Unlocking Your Potential: Embracing Life Without Permission, Embracing Risks, and Competing with Yourself

The last few years were a bit of a nightmare in places, and not just C-19, it was a bit of a slide down, things weren't going to happen that I wanted to happen and the direction of travel was on the one I wanted. 

That leads me to the question I wanted to answer.

“What is holding me back?”

Most of us have two lives... There is the first one and the one you have when you realise it's the only one you have. 

But we get stuck in our ways looking for excuses or permissions to progress in life and not realising there is no such thing to hold us back!

In short here is the summary of what I am about to tell you 

·       Don't be waiting for permission/Approval. 

·       There is only this life and no guarantees. 

·       You are only competing with yourself. 

·       No one actually cares

Let's start with an easy one… 

❕ - Don't be waiting for Permission/Approval 

We as humans like to belong in a tribe and that tends to drive tribe behaviour which demonises the outside of the norm behaviour.

As a result, we are prone to seek approval or permission of others on things we want to do. 

For me, for some unknown reason, I thought that I needed to get approval from my 9-5 colleagues for my side gigs?

Why? Fuck knows. 

But I did, and more so, I was worried they might even disapprove of it. 

Heavens forbid! 

As I progress through life, I realise, that's the limitation I put on myself and frankly I wasted some years looking for approval from others. Don’t be that person!

Which brings me nicely to my next point.

😎 - There is only THIS LIFE and no guarantees 

And don’t fucking waste it. 

I prefer to live with experiences of failure rather than deal with the regret of not trying at all. 

We seem to think there is some magical second crack at life and we get to do it over again if we fail.

 at some point. 

Reality check... No. This is it.

You must accept it as your reality and take action to improve your life. Only you have full responsibility for your life. Not your parents, family or friends.

It's on your shoulders to make it happen. 

So, ask that person out! Start that hobby! Go and BE  you.

Otherwise, you will end up in a position where you are pleased with everyone else but yourself! And hey presto! Hello Mid-life crisis! (that sports car or passion project) … just saying. 

Bike for me… please. 

Remember: You are only competing with yourself. 

It's easy to pick other people in the field and use them as a target to aim towards. And it's a good starting point. But the fundamental truth is, that you are only improving yourself and that is who you should be compared against. 

Are you better than you were last week/month/year?

Are you doing the routine that drives results and success?!

My next point is that…

💔- No one ACTUALLY cares!

Everyone is wrapped up in their own little bubbles and cares about themselves.

If you tell them you are doing a thing, people will say:

 “that's cool”. 

 And move on. 

Equally, if your side gig is failing for whatever reason and you want to quit. Do it. Most people won't care. 

They will just say.  “Oh that's a shame” and move on with their lives. 

So don't think that others think about you that much. 

They do not

The sooner you realise those truths the better for you.

There is no magic formula for success, looking on social media everyone is looking for that quick fix formula.

 But guess what there is not one.  

Everything is like investing, if you invest £100 over the next 6 months you won't see the results but if you invest 100 over the 3 years you are going to be seeing results and if you extend that to 5 – 10 years … That will be compounding even further.