–702. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.16080
Valenta, S., Ventura, S., Benuzzi, F., Rizzello, F., Gionchetti, P., Ronchi, D., & Filippini, N. (2025). A heavy feeling in the stomach: Neural correlates of anxiety in Crohn’s disease. Neurogastroenterology & Motility, 37(7). https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.70029
Wang, X., Peters, E., Strelen, J., Lockhart, N., Franklin, M., LaBerge, S., & Erlacher, D. (2025). EEG microstates reveal distinct network dynamics in lucid and non-lucid REM sleep. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.12.637792
Yadav, A., & Purushotham, A. (2025). Cortical structure in nodes of the default mode network estimates general intelligence. Brain and Behavior, 15(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70531
Yang, M. (2025). Study on large-scale brain network abnormalities in patients with beta-thalassemia. Brain and Behavior, 15(6). https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70614
Performance Hospitality: What Is Still Being Overlooked
The hospitality industry is in the midst of a significant evolution. Wellness is no longer a niche feature or optional add-on. It is becoming a central pillar of the guest experience.
Understanding Fasting as a Biological Rhythm
Fasting is not simply a wellness trend; it is a deeply conserved biological behaviour observed across mammalian species. Feeding and fasting cycles in mammals are governed by circadian rhythms, the internal timekeeping systems that align physiological functions with the 24-hour light-dark cycle.
