Hi Reader,

I have a confession.

There have been times I’ve hired a coach or a mentor just to hear them say, “Yeah, of course, go ahead.”

I already knew what I wanted to do. I just wanted someone to tell me I was allowed.

That need followed me everywhere. When I brought my marketing background into wildlife conservation, part of me kept checking whether my way of working was okay. When I stepped into healing work, I looked at the mystics and psychics I admired, some with 20 or 30 years of practice, and quietly waited for one of them to tell me I was good enough to call myself one, too.

And now I’m writing my first book. Until very recently, I wasn’t even sure I was capable of it. Calling myself an author has taken a lot of permission-giving. This time, from myself.

Here’s what I’ve come to see. No one else can give me that permission. A publisher can offer a contract, a reader can say they love my writing. But none of it is permission to do the thing I already wanted to do. That part was always up to me.

That’s what this week’s solo episode of Don’t Step on the Bluebells is about. It’s called Permission Granted, and in it I share an exercise I still use with my clients today: a permission slip I first wrote at an Elizabeth Gilbert creativity workshop, signed by the highest authority of the land.

You’ll hear what made it onto my slip, including permission to stop being a coach if I wanted to. I also talk about why you’re allowed to change your mind about decisions you made years ago, and how to write a permission slip of your own.

🎧 LISTEN HERE​

Hit reply and tell me: what are you giving yourself permission to do? I read every reply.

With love,
Amanda

P.S. If you know someone who’s been waiting to feel ready to do what they want to do, send this their way.