Why you shouldn’t wait for permission to change your life

It’s common and comforting to “wait until you’re ready” to make a big life change. Most of us are pretty good at coming up with reasons why now isn’t quite the right time, whether it’s wanting to save more money, being too busy at work, or household responsibilities that make change feel especially complicated.

Every one of those reasons becomes a good enough excuse to stay exactly where we are.

I understand that feeling because I’ve experienced it myself. The truth is, I don’t think we ever become completely ready for the big changes in our lives. At some point, you have to decide that something different is worth exploring, even if you don’t have the whole path figured out.

For me, a big part of that has been learning to give myself permission. Permission to want more freedom, change direction, or simply build something for myself instead of assuming I had to follow the traditional path forever. Permission to believe my time is valuable and that how I spend it matters.

In my experience, change really begins here.

You don’t need someone else to tell you it’s OK

It’s easy to look outside ourselves for permission. We wait for a spouse to be supportive, a boss to understand, a friend to tell us it’s a good idea, or for some unmistakable sign that we are making the right decision. 

Sometimes we even wait for confidence. But confidence usually comes after you start, not before.

If you have been thinking about making a change for a long time, I encourage you to stop asking whether you are ready and start asking what you would do if you knew you could figure things out along the way.

That doesn’t mean making a reckless decision, because there’s a big difference between being thoughtful and being afraid to move.

You can be thoughtful and make a plan for important things like your finances and responsibilities while still leaving room to explore something new.

The important part is that you actually start that exploration.

Start smaller than you think you need to

One of the biggest reasons people get overwhelmed by change is that they imagine the finished version before they have even taken the first step.

If you’re thinking about starting a business, for example, it can feel like you suddenly need to understand everything about websites, social media, marketing, sales, technology, and finances. That is enough to make anyone close the laptop and decide they’ll think about it again next year.

Instead, make the first step almost laughably manageable by giving yourself just one hour.

Take that time and write down what you are good at and what you genuinely enjoy doing. Think about the kind of work you could see yourself doing from anywhere. Talk to someone who has already created the kind of business you are curious about. Spend it learning about the possibilities before you decide exactly what you want to build.

These small steps not only make starting possible, but they give you integral information along the way. You may discover that something you thought you wanted isn’t actually for you, and that is useful information, too. Or you may get excited about an opportunity you hadn’t considered before. Either way, you have moved from imagining change to actually participating in it.

Think about the life on the other side

I think it is important to spend some time thinking about why you want to change in the first place.

For me, freedom has always been a big part of the picture. Not just financial freedom, although that certainly matters, but freedom over my time and freedom over where I live and work.

I wanted to take my work with me so it’s part of my life, but it doesn’t dictate it. That means I can spend a month somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit without losing vacation days, and be more flexible in my day-to-day, so I can spend a sunny afternoon outside, care for a loved one, handle emergencies, or just have a random Tuesday that belongs to no one but me.

I appreciate this freedom more as I get older because I’ve learned that time is one of the few things we can never get back.

That is what makes building an online business so interesting to me. When you create something that can operate online, the possibilities for how you structure your life can become much bigger than they are when your income is tied to one physical location or someone else's schedule.

Of course, building a business takes work. There is a learning curve, and there will be plenty of moments when you wonder whether you know what you are doing. I won’t pretend otherwise, and I don’t need to, because I know it’s worth considering what that work could (and will) eventually give back to you. I’m talking more choice, flexibility, time, and the ability to work from a place that inspires you instead of feeling stuck in one office because that is where your paycheck comes from.

That kind of freedom was worth exploring.

Give yourself a starting point

If you have been feeling that little pull toward something different, listen to it.

You don’t have to know exactly where it will take you. You also don’t need the perfect business idea or a five-year plan. And you certainly don’t need to wake up one morning suddenly fearless.

You just need to decide that your curiosity is worth following.

For me, that has meant keeping on learning, staying open to new possibilities, and taking action even when I didn't have every answer. Looking back, some of the decisions that changed my life started small: a conversation with like-minded people, a willingness to learn, and saying yes to an opportunity before I knew exactly where it would lead, because I knew what life I no longer wanted to have. (Before this change, I worked for several years in soul-crushing corporate settings.)

If creating an online business and having more freedom over your time and location is something you've been curious about, I've put together some information that can help you learn more and see whether it might be a good fit for the life you're creating. You can learn more here.

Remember: It’s OK if you’re not completely ready. Who is? But you can be ready enough to take one small step, and sometimes that is all it takes to start creating a life that looks a whole lot more like the one you've been imagining.