I Give Myself Permission To . . .

IDEO, an award-winning design and innovation firm located in Palo Alto, California, created orange tickets that give people ten minutes of free play.

On a Thursday evening, two IDEO employees started giving out the tickets on their Caltrain ride back to San Francisco.  (You can see photos of the passengers’ reactions here.)

They wrote the following over at their blog:

“IDEO believes in the seriousness of play. It is a big part of our design culture. We encourage playfulness in everyday life. But sometimes it’s hard to get permission to play – so we’re giving out permission, 10 minutes of it, right there in that orange ticket.” (Source).

Taking IDEO’s concept a step further, what if you could write tickets to yourself giving yourself permission to do anything you wanted? What would your tickets say? What do you need to give yourself permission for?

Here are twenty things I give myself permission for:

1. I give myself permission to rest.
2. I give myself permission to laugh.
3. I give myself permission to play.
4. I give myself permission to make mistakes.
5. I give myself permission to say “no” to demands on my time that are simply draining.
6. I give myself permission to say “yes” to what I want.
7. I give myself permission to fulfill my lifelong dreams.
8. I give myself permission to ask for what I want.
9. I give myself permission to be who I am.
10. I give myself permission to try again.
11. I give myself permission to have fun.
12. I give myself permission to design my own life.
13. I give myself permission to ignore naysayers.
14. I give myself permission to stay focused on what’s important to me.
15. I give myself permission to be whatever body shape I like.
16. I give myself permission to be imperfect.
17. I give myself permission to ask for help.
18. I give myself permission to stop caring what others think of me.
19. I give myself permission to write a lousy first draft.
20. I give myself permission to create.

Please share in the comments what you’re going to give yourself permission for.

Related Posts:

• Freedom, Nonconformity, and Unconventional Living
• Creating in the Dark – Your Sacred Dance
• Decide What You Want
• Six Steps to Creating the Life You Really Want

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