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BURGERS – A Guide to Agency

Finding your agency is a critical step to unlocking your authentic expression and potential.

Personal agency is a foundational aspect of actualization — the ongoing process of becoming your fullest, most authentic self.

What is Agency?

At its best, agency is defined as “the ability of a person to be aware of and exercise choices related to their well-being and joy.”

Why Agency Matters to Actualization

Without agency for ourselves, we feel stuck, suppressed, and unseen. When we don’t afford others their agency, we impose ourselves on others disregarding their needs.

When we have agency, we can better express ourselves and behave in ways that are authentic to ourselves. It also gives us room to explore our potential.

When we support and are allies for others in their agency, we give them space to be themselves and self-determined/-governing.

Mutual agency is a liberatory practice in which no person seeks to impose their choices on others. Instead, we work to establish how we can be in relationship with each other — honoring our collective needs (we) while also respecting each person's individual needs (me).

BURGERS: A Framework for Agency

The BURGERS framework was developed by Human Relations Consultant Nyx Noc of Viridi Lux Consulting):

  • (B)oundaries: Do you know them, can you state them, will you hold them?

  • (U)nderstanding: Do you understand yourself, your own limitations, and your needs and wants?

  • (R)esponsibility: Can you take ownership of your choices?

  • (G)ood Faith Communication: Are you communicating actively and with integrity?

  • (E)quity: Even within a hierarchical culture, do you seek a commitment to meeting needs at all levels?

  • (R)esilience: Are you practicing regular self-care — taking medication as needed, talking to trusted friends or professionals, and addressing your "shadow" (the unconscious aspects of yourself that may drive behavior)?

  • (S)elf-awareness: Are you practicing frequent self-check-ins, gut-checks, or listening to intuition?

Reflect on Your Sense of Agency

Think about this for yourself to determine where you can practice agency better:

  • Which of these are you practicing today? How could they be better?

  • Which of these practices are missing? How could you introduce them?

  • Where and when have you seen your agency not honored by others?

  • Where is a lack of practice getting in the way of your authentic expression or potential?

  • What factors in your environment are inhibiting agency as a shared practice?

  • Who in your life isn’t recognizing your agency?

  • What are you doing to support others’ agency? Returning to these questions regularly — not just once — is what transforms agency from a concept into a lived practice.