The Permission Problem: Waiting for Someone Else’s Green Light

The approval that never comes is costing you years

We wait for permission. From bosses. From spouses. From society. We wait for a green light that never comes.

Here is the truth. No one is coming to save you with a green light.

At midlife, waiting costs more than acting. Years slip. Energy fades. The window narrows.

I know because I did it. Most of the time, I stayed quiet. I told myself the timing was not right, or that someone else would speak up. Projects passed me by because I was waiting for someone else to nod first. But one day I got tired of stalling. I walked a proposal into the meeting and presented it without permission. I got pushback, but it worked out. Sometimes you just have to move first and explain later. That moment taught me something simple. No one was going to hand me the next chapter. My second act was mine to write.

We chase permission because it feels safe. If someone else says “go,” then failure is not ours alone. But that safety turns to stone. For me, at midlife, that safety is suffocation.

So what’s the alternative?

Reinvention is not about permission. It is about ownership. Choosing yourself before someone else chooses for you.

Yes, sometimes waiting is wise. But most of the time we are not strategizing. We are stalling.

And I will be honest. I still catch myself waiting. For approval. For timing. For some green light that never comes.

What about you?

Do the math with me. If you wait another year for permission, you’ll be [age]. Two years? [Age]. Five years? [Age].

How many years are you willing to give to someone else’s green light?

Pick one thing you’ve been waiting on. Start it this week. Imperfectly. Messily. Without permission.

Your second act won’t wait for you to be ready.

CTRL: C

CTRL by JP Bristol
Clarity. Tenacity. Reinvention. Legacy.