My friend is an excellent chef - one of those people whose knowledge about food and nutrition blows your mind. She’s the kind of person you’d trust immediately if you wanted to eat better, feel better, or just learn about the real power of food. She’s got that energy, that capability, and that natural authority.
But now, she wants to train as a nutritionist. She’s debating whether to take a 2-year course or a 4-year course. The 4-year path feels proper, official, validating. But she also feels the weight of it - four years is a long time, and she wants to get going now. And as she wrestled with this, I told her something I think we all need to hear:
Stop being in permission mode.
Stop waiting for someone - some authority, some piece of paper, some institution - to say, “Yes, you’re good enough. You’re allowed to do this.” Here’s the truth: no one can give you that permission except you.
The Myth of “Good Enough”
We do this all the time, don’t we? We think, I’ll start once I get the official training. Or I’ll feel ready when I have the proper recognition. We convince ourselves that our knowledge, our skills, or even just our passion isn’t valid until someone else stamps it with approval.
But more often than not, those limitations we place on ourselves have nothing to do with whether we’re ready – they’re about whether we feel worthy.
My friend already knows so much about nutrition. She’s lived it, studied it in her own way, and seen how food changes lives. When people see her in action, they trust her – not because of a certificate but because of her energy, her experience, and her authority. They don’t see what she’s missing; they see what she already has.
We all have something like this: a skill we’ve honed, a goal we’re ready for, a dream we’re holding back on because we’re waiting to feel “legitimate.” We think the next course, the next qualification, or the next achievement will be the thing that makes us worthy. But the truth is, we already are.
The Real Question: What Are You Waiting For?
This doesn’t mean training, education, or certifications don’t matter. Of course they do – especially in fields where qualifications are required. But there’s a difference between genuinely needing more knowledge and waiting for external validation to feel ready.
Ask yourself:
- Am I putting off action because I genuinely need this training, or because I’m scared to start?
- If someone handed me the permission slip right now and said, “You’re good enough” – what would I do?
The second you realize you’re waiting for someone else to validate you, you get to decide whether you want to keep waiting or give yourself the permission to begin.
You Already Have Enough to Start
In my friend’s case, the truth is this: she doesn’t have to wait four years to start helping people. She could start right now. Share her knowledge, build trust, work with what she already has. And if the 4-year course is something she truly wants, she can pursue it from a place of excitement and growth – not because she feels like she has to.
You don’t have to know everything to begin. You don’t have to be “ready” in the way you think you do. Start with what you know, build as you go, and let the work be the proof.
Because the people who need you – the people who see your energy, your authority, your capability? They aren’t waiting for your permission slip. So maybe you shouldn’t wait for it either.
Whatever you’re holding back on, whatever you’re postponing until you feel “legitimate” – just start. You’re enough already.
Ika’s Inklings 