Stop Waiting for Permission!: Why We Take No for an Answer and What You Can Do About It

Steve Truitt
Havenhurst Books (2009)
ISBN 9780982285312
Reviewed by Marcy Blesy for Reader Views (12/09)

 

“Stop Waiting for Permission!” by Steve Truitt has a little something for everyone.  It is a rare person who has not had a suffering relationship, an unhappy career, a list of “what ifs,” or just a feeling of being stuck.  Steve Truitt is the popular host of several Discovery Channel and Discovery Health Channel shows and a motivational speaker.  He set out to give the reader help in finding purpose, giving oneself the permission to accomplish this purpose, and putting oneself in the position to more likely achieve this end.  These three “P’s” of “purpose,” “permission,” and “position” are explored throughout the book.

Mr. Truitt’s writing is simple, straightforward, and easy to follow.  The overall thread of not accepting “no” as an answer either from oneself or others is weaved throughout the book.  Each “P” is a part in the book, with smaller chapters following in each part.  He used interviews with famous people and anecdotes from his experience as a life coach to highlight how others have overcome the word “no” in their lives.  Rather than preaching to the reader of how to turn the “no’s” around in one’s life, he allows the example from these real life people to motivate and inform the reader. 

The interviews range from the obvious such as Gloria Steinem and Suze Orman to the less obvious such as Gail Zappa and Patrick Reynolds, making this a history lesson of sorts and a motivational story.  Although I personally don’t agree with Jenny McCarthy’s stand on shots possibly causing autism, I greatly admire her learning to never accept “no” as an answer to getting help for her son. 

Another take-away I had from this book was accepting that learning to say “no” might not be so much as a complete change in relationship or career but an acceptance that “…you might now be living the life you were destined to live, but never appreciated because you were focusing on what you didn’t have.  If that’s the case, being strong enough to choose your life powerfully as it is now is just as courageous as taking on a new one.”  As I am personally trying to figure out my next career step, this message effectively hits home.

A final note on this “pick-me-up” read is the homework sections that follow the chapters.  They really force the reader to examine himself more closely in an attempt to determine if he is self-sabotaging his desires and how to go about accomplishing what he really wants out of life, on his terms. 

I recommend “Stop Waiting for Permission!” by Steve Truitt to everyone.  It has value for all, as we are seldom fully content with the status of our lives.

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