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You Don't Need Hope, You Need Agency · insyed; cozy psychology

• 0:00
  Welcome back to INSyed. I'm Syed. And every week
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  I take real academic research and bring it closer
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  to the life you're actually living. Like a diary
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  that did psychology. Let's take a peek INSyed.
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  I notice myself sitting at my desk. Almost stuck.
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  Motionless. There's a heavy weight in my chest
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  and a choking feeling in my throat. It's as if
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  I'm frozen. And all that was keeping me warm
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  was a sense that things will be okay. A sense
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  of hope. Things are getting very busy for us
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  students. Essays to proofread, weeks of lecture
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  material to digest, assignment after assignment,
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  submission after submission. The season where
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  we're all locked in and we're feeling overwhelmed
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  comes easily. This led me to remember that I've
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  felt this before. And today will be something
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  different. I thought I'd look back at one of
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  my older entries and reflect, not only as a reminder
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  for myself, but an invitation to those who may
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  have missed it. Because the only thing that stays
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  consistent is that things change, and so do we.
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  Let's see what we've learned from episode 1,
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  you don't need hope, you need agency. At the
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  time, I believe I was struggling with job hunting,
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  and as it was nearing the new year, I had high
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  expectations without ever really thinking about
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  the work that I need to put in and the dangers
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  of pursuing such lofty goals. I was buckling.
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  So I did what I knew best from my classes and
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  lectures. I decided I'd look up the research
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  to see if there's any science that would help
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  me. And I came across a research paper on hope
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  and I learned that there was something else.
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  Agency is the belief you have in your ability
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  to take action and achieve your goals. The belief
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  that you can achieve something. That you have
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  all the necessary tools to make it. Like an engine
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  that moves you forward, even when things aren't
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  going your way. In that paper, the researchers
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  wanted to see what made life satisfying. What
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  they found was that it wasn't optimism or problem
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  solving that did it. It was agency. The belief
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  that you can make things happen. It's like if
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  two people, one who felt stuck and thought, I
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  can't do this, while the other is thinking, I've
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  got this, I'll figure it out." That second person?
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  They have agency. And that mindset can make all
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  the difference. Looking back, I realized that
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  I actually made a mistake. It was fair to say
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  that agency was what they found to be the best
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  predictor of life satisfaction, but it wasn't
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  the only one. All the other things I mentioned,
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  optimism, problem solving, and now hope, were
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  still predictors of a satisfying life. Ultimately,
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  they all still mattered. I had framed it as a
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  competition, agency versus hope. But the research
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  never said that. It said agency leads. It didn't
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  say hope follows behind, useless. If anything,
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  hope is what gets you through the starting line.
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  So to echo what I shared in that first episode,
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  the best part is that not only is agency for
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  everyone, but so is hope. It didn't matter who
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  you are or where you came from. Knowing and believing
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  that you have everything you need can help you
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  navigate challenges and live a more full life.
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  And if you don't think you do, remember that
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  you have yourself. And with the self, the only
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  limit is what you believe you can do. Hope is
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  an invitation. It doesn't move you, but it's
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  what opens the door. Agency is what walks you
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  through it. As I sit at my desk now, More than
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  a year after writing that first entry, I never
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  thought I'd be where I am today. More than 10
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  ,000 kilometers away from home, building a future
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  I want. Although I believe I had a strong sense
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  of agency, there was evidently still hope. Hope
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  had brought me out of my comfort zone. And it
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  may be so for you. Because look at how far you've
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  gone. How much you've grown. If the person you
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  were last year saw you now, They wouldn't have
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  even been able to imagine that you'd make it
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  this far. And so will be you in the years that
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  come. So have more than agency. Have hope. Believe
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  that whatever happens, it will be for the best.
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  And when you believe in yourself, the mountains
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  you end up moving will shape the world you leave
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  behind. I ended this entry with an invitation
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  to set a goal or take the first step into doing
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  that thing you've always wanted to do. I wonder
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  how much you and I have both done since then.
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  And if you have yet, the best time you can start
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  is now. And that brings us to the end of this
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  week's inside. Thank you for spending your time
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  here. If something today stayed with you, the
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  best way you can support is to share it with
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  someone you may reach. You can also follow the
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  show wherever you listen. And if you have a moment,
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  leaving a review genuinely helps. Until next
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  week. Remember that there's always more INSyed.