# Temperament and Agency **Domain:** Psychology / Agency **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Temperament and agency distinguishes relatively stable patterns of feeling from the decisions and practices a person can still choose. ## Mechanism A person may rarely experience certainty, ease, or enthusiasm yet remain capable of acting through doubt. Agency increases when behavior is designed around temperament instead of waiting for temperament to become someone else's. ## Significance Self-command does not require erasing variation; it requires building workable action from the person who is actually present. ## Relationships - [[wiki/Agency|Agency]] - [[wiki/Behavioral State Change|Behavioral State Change]] - [[wiki/Cognitive Agency|Cognitive Agency]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “Some temperaments rarely feel certainty, and no amount of self-criticism will install a feeling that a nervous system does not readily produce. Change the behavior rather than the temperament: keep your doubts, and decide anyway. People waste enormous creative energy trying to become a different kind of person when the same energy could have been spent using the kind of person they already are.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Acting With Purpose Before Certainty Arrives - Livestream (Feb 2017)* [[reminders/Agency/Keep Your Doubts and Decide Anyway by Bryant McGill|Keep Your Doubts and Decide Anyway by Bryant McGill]]