Agency is your belief that you can change things. Naval treats it as the most basic requirement for any meaningful life.
“You’re born with agency. Children are high-agency. They go get what they want.” Kids see something; they grab it. No hesitation. No self-doubt. This is agency in its purest form—before society teaches them learned helplessness.
But the world kills it. “They’re born naturally agentic and willful, but a lot of child raising can beat that out of them by essentially domesticating them.” Naval would rather have “wild animals and wolves than have well-trained dogs.” The modern media reinforces this domestication by promoting victim narratives.
Agency gives you personal leverage. “Take responsibility for everything, and in the process of taking responsibility for something, you create and preserve the agency to go solve that problem.” This creates a feedback loop: taking ownership generates power to act, which enables more ownership.
“You have to preserve your agency. You have to preserve your belief that you can change things.”
Most people lose agency through externalizing blame. They say the system is rigged. The rich stole everything. You can’t succeed if you’re poor or the wrong race. Naval calls these beliefs “self-fulfilling”. You become what you focus on: “You’re driving the motorcycle, but you’re looking at the brick wall.”
Agency compounds over time. “If you’re keeping track of the time period, you’re going to be disappointed.” This is why Silicon Valley attracts high-agency people. They moved there to be around others who believe change is possible—a network effect of optimism.
Naval connects agency to building things through rapid iteration. You try, fail, adjust, try again. The process builds confidence that you can shape outcomes. Agency becomes self-reinforcing through action. This is how you develop unshakeable judgment: by repeatedly testing your beliefs against reality.
Without agency, you can’t deploy your unique knowledge or negotiate for equity. You remain trapped in zero-sum thinking, believing success requires someone else’s failure. Agency is what transforms you from reactive to creative.