Agency & Self-Governance concerns our ability to participate intentionally in the direction of our own lives. Human beings are shaped by biology, culture, relationships, institutions and circumstance. Agency does not mean pretending those forces do not exist. It means participating in what happens next.
Self-Trust is the capacity to rely sufficiently on your own perception, judgment and ability to respond.
Courage is the capacity to act in alignment with what matters while fear, uncertainty or social cost are still present.
Sovereignty is the capacity for self-authorship within interdependence.
Discipline is the capacity to continue a consciously chosen behavior after the excitement of choosing it has faded.
Empowerment is the capacity to translate agency into meaningful influence.
The capacities do not operate in isolation. These relationship entries describe important feedback loops, tensions and forms of mutual support between them.