June 2026 was not particularly kind to me. I entered the third month of my serious job search and it’s moving slower than ever. I feel like I’m caught in an endless cycle of applying, waiting, and either being rejected or outright ghosted. In addition, Tennessee has been hit with a gruesome heat wave and I’ve been forced to spend most of my time indoors. As if that wasn’t enough, the heat wave coincided with an unexpected expense, so I had to temporarily curtail my Starbucks habit. So, not only have I been trapped indoors – I’ve been trapped at home. Alone. With my thoughts. Que horror! 

After a few days of wallowing in self-pity, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and focus on what is actually in my sphere of control. I can’t control how long it takes to hear back from companies I’ve applied to or force anyone to hire me. I also can’t force the weather to cool down (although it would be totally badass if I could – Storm Solene, anyone?). What I could do is figure out a way to get out of the house and socialize without spending $20 a day on coffee and bakery treats. That’s when I remembered my old friend…DoorDash. 

DoorDashing kills two birds with one stone (which…now that I think about it is a horrific idiom. What the hell?): it allows me to slowly rebuild my savings while also getting me out of the house and talking to people, even if it’s only small talk. I’m only three days in, and I already feel much more in control of my life. I’m lucky to not have to rely on the gig economy to take care of my basic needs, but it’s nice to have my coffee & sweet treat budget back. 

Why am I telling you this? Because it’s the perfect example of making the best of a bad situation and exercising agency. Not to get all “old man yells at cloud” on you, but I’ve noticed a human agency crisis in my generation and the ones following. Everywhere I look, I see arrested development – young adults completely unprepared to direct their own lives and relying on the internet or ChatGPT to make decisions for them. 

To be clear, I don’t think this is solely a personal failing: when wages are stagnant, the job market is brutal, and the climate is changing at an alarming rate, it’s perfectly reasonable to feel like there’s nothing in your control. In fact, I’d argue that our economic and justice systems are intentionally designed to make the individual feel powerless.. Still, while feeling hopeless isn’t the fault of the individual, it is our responsibility to intentionally reclaim our agency whenever and wherever we can. 

My therapist and I (shoutout to the homie!) recently started practicing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It’s an action-oriented form of therapy that focuses on accepting thoughts and feelings without judgment instead of trying to change them. Instead, ACT encourages you to understand your thoughts and feelings without identifying with them, and then to commit to act in line with your values regardless of how you feel at any given moment. As a recovering overthinker, I’ve noticed a reduction in my procrastination and feel less paralyzed by anxiety and the fear of failure. ACT is very “feel the fear and do it anyway” coded, which is great for someone like me.

This isn’t meant to be a pro-capitalism, Kim Kardashian,“Get your f--king ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days,” type post. I’m also not advocating spiritual bypassing. Sometimes life sucks and you need to just lay around and mope for a few days while the emotions settle. The important thing is what comes after. 

The “What? So what? Now what?” framework is a tool that allows for both reflection and action. Before you can solve a problem, you have to identify and articulate it (what?), analyze its meaning (so what?) and decide on what actions to take next (now what?). I think it’s so easy to get caught up in circular conversations about the problem and meaning these days that we never quite move to the action stage. This keeps us stagnant and is also hazardous to our mental health and sense of agency. 

This week, I encourage you to reflect on your life. Where are you avoiding taking responsibility? What is the next, most important action you could take that’s in your sphere of control? We are all capable of more than we think. All we have to do is take a little action. 

Yours in agency, 

Mina