Stop waiting for permission
October 9th, 2019 by Morna
Anyone who has been around small children knows they ask questions, lots of questions.
Many of those questions start with “Can I.” Can I have one more cookie? Can I watch TV? Can I stay up late and read? Can we get a dog?
We are conditioned early on to ask for permission.
We did it as kids with our parents. It continued in school with our teachers.
Even as adults, you may find yourself asking for permission, sometimes unconsciously.
Women, in particular, tend to have what’s known as upward inflection, the habit of raising their voices at the end of a sentence. This turns the sentence into a question, giving your power away to someone else.
As a young adult, I distinctly remember my grandmother pointing this out to me. I’m grateful that she did.
I know more than one business owner who has not stepped fully into her vision of her business.
Some were afraid to take the leap for fear of what others would think. They let the possible judgment by others take precedence.
Others were stuck in someone else’s vision of their business waiting for that to be fulfilled before they could take on her own.
If you are still waiting for permission, the question is why?
Reasons for waiting
You have lots of so-called reasons for waiting for permission.
- You are waiting until you think you are good enough
- You are waiting until you know enough
- You are waiting to be assured that you are on the right track.
- You are waiting for the time to be right, whenever that is
- You are waiting to finish X project or leave your day job or lose 10 pounds.
The list could go on and on.
All the reasons come down to one simple reason — you don’t trust yourself to make the decision. You want someone else to make it for you.
Does someone else really have the answers?
Are they smarter, more important, more knowing than you about you?
Seems highly unlikely, especially once you stop and think about it. Who knows you better than you?!
The problem with all that waiting is that it just turns into more waiting.
You remain frustrated by not taking action.
Why are you waiting?
Right now, take out a piece of paper and pencil. Write yourself that permission slip.
You are the only one who can.
It’s your turn!
How have you overcome the waiting for permission game?
Tags: action, business, permission, reasons