Stop asking for permission.

There is a scene in the movie Haider (Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Hamlet) where a Kashmiri resident would just stand outside his house’s gate and not enter.

Roohdar (Irrfan’s character) comes and explains that he is seeking permission to enter his own house. Irrfan does a security check on the person, says, “You can go now” and the person feels okay to enter his own house.

That’s how we deal with our potential and our creativity.

When we were 5 year olds, we did not seek permission. We would just go ahead and do stuff, make a ruckus. And not even be apologetic about it.

But over the years, we are trained to seek permission before doing anything. We keep standing outside our own house and wait for someone to come and allow us to enter.

You don’t need anyone’s permission. There is no certificate or degree required for you to access your own creativity.

Start writing. Start painting. Start making the ruckus, as Seth Godin keeps saying. You don’t even need to be apologetic about it.