Why You're Not Making History

Most people never make history.

Among them, hordes of capable men and women.
Intelligent. Principled. Self-aware.
And yet... Without legacy.

They act. They work. They perform. But nothing truly happens.

No trajectory. No permanent impact. No real history being made.

Not because they lack talent or opportunity.
Not because they're unlucky or oppressed.
There's something way worse at play...

Lasting legacy is a product of Great Actionsmiths, leaving their mark on history through force of action. Wrestling with permission. Confronting the systems. Dancing with chaos and order...

In the end, their intentional, purposeful action, emerges into an agency that gets institutionalized and reverberates through time. So powerfully, that we still see and hear the impact today.

In the previous essay, we explored a few great figures:
Jesus Christ, Charles the Great, Galileo Galilei...
But also the greatness of the small agents.

We can witness their impact. We can learn from them. We can remember.

Not because they had divine permission. Or divine right. Or were literally divine...
Not even because they had power or legitimacy in the modern sense...
Their sovereignty and legacy were a product of something else.

Authored action.

They took action, they took ownership, and reality took that to mean it should reorganize itself.

But that raises an uncomfortable question...

If greatness doesn't come from destiny, divinity, or domination...
And if the principles embodied by great people are timeless...
Then why are most people nowhere close to greatness?

Why does almost everyone live reactively?

Why do most lives leave no trace?

The answer isn't a lack of intelligence, although it may seem that way at times.
It's not a lack of morality, although it's easy to place blame on that.
And it's not a lack of courage, motivation, or will power...

It's something more fundamental than all of those.

Research consistently shows that the majority of people don't experience themselves as the causal force in their own lives. In large samples measuring locus of control, over 70% of people view their fate as shaped primarily by circumstance, other people, or luck.

Only a small minority (about 1 in 5) consistently experience their own actions as the origin of their outcomes.

And this gap in belief has a tremendous effect on the impact of action.

It's a big reason why billions of people are cursed with mediocrity.

But this isn’t a jab at anyone...

Some might think "this sounds like past me."
Or that it describes someone they care about.
A few will insist it totally doesn't apply to them...

Only to discover later that it's what prevented them from making history.

Because greatness is rare, and exceptional by definition...

But if you're reading this, it doesn't have to be for you.

The Comfortable Explanations

You hear this all the time.

Ask a random person why they haven't built their empire, why they don't live up to their virtues, or why they're still captive in the systems they criticize...

The answers are typical.

They'll blame circumstances:

• "The timing isn't right"

• "I can't afford it at the moment"

• "They will never let someone like me do this"

They'll blame psychology:

• "I can't. I'm burned out."

• "I need to heal before I can start"

• "Once I fix my mindset it'll all work out"

They'll blame readiness:

• "I don't have enough clarity."

• "Once I figure out the right routine I'll go"

• "I just need to be sure I won't be wasting my time"

But all of these explanations are just expressions of the same faulty assumption:

It feels reasonable. Responsible. Intelligent, even.

It's also the most reliable road to remaining retired.

Because the moment action is framed as downstream of belief restoration, trauma resolution, or systemic revolution... action becomes indefinitely postponable.

And when you postpone, over and over and over again...
It stops being just sensible delay.
It becomes identity.

But, just to be clear...
Systems do constrain options.
Beliefs do shape perception.
And trauma is debilitating.

That should go without saying.

But those who manage to make history do so while carrying their trauma, in spite of constraints, with whatever resources and beliefs they happen to have at their disposal.

While so many others, armed with knowledge and opportunity and plenty of time...
Still fail. Repeatedly.

The real problem isn't that they don't know what to do.

It's that their action isn't fully theirs.

It's that they lack agency.

Agency, Not Effort

In cognitive science, agency is defined as the experience of being the author of one's actions.

It's the feeling that "I am the one initiating this."

And it has nothing to do with productivity or assertiveness.
Instead, it's a matter of ownership and control.

Research shows that the sense of agency emerges when an action is selected and internally endorsed.

When action selection is:

• fluent

• uncontested

• voluntarily approved…

People experience a strong feeling of ownership.

But when action selection is conflicted... When fear intrudes, when multiple options compete, or when an individual knows they should act, but does not fully endorse the action... Agency collapses.

This is what most people experience.

They aren't lazy. They aren't weak. They're contested.

Their actions become reactive...
Shaped by incentives, avoidance, or guilt...
And as a result, no longer independently authored.

So it's no wonder that they perceive their fate as being in the hands of others, or the systems constraining their decisions. It's a matter of survival under pressure.

Low agency people move, but do not initiate.
They stay busy, but they do not operate.
They act, but they do not endorse.

And for those who are principled and self-aware, this is a most painful kind of failure.
For a person who believes they are free, responsible, and capable...
Living a life that doesn't fully reflect that... is torture.

At the foundation of this life lies a chasm filled with a special kind of shame. A private, internal, desperate shame. Knowing that you're capable, yet not authoring.

Great Actionsmiths are those who cross this chasm.

They act as the cause of their life.

Not because they are fearless.
Not because they are certain.
But because they are authors.

And until this choice is made, no amount of intelligence, ideology, or opportunity will produce greatness.

Effort is not enough. Struggle is not enough. Conviction is not enough.

In order to be among those who make history... Your action must transform into agency. Your action must be human.

The Lack of Authorship

If this were just some theory, it could be easily dismissed.

"Nice philosophy"
"Interesting perspective"
"This could be useful... for someone else."

So before we proceed I want to make this fully clear:

I'm not writing this from a place of scarcity.

I've never lacked ability, or opportunity, or understanding. I've put in the work. I've been given the chances. And I've still failed to author my life...

Over and over and over again.

And for the longest time, I thought I should know better.
I thought I did know better. I actually did.
And it still took me down.

So I want this to be rigorous, steadfast, veridical.
Because this problem could take down anyone.
But you should never let it keep you down.

I'll never forget… The moment it became obvious that something was wrong...

I was following my assigned path → school, career, my role in society.
It was my first real encounter with 'the general population.'
Going from a place of 'great achievement' to 'normality'.

And, for the record, this was still in a high performance environment, at one of the top universities in my country... it was just a slight step down from what I was used to.

But as the weeks turned into months... As I engaged with all these 'adults' who should've known better... I quickly realized that nothing about the path I was on made any sense, and very few people around me had ever stopped to ask, let alone think about what they were doing: Why? For what reason? What was the purpose behind it all?

There was nothing. An abyss of meaning. And as I stared into it, the abyss reflected back unto me, making me question my own inherited meaning, my actions, my identity.

Why was I doing what I was doing?

I kept going for a while out of inertia...

On paper, I was functioning. At times, I was even excelling.

I had skills. I had momentum. I had evidence of action.

But none of it was owned.
None of it was endorsed.
None of it was mine.

I was merely executing on a plan that no longer had a vision.

Eventually... The meaning collapsed.

And the execution stopped.

That was my first encounter with depression. My entire reason for being was gone. Two weeks I had spent stuck in bed. In existential dread. Unable to eat, unable to speak, unable to act.

What I felt wasn't anger, or pain. Just... emptiness.

And I was fortunate to find a way out, relatively quickly this time...

By accepting that I knew nothing. That I needed to change. And discover myself anew.

Action Without Endorsement

This is the part most people miss.

You can act.
You can perform.
You can even achieve.

Without agency.

I did.

To get out of that first hole, I had to make drastic decisions.

I dropped out. I immersed myself in discomfort...
I faced the consequences of my choices. And, ultimately, I still ran away.

For better or worse, I got rewarded for it. After moving out on my own, I made things work. After a while, I ended up in what I thought would be my 'dream job'...

Another trap.

The remnants of the prescribed path came back to haunt me. And, instead of focusing on my new path I was successfully carving... I got drawn back in. Working for the big man. Achieving conventional success.

There were fancy cars, fancy events, fancy people...

My actions were real.
The outcomes were real.
The exhaustion was also real...

But the authorship wasn’t.

Everything I did had to come with a cost...

Justified.
Explained.
Rationalized.

I was doing what needed to be done, because it was supposed to be done.

But it wasn't what I claimed to do.

It wasn't my action.

And when action isn’t endorsed, the psyche keeps the score.

The Pattern I Didn’t Want to See

Over the course of a decade, this repeated. Three times, in different forms.

Each time followed the same arc:

• Sustained effort without endorsement

• Emotional erosion

• Collapse

Work hard at school → Lose meaning → Existential crisis.
Work hard at dream job → Lose meaning → Self-destruction.
Work hard at small business → Lose meaning → Give up all hope.

From the outside, it looked like burnout.
From the inside, it felt like something worse...

Identity failure.

I wasn’t just tired. I was completely lost. I didn’t even know who was acting anymore.

At the lowest point, after hurdling down into the abyss for as long as 18 months, I had to resort to literal ego annihilation to rescue myself from the dread. I had to to hit the bottom.

That night, I felt like I had lost everything.

There was no more ambition.
No more direction.
No impulse...

Just fog.

And my words.

And a decision to rewrite myself.

Individuation Is Not Optional

It took many years until it finally made sense.

Every time I collapsed, it felt like hitting rock bottom...
But each time I got back up and got going again...
And I re-embarked on the path with more.

What was lost was noise.
Undue baggage that held onto me and chained me down to mediocrity.

Because even those past achievements were not truly mine. And they were not truly great. They were things I was never proud of. Things that just happened. Things that lacked personal meaning.

And as I dropped more and more of these chains. Action felt lighter again.

Valuable things remained:
The seeds of greatness.
Earned capacity...
Scar tissue.

Skills.
Judgment.
Pattern recognition.

Each time, I earned the right to write my own story, albeit temporarily.
And each time, action became authored again.
Each time, I was becoming more myself.

And momentum returned faster, stronger, greater than before.

You may call this survivorship bias...
But I'm not here to judge, or to preach...
I'm here to show that another path is possible.

Your path.

Not mine. Not society's. Yours.

Because agency cannot be borrowed.

You cannot inherit it from tradition, or mentors, or systems...

At some point, if you wish to truly be great, you must individuate.

That doesn't mean revolution.
It doesn't mean isolation.
It means... separation.

The uncharted path that only you can walk...

When you stop acting as a function of:

• What's permitted

• What's rewarded

• What's expected

And when you start acting as a source of:

• Courage

• Kindness

• Authority

That's what it means to author your own action. And until you do, action will always feel fragile, temporary, conditional. Your greatness will always be subject to another's will.

That was true for me. And it's true for all who fail to cross the chasm.

It's Personal

At this point I expect something interesting is happening...

A pause.

...

A quiet recognition.

You're no longer wondering whether this is a problem.
You're asking what it means for you...

So let me challenge you a bit.

How much of your life is still happening TO you?

If that makes you feel a bit uncomfortable. Good.
You should be uncomfortable.
But don't run away...

How much of your time, energy, and attention are you spending to function, rather than direct?

How many paths do you tolerate because they're familiar, comfortable, or rewarded?

How often do you explain your decisions, instead of endorse them?

Are you taking responsibility? Or just doing what you can?

...And let me kick you while you're down.

What does it cost you to keep living this way? What will it cost?

If that's a price you're willing to pay, I'm happy for you...

But for me, there's only so much inaction I can tolerate.

To prepare is fine. To hesitate is folly.

Are you preparing?

The Price of Staying Reactive

Because, you see. You might not notice when you're stuck in this state.

Especially if you were once gifted, talented, successful...

Because one's agency doesn't collapse overnight. And the decay that it harbors doesn't ruin lives overnight either.

It's much like the frog, enjoying being boiled alive.

It's erosion... Eroding...
Slowly. Quietly. Comfortably.

You stay capable.
You stay busy.
You stay fit.

And from the outside, you may even stay successful. Excellent.

But the decay lingers.

Your appetite for risk. Your necessity for truth. Your sense of authorship.

Over time, decisions feel heavier. Starting gets harder. And every unendorsed action leaves a residue of resentment you can't quite explain. Frustration. Anger. Grief.

And it doesn't go away...

The resentment builds up, little by little, until it turns inward.

Your sharp trajectory, being resigned to a dull slumber.

Your circular path... spiraling into the abyss.

It feels safe... being weightless.
It feels quiet... hiding in the darkness.
But it also keeps you from having impact...

Until you make contact with the bottom.
But that's not the kind of impact you want, right?

The Other Path

Here's the part most people miss.

Crossing the chasm doesn't demand a grand leap.
It merely demands a claim of authorship.

A claim over action.
A claim over direction.
A claim over responsibility.

Once that claim is made, even imperfectly, something shifts.

You stop waiting for certainty.
You stop bargaining with yourself.
You stop asking whether you can do it.

You begin to move as a source.

And once that happens, momentum stops feeling borrowed.

It becomes yours. You become the owner of your behavior...

And soon enough, through repeated action, your claim becomes respected, and your will becomes agency. That is the origin of meaning and purpose, and that is the meaning of human action.

And you CAN do it. We all can. Because we're human.

And if this was irrelevant to you, you wouldn't have read this far.

If it didn't apply, you wouldn't feel the tension building up right now, as my words reach you, word by word, idea by idea.

The cost of inaction isn't comfort and neutrality.

What you're losing is your life itself.

The words left unsaid.
The memories left unformed.
The decay of your life left unlived.

And the opportunity in front of you doesn’t hinge on motivation...

You're living in a time of great abundance and freedom. You have the choice of authorship, and the power you see around you is yours to take.

Once you choose to take it, even clumsily, the rest is practice.

That's when action begins to transform.

And that's where we go next.

Authoring Your Action

At some point, the preparation must end and the journey must begin.

This is that point.

You've learned enough. You've understood enough. You've festered enough.

You don't need more clarity.
You don't need permission.
You don't need planning.

All you need is one thing:
One more, fully owned act.

It's not your first time.
You're not a baby.
So remember...

Authored action doesn't feel heroic.
It's quiet. Serene. Effortless...

No hype.
No justification.
No inner debate.

Remember!

Your body moved.
Your mind followed.

You didn't have to think. You just acted.

What's heroic is that it happened naturally. Without concern for yourself or what others would think. Without a single moment of hesitation. You just acted!

That's real heroism. That's greatness. That's... you.

You were that great person in that one moment.

You know it's real. You know how it feels.

All you have to do is remember.

When action is endorsed, friction disappears.
Resistance no longer has a place to anchor.
So recall that feeling and take ownership.

Forget about will power, discipline, or motivation.

All you need is alignment.

Begin Today. Begin Small.

Whether you like it or not, time moves on.
You can't do what you've left undone.
You can't redo what's happened.

But you can make a commitment now.
To make the most of the time you have left.
And to live your life with impact that marks history.

You may adopt one standard:

So you may take ownership over your path, and turn deliberation into progress.

You will know the mark you wish to leave on the world.

You merely need to keep acting.

So every day you can start small. The smaller the action, the easier it is to endorse. There's nothing saying we should try hard and go even harder. The goal is effortless, lazy action with infinite impact. Transforming spacetime at the speed of light.

Because the cool thing is... The easier it is to endorse the action, the cleaner the agency signal. A nice sharp needle with maximum resolution, perfectly fit to pierce the dull blanket of entropy.

That is your Key Action.

And it's what will unlock your energy, your perception, and your greatness.

Authorship isn't reclaimed by making dramatic changes.

That's a recipe for ego backlash and relapse.

You reclaim it by making a clean change.

Something you already know you should do.
Something you've been avoiding.
Something with no audience.

One Key Action.

Now. Today. Every day.
Not optimized. Not impressive.
Yours. Intentional. Fully endorsed.

And if you get this one key action done, your day has been achieved.

So write it out when you wake up.
It can be the same. It can be different.
Remember it throughout the day. Notice it…

And Get It Done.

If you wish to make history, the key action is non-negotiable.

...I'm confident that you will do it.

And, to leave this on one final word of care:

Because authorship alone doesn't make life easy. It merely makes it yours.

But it's making the hard choices, and acting upon them with purpose, that makes your life worth so much that you have the unbounded power to choose.

After that, it's up to you how easy it'll end up being.

And on the way...

You will overreach.
You will make mistakes.
You will suffer consequences...

And you'll learn.

That's how judgment is earned.
That's how strength is gained.
That's how history is written.

With grit and pain and scars.

This is it. It's time to act.

Choose one action you can fully endorse.
Write it down. Yes, now. Take it today.

No announcements.
No backup plan.
No witnesses.

Just Action.

Your forge is hot...

Now close this damn page already.

Act!

This essay draws on research from cognitive science, psychology, economics, and political philosophy. A selected bibliography is provided for readers who wish to explore the empirical and theoretical foundations of agency, action, and authorship.

Bibliography:

1. Michael S. Moore, “What Is the Sense of Agency and Why Does It Matter?” Frontiers in Psychology 7 (2016): 1272, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5002400/.

2. Patrick Haggard, “Sense of Agency in the Human Brain,” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 18, no. 4 (2017).

3. Julian B. Rotter, “Generalized Expectancies for Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement,” Psychological Monographs 80, no. 1 (1966): 1–28.

4. Albert Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” Annual Review of Psychology 52 (2001).

5. Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, “The ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior,” Psychological Inquiry 11, no. 4 (2000).

6. Julius Kuhl, “Action Versus State Orientation: Psychometric Properties of the Action Control Scale (ACS-90),” in Volition and Personality: Action versus State Orientation, ed. Julius Kuhl and Jürgen Beckmann (Göttingen: Hogrefe, 1994).

7. Nathaniel Baumann, Rebekka Kaschel, and Julius Kuhl, “Striving for Unwanted Goals: Stress-Dependent Discrepancies Between Explicit and Implicit Achievement Motives Reduce Subjective Well-Being,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 31, no. 11 (2005).

8. World Bank Group, “When Does Decision-Making Reflect Agency? Evidence from the Rural Philippines” Policy Research Working Paper 10851, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/19036.

9. Human Flourishing Lab, The Psychological Building Blocks of Agency (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2025), https://humanflourishinglab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/HFL-The-Psychological-Building-Blocks-of-Agency.pdf.

10. Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958).