Permission to live, sir?

The book I’m currently writing is a decision out of necessity.

Over the last four years, between myself, my friends, and my colleagues, I’ve witnessed a disappointing phenomenon. It has to do with the fact that regardless of our skills or interests, every single one of us wants to create something.

A more fulfilling life, a business, a blog, a podcast, anything…

For 24 years, I repeated the notion—in my head and out loud—that “I’m not a business person.” I don’t get it. I’m not business savvy. I could never run a successful company.

Eventually, between obsessing over self-improvement and getting yelled at by Gary Vee enough times, I decided I wanted to try this here business thing.

But I had no fucking clue how. How does one just create a product or service and find customers to sell to? The answers eluded me. So I read every business book I could find.

They pumped me up. I learned so much about the mindsets and habits of productive CEOs and founders. I did this for two years, crafting the perfect library of knowledge.

But I looked around and noticed I still had no service and thus no customers. That’s when I realized what was holding me back. It wasn’t my lack of information. It was me.

I was waiting for permission to create what I wanted to create.

I knew way more about running a team than the kid on my street corner manning his lemonade stand…but that kid was actually doing the damn thing. I was merely imagining doing it.

He wasn’t comparing himself to his friends’ LinkedIn pages. He gathered a base of understanding, got some help setting everything up, and started selling.

We think we need more information. What we really need is to dive in and learn as we go.

We don’t need anyone’s permission to start something. We can just start.