You have my permission
What fires you up?
What can you just not stop talking about once you get going?
What will you tell anyone who will listen about?
Maybe it’s:
- Self-driving cars
- Nature photography (hi, dad!)
- Saving the world’s coral reefs
- Increasing the percentage of pets in your town that are adopted
- Or re-enacting the life of a Roman legion
Regardless, if you care about this topic so much: are you spending time doing something with it?
Time and again, it’s obvious to me that people want to do something that they’re not doing now. When someone tells me about something they really care about, their eyes light up, their energy level goes through the roof, and they start talking rapidly about how awesome xyz is.
But when I ask people why they’re not doing that thing they so obviously care a lot about, I hear “shoulds”:
“If I don’t work this corporate job for at least a few more years before doing x, I’ll waste my master’s degree.”
“I probably shouldn’t ask to work four days a week so I can spend the fifth day doing y. Everybody else at the office works five days a week.”
“I really enjoy doing z, but I don’t know what my friends would think if I told them about it. Should I do it anyway?”
True, there are many practical reasons why you might not want to make a big life change today.
For example, if you want to quit your job to start your own business, you might want to write a business plan first, build some savings, or perhaps begin with a side hustle rather than jumping in the deep end.
These are all valid reasons not to quit your job today.
Not a valid reason, though, is waiting for someone to give you permission to make a life change. But in case you are waiting for permission, then whatever it is you’re wanting to do:
I hereby give you permission.
Yours,
— Peter