They’re not coming for you. Or me.

That realization changed everything for me.

Not because I don’t believe in talent. Not because I think what you or I have to offer isn’t valuable. Quite the opposite. I think you have something extraordinary. I think I do too.

But talent alone doesn’t get the job done. And if you’re waiting in the wings for someone to come pluck you from obscurity and hand you your shot, you’ll wait forever.

No one is coming.

And that’s the best news yet.

Because it means you don’t have to wait anymore.

When I first started writing books, I wrote them for me. I wasn’t chasing down literary agents. I wasn’t pitching manuscripts or waiting for the big six publishers to discover me. I wrote what I needed to say, for whoever might need to hear it—even if that was just me.

And do you know what happened? I wrote six books. Not because anyone asked me to. Not because I had a deadline. But because I stopped waiting.

If I’d waited for some official invitation or industry approval, I’d still be unpublished.

What is it you want to do that you’re still waiting for permission to pursue? Start the business? Write the book? Record the podcast? Build something that matters?

This is your permission card. Right here. Right now.

Start where you are. Use what you’ve got. Do what you can.

John Acuff says it best: Some beats none.

So stop waiting. Get started. And watch what happens.