Write Your Own Permission Slip: A Real Life Example

You have permission to:
Do it your way
Change your mind
Try something new
... and do it over and over again.

And yes, people do this in real life all the time.
Consider Krista's move from Finance to Farming for example...

Today, I have a story for you about my friend and former client, Krista Lewis (*real person, shared with permission!), who is an example of a woman who is signing her own permission slip.  We don't talk enough about the "messy middle" and the importance of making one right decision at a time, so I'm excited to share her brave, inspiring example!

When I met Krista about five years ago, she was already an accomplished finance professional.  She was intensely focused on growing her professional skills both technically and relationally.  She was locked in on her goals.

As we worked together, we focused on "why" those were her goals and what role this work played in helping her achieve a bigger-picture vision for her life. Bit by bit, she noticed that she was giving far more than she was receiving in her role.

So, she asked for more. More money. More responsibility. More decision-making authority. She got it. (But that's not the story...)

Something shifted in her from that moment. She understood her value in a different way, measured her worth with a different scale, and realized she is the one she can count on to make changes to achieve her goals.

Suddenly, things changed in her organization and the path to achieving those goals wasn't so clear.

She did the hard work to really think about how to create a professional and personal life she loved.  She gave herself permission to dream and to try.  Her decision was to leave her role and start her own financial practice.

Decisions do not have to be large and dramatic.
Decisions can be incremental.
Just make the decision.

Krista's next step was a wise one...to leave the company she had been with for 8 years and join another business where she could work a less demanding schedule while she built her practice.  This was the incremental step she gave herself permission to take.

It led to her fine-tuning her focus and launching her practice -- and that business was one of her first clients!

As she was growing her finance practice, she continued to ask herself "why" and dream about her future.  One idea that was starting to become more clear was the vision of starting a farm. Yes, a farm! This idea is aligned with values her family cares about (sustainability, care for nature, independence) -- and would definitely require some planning!

Krista successfully worked to gain new clients and build relationships in her new practice.  One of those relationships led to a new client where she would be acting as the interim CFO. 

She loved it. And, she gave herself permission to change direction.

This was a great company with great people and they offered her a full-time position. Many entrepreneurs would be tempted to continue on their path to "doing their own thing", but Krista looked at this opportunity with the bigger picture of her life as the frame of reference.  Let's be real, it's expensive to start a farm -- and, it's hard to predict revenue in a new business. So, she decided to slow down (not abandon) her efforts to build her own practice and instead, work full-time for this company while the plans for the farm become more of a reality.

Isn't that amazing?!?

Here are the "rules" that Krista gave herself permission to ignore:

• You have to work within the system in your company.

• You have to leap "all in" to start your new business.

• You have to muscle through entrepreneurship, no going back.

• You have to follow "The Plan, The Right Way."

Don't be fooled by the absolutes, the rules, or the right way to build your life.  You get to choose how you build it - one decision at a time.

Thank you, Krista, for modeling this and vulnerably sharing your story! I know it will help many other amazing women to write their own permission slips too!

And, we can't wait to see the farm!

*Shared with permission!Connect with Krista on LinkedIn here.

Write your own permission slip friend. You've got this.