Waiting for permission

It’s a habit we all know too well. When figuring out what to do or say, instead of just trialling and seeing what works best, we look to others for permission.

Let’s take my daily blog post streak as an example:

Inspired by Seth Godin who has written a blog post a day for the past 10 years, I thought

H_oly crap, how am I going to write everyday with my long ass blog posts?_

But when I flicked onto his website and saw some posts were only 1 paragraph long, it’s as if the permission gatekeepers flung the door wide open, bowing “Go forth Jo, you are hereby allowed to write less too”

Why did I need someone else’s permission for my own project? It’s my writing, and the style, length, images etc are all up to me.

Here’s (maybe) why

In school (yes I’m bringing it back there), we need permission to speak, to change something about the assignment, to go to the toilet, to choose a project idea. We wait for our gatekeepers (teachers n adults) to tell us what to do, before we do it. We depend on them for how to get an A+ on our work, and now without that guidepost, we get lost.

Surely there needs to be a smooth segway of sorts. Where students can choose what project they want to do, and determine what an A+ looks like to them*, without an adult peering over their shoulder. If we can practice that skill early, then all this ‘waiting for permission’ nonsense won’t happen when we’re older.

Jo

*Concept from the book Art of Possibility