It typically takes many experiences of agency to compensate for a single experience of helplessness, another example of the brain’s negativity bias. To prevent helplessness in the first place or to gradually unlearn it, look for experiences in which you are making a choice or influencing an outcome. Then focus on and take into yourself the sense of being an active agent: a hammer rather than a nail. In particular, look for experiences in which there is a vigorous sense of making something happen or pushing something forward.
