We all suffer from procrastination, some more than others. But a really pernicious form of procrastination is to be waiting for someone else’s permission.
Procrastination, of course, is a huge problem. A lot more on it in the excellent New Yorker’s article ‘Getting Over Procrastination‘.
But waiting for permission is even worse. It is a great excuse for doing nothing. And it kills every ounce of initiative we might have had. It is pushing the deadline supposedly waiting for an external input.
I guess that procrastinating a little bit, from time to time, is part and parcel of human nature (some would argue that it is actually a necessary space to reflect). But waiting for external permission is absolutely not required for most of what we want to do in life.
Never take waiting for permission as an excuse for doing nothing! As the quote says “Those who wait for permission never get it. Those who don’t wait for permission become the leaders other turn to for permission”. Be a leader, not a following procrastinator!
