“It’s in our gift.” That phrase has come up in many conversations recently, and I love it because it’s both simple and quietly powerful. It’s a reminder that even when work feels fast, noisy and demanding, there are still things within our control and that matters more than we often realise. This week’s SNAP is all about reclaiming agency when the pace of work feels out of our control.
Meetings land in the diary. Requests stack up. Priorities change mid-flight. The days start to feel like a series of reactions rather than intentional choices. It can often feel like the day is happening to you.
But agency isn’t just about controlling everything. It’s about controlling some things. And often those “some things” can be enough to shift how we feel, how we perform, and how resilient we are over time.
Why agency is a wellbeing strategy
Agency and autonomy are not just nice ideas for personal development workshops. They’re central to wellbeing and sustained performance.
When we feel we have some say, even in small ways, it reduces helplessness, increases motivation, and changes how we interpret pressure. The work might still be demanding, but it stops feeling quite so consuming.
That’s why the phrase “control the controllable” lands (even if it’s a bit hackneyed). Not because it magically removes complexity, but because it pulls your attention back to what you can influence.
And when you do that consistently, you don’t just get a practical benefit (better focus, better energy, fewer spirals). You also build something deeper: a sense of agency.
The ripple effect: “I’m happening to life, it’s not happening to me”
This is the part that can’t be overstated.
Feeling like you have agency changes your posture towards life. It affects how you show up in conversations, how you make decisions, how you recover from setbacks, and how you respond to uncertainty. It doesn’t make you invincible, but it does make you less at the mercy of everything.
And the real magic is that the smallest actions often create the biggest shifts. Not because they’re dramatic, but because they’re proof. Proof that you can choose. Proof that you can influence your experience. Proof that it’s in your gift.
Resilience isn’t built in the storm
In the most stressful weeks, we don’t suddenly develop brand new habits, boundaries or coping strategies. We default to what’s already there. Which is why resilience is built before we need it, through the small, consistent investments we make when day to day.
Think of it like putting money in the bank. You don’t build savings on the day your boiler breaks. You build it in the days you don’t have an emergency. Resilience works the same way: it’s the accumulated result of small choices that protect energy, create recovery, and strengthen capacity over time.
That’s also why agency matters so much.
If you’re a leader, this matters even more
Leaders don’t just set direction, they set the emotional tone.
If you adopt a mindset geared towards agency over the things you can control, you’ll role model it (consciously and unconsciously) to your team. By reclaiming agency over the things you can control, you’ll be showing them that pressure doesn’t remove choice. That pace doesn’t have to mean panic. That high standards don’t require self-sacrifice.
And that can be extraordinary.
Because when people feel they have agency, they’re more likely to take ownership, solve problems, communicate earlier, protect their energy, and do their best work without burning through themselves to do it.
The data backs this up, agency is a performance lever. In my brand-new State of Workplace Wellbeing Report 2026, I share CIPD research showing that higher agency is linked to better outcomes. Employees with high influence are more likely to do more than formally required (71% vs 38%), suggest innovative improvements (78% vs 39%), and say work impacts their mental health positively (53% vs 24%).
A simple reflection for reclaiming agency
So here’s a question to take into the next week, or the next month.
What 1, 2, or 3 things could you control that would have a positive impact on your performance?
Not huge life overhauls. Small changes. Big impact.
If it helps, here are a few prompts to get you thinking:
- Energy: What’s one boundary that protects your best energy (a start time, a finish time, a lunch break, a meeting-free block)?
- Attention: What’s one thing you can remove or reduce (notifications, back-to-back calls, a meeting)?
- Recovery: What’s one daily reset you can make non-negotiable (a short walk, breathing space between meetings, stretching, fresh air)?
- Environment: What’s one tweak that makes work feel less heavy (tidying your workspace, music, hydration, daylight, a better chair setup)?
Pick one. Make it non-negotiable. Do it consistently. Let it compound.
Because it really is in your gift
Work will keep moving fast. Demands will still come in. But you’re not powerless.
There are always levers you can pull, small choices that return you to yourself and remind you that you’re in control and not just reacting.
So, looking ahead, what are your 1–3 things you can influence?
Reclaiming agency. Small changes. Big impact.
Download the State of Workplace Wellbeing Report 2026 to explore the data in full — and feel free to use it to spark a team conversation about agency, autonomy and sustainable performance.
If you want a bigger reset, I can support through a keynote or masterclass, helping leaders and teams turn insight into action. This is perfect for organisations who want wellbeing and high-performance to rise together, sustainably.
