Hi {{first_name}},

The facilitator asked us to write down what we thought we were capable of achieving in our roles at Boots.

I wrote something vague about "doing my job well" and "being helpful to the team." 

Safe answers. 

The kind that wouldn't make me look arrogant or delusional.

Then she asked us to write down what we'd achieve if we knew we couldn't fail.

Same question, really. Just framed differently.

And my answer was completely different.

This was "Future Engaged Deliver" - a half-day training programme at Boots headquarters focused on mindset, community building, and leadership through personal quality rather than position or authority. 

Four hours in a conference room with about twenty other people.

I'd been working at Boots for years. 

Doing well enough. Showing up. Getting by. 

But sitting in that room, staring at those two pieces of paper with completely different answers on them, I realised something.

The gap between what I thought I could do and what I actually wanted to do wasn't about capability. It was about permission.

I'd been waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and say "you're ready now." 

Waiting for enough experience, enough proof, enough something before I could actually aim for what I wanted.

That half-day didn't teach me new skills. 

It showed me I'd been treating my own potential like something that needed approval from external authorities.

The shift happened in that moment - staring at those two answers. 

One honest about my ambition, one carefully managed to avoid looking foolish.

After that training, things changed.

I started winning innovation awards. Got promoted. Ran a first-of-its-kind project. Became someone hundreds of people in that business knew as bright and helpful.

The work I was doing wasn't dramatically different. 

My mindset about what I was allowed to attempt changed completely.

Years later, I still catch myself doing the same thing. Waiting to feel ready before starting something new. 

Collecting one more credential, one more proof point, one more piece of evidence that I'm allowed to do what I already know how to do.

The pattern is always the same: I'm capable of this thing, but I'm waiting for permission to prove it.

That permission never comes from outside.

It only ever comes from the decision to stop waiting.

Most coaching businesses stall because the person running them is still waiting to feel qualified enough. 

They've got the skills. They've got results they could point to. They just haven't given themselves permission to claim those results and build something around them.

Revenue follows belief more often than preparation follows belief.

What's the gap between what you're currently doing and what you'd do if you knew you couldn't fail? 

Jack