Permission

You don’t need permission from anyone else to move toward your authentic life.

There is something you want to pursue but have been holding back from doing so and your paralysis is holding you back from moving closer to your authentic life. You are waiting for someone to tell you it is ok to take that risk, start that business, sever that relationship, or ask for that promotion.

You don’t need permission from anyone else to move toward your authentic life, and not only do you not need permission, but no one is going to give it to you. 

You have to give your Self permission to step into your authentic life.

I spoke with a friend yesterday who is contemplating a career change. This career change is parallel to some of the work he’s done as a passion project and would take his project and turn it into a career with the ability to impact more people in a greater way. 

As I listened to him share how he arrived at the change, it was obvious to me that this is what he is supposed to be doing—I’ve watched him move closer toward this version of his Self over the last few years. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be successful in his new endeavor…both in his professional life and more importantly in his personal life.

There was a point in our conversation, after we had discussed business models, how to grow business, technology, and other details of the move, where he confessed that he felt like he just needed someone to give him permission to pursue this opportunity—to confirm he wasn’t crazy or wasn’t going to fail.

Thankfully, I was able to pretend to be a person who has the ability to grant permission—I do not have any such power 😀—and tell him that he is not crazy, his approach to the new business is great, and there is no reason to have failure as an option on the table. Even with the pretend permission I granted, my friend still has to have the confidence to give his Self the permission to go forward—it won’t be my “permission” but his own that sets him into motion.

And he will give his Self that permission—I think he already has.

My friend is going to be extremely successful in his next endeavor because it is a part of his authentic life. When he looks back to see how he arrived at this new life, the breadcrumbs are there going all the way back to his childhood—he just needed to experience different aspects of life to prepare his Self for the next chapter of his Pursuit.

If my friend had never reached out to talk, would he actually go forward with his career change?

Would someone else have provided the permission or confirmation, he sought? 

Or would he have fallen back into the status quo and lived a good life, but never have the experience of stepping into his authentic life?

What is it that YOU want to pursue but are waiting for someone else to tell you it's okay to do so?

Are you willing to risk the chance that you don’t have a conversation that provides permission to give you the confidence to move forward?

Or, are you willing to accept that the only person who can really provide permission to step into your authentic life is YOU?

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC