Why Wait for Permission?

Personal Development

Permission-Schmermission

There’s an idea I’ve started to play with, or rather a concept, that’s started to sink in recently. The idea of not asking for permission to live the life you want. To be who you want, to have what you want. That sounds silly, right? Asking for permission to live your own life? But.. there are alot of us that do it. We wait for someone to approve of us, to support us, to tell us we’re doing a good job, to pay for our service, to acknowledge our efforts, whatever it may be.. and the only people who are allowed to say they don’t play the waiting game, are currently too busy doing whatever it is they want to do!

It’s probably that person you admire and say “Why can’t I be like them?”. I’ve noticed that more often than not, these same people are often in the business of helping or supplying a service to others, or they’re entrepreneurs/artists.

Why? Why do we wait for others to tell us how we should live our lives? Why do we wait for validation?

I recently read “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love). One of the chapters in Big Magic is about permission and why we think we need it. This chapter really stuck with me, and I often revisit it's pages. So I wondered why this portion stuck out particularly. Instead of analyzing and tearing it apart, I decided to sit with it. To gently consider it as I moved through-out my days.. and guess what? I was operating from a place of waiting! Waiting for... what? For who? Why?! As this concept has slowly sunk in, as I’ve been practicing the concept of not asking permission or approval.... Damned if I haven’t been happier, more focused, more energized, and progressed towards my goals much faster than I have in the past.

Deciding, really deciding, to work towards what you want, whether someone gives you a green light or not, will actually get you what you want. Crazy! I’ve had a long-ingrained habit of looking for approval from others and I’m trying to grow out of that. That’s the beauty in the work though, that you will change. You will grow. You will move forward. “Once you learn better, you do better” - you can’t go back to being lesser than before. So, even baby steps matter.

I’m currently working on replacing that habit of waiting with some different vibes. Get up, decide what you want from the day and how you want to feel at the end of the day. Literally, spend 10 minutes to an hour, first thing in the morning, deciding on your day. Do whatever you need to do to make that happen, don’t wait for someone else to join you, approve it, or acknowledge it. Be you and do you 💯 So, what are you not going to wait for anymore?

Love, Kari