Think back to early elementary school. Do you remember what that was like?
You had to ask the teacher before you could do anything.
Before you could get up. Before you could get another sheet of paper. Before you could use the bathroom.
You had to raise your hand…
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You then had to hope that the teacher would say that you could use the bathroom. If your prayers were answered and she said “yes,” you were handed a hall pass that was some hideous, large trinket.
Sometimes the teacher didn’t get to a raised hand in time. That was always a disaster. A classmate’s bladder letting loose and creating a puddle beneath the desk.
YUCK!
To an adult this sounds insane. Why didn’t the child get up and go to the bathroom? Why did he wait until it was too late?
I’m going to let you in on something.
Us adults do the same thing.
We raise our hand. Saying “Pick me! Pick me!” or “Hire me! I’m the guy!”
We’re still waiting to be called on by the teacher. Only this “teacher” isn’t a teacher.
It’s a book publisher. A mastermind group you would love to be a part of. An employer you want to work for.
Our hand stays raised as we see the book publisher publishing every book but yours. The mastermind group letting in new members but not you. Or the employer hiring a different employee.
And then we have the accident. Frustration boils over. We lose our cool. We become that puddle under the desk.
After my grandfather’s plane took enemy fire, he was denied permission to land at the first available airstrip. In that classic British bureaucratic way, they said he had to go back to your own airbase in the Midlands. They crashed between the coast and the airfield.
— Tom Hooper
I want to say it’s not your fault. It’s the way we’ve been programmed since childhood. We’re to wait on someone to acknowledge hand in the air. To call on us.
The sad truth is our hand may stay in the air. Waiting for that call.
Times have changed.
Instead of waiting to be call on you will have to begin to take action. You have to call on yourself.
So decide today:
- You are valuable
- You have something to offer
- You will stop waiting
- You give yourself permission to pursue
- You will begin to produce
- You will give your value to the world
Don’t hold it back until it’s no longer what the world needs. Begin to pursue the desire in your heart. Offer your services and goods to the world. Pick yourself.
Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you choose to be.
— Joy Page
Question: What are you still waiting on permission to do? What’s holding you back? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.