Become Your Own Source of Permission
Adherence to the childhood rule of “don’t do anything without
permission” makes success in your own business an uphill strug-
gle. There is no boss to give you permission, so you’re likely to
procrastinate a lot about decisions and then second guess your-
self afterward.
As children, we needed permission to do almost anything.
When we did not ask for it and did what we wanted, often we were
punished by our parents, family, teachers, and other authority fig-
ures. Those of you who went to parochial or military schools under-
stand this very well.
I (AF) went to a parochial grammar school and felt that I had
no permission to do anything except what the nuns, priests, and
teachers told us was OK. When we stepped outside the boundaries
of permission, we were punished severely—sometimes to a point of
borderline physical abuse. For a long time this stifled me from mov-
ing forward, and I developed a rebellious nature toward authority
figures. Now that I am an adult, I discovered that this attitude
served me much better to get ahead in life. I am not suggesting that
you rebel against everything—just challenge the ideas and see if
permission is truly required.PERMISSIONVISUALIZATIONMETHOD
Give yourself permission that you did not believe you had or no
one else gave you before. We are our own source of permis-
sion. Most things we want to do only require our own permis-
sion. So let’s give ourselves the permission that we deserve to achieve
what we desire. Do this method now. It will assist you in getting through
the rest of the book.
Imagine your higher power (God, Universal Intelligence, or whatever
higher power means to you). Make sure this image is colorful and right in
front of you at eye level in your mind. Make the colors stark and vivid like
the movie Dick Tracyor like watching colorful fish in coral reefs.
Make sure the picture you have of your higher power is close and
large. Hear any sounds, feel any feelings, smell any smells, and taste any
tastes associated with this image. Make sure you are really feeling the
sensation inside yourself when thinking about your higher power. Once
you have this image complete and you feel the feelings inside, raise this
image up in front of you to about 45 degrees above eye level, where it is
still comfortable to see without having to tilt your head. Leave the image
up there.100 Your Recovery from a Good Upbringing