Stop Asking for Permission to Save Yourself
Why the cost of starting is just what you already know and the real reason you're still stuck
The Building Is Still Burning
And the damn layoffs keep coming and coming. AI is automating everything from customer service, code, music, art honestly all skills is being or has been effected…
Oh and your company loyalty means nothing and it has been this way for years and honestly its only getting worse and will continue.
And yet most 9-to-5ers are still scrolling instead of building they will rather watch someone else create content be it content that makes them angry, happy or say this is a every day thing that thet consume day in and day out.
I've been trying to figure out why. Not the surface reasons. The real ones.
Because here's what doesn't make sense to me: The cost to start a digital business is basically what you already know.
No NDAs stopping you from building after work. No legal barriers. Just you, your skills, and whatever excuse your using to stay comfortable.
So why aren't more people building and moving …
The Permission Trap Is Real
After talking to dozens of people stuck in this cycle, here's what I see:
Most people are waiting for permission they'll never get.
They've been trained by school, by jobs, by society to follow systems, get approvals, and never rock the boat.
Even after 5 PM, they're still asking for permission to dream.
But here's the truth they don't want to face:
You're job already has a plan for replacing you. Do you have a plan for replacing it?
The Five Excuses That Keep You Stuck
1. "I'm Not the Entrepreneur Type" Says who? You manage projects, solve problems, handle clients. Those are business skills. The only difference between you and a "real entrepreneur" is they stopped asking for permission.
2. "What If I Fail?" What if you do nothing? That's guarenteed failure. At least with building, worst case you learn something valuable. Best case? You never have to ask for a raise again.
3. "I Don't Have Time" You watch Netflix for 2 hours a night. You scroll TikTok during lunch. You have more than enough time you just don't have urgency.
4. "I Need to Learn More First" This is the study sinkhole I talked about in day 4. Your bookmarking tutorials instead of building things. You have 47 saved articles on "How to Start" but zero completed projects. Learning without doing is just procrastination with a diploma.
5. "The Market Is Too Crowded" Every successful creator you admire started when the market was "too crowded." The difference? They stopped watching and started building.
The Proof Is in the Starting
Want to know who's winning right now? Not the most talented people. Not the ones with the best ideas.
The ones who aren't afraid to start ugly.
Here’s a few creators that just started:
Ali Abdaal's first videos were awkward and flat
MrBeast started at 11 making Minecraft videos nobody watched
MKBHD's first video was literally just a screen recording of a trackpad
They all started terrible. But they started.
The only difference between them and you? They didn't let "not being ready" stop them from beginning.
So I'm Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
Here's the thing I could keep writing about why people don't start. Keep diagnosing the problem. Keep pointing at the burning building.
But that would make me just another voice telling you what's wrong without showing you what's possible.
So I'm doing something different.
I'm joining the Stan Challenge. 30 days to build a digital product or service from scratch. In public. With real stakes.
This isn't about winning. It's about proving something to myself:
That I can bet on me.
And more importantly, proving to you that regular people can build things. Not just the YouTube gurus. Not just the coding prodigies.
Regular people with regular jobs who are tired of watching other people live the life they want.
The Real Challenge Isn't Technical
You already know enough to start. The tools are free or cheap. AI makes the hard parts easier.
The challenge is internal:
Will you stop needing permission?
Will you build before you feel ready?
Will you bet on yourself when nobody's watching?
What This Actually Looks Like
For the next 30 days, I'm building in public. Every day, I'll share:
What I worked on (even if it sucked)
What I learned (even if it was painful)
What I'm trying next (even if I'm not sure)
Not to teach you. To show you it's possible.
Because here's what I've learned: You don't get good at building by watching other people build. You get good by building bad things, then slightly less bad things, then things that actually work.
The Invitation
If you're tired of watching other people build the business you could have started months ago...
If you're done organizing your "someday" folder while your industry gets automated...
If you want to prove to yourself that you don't need permission to create something valuable...
And to prove I'm serious about this, I'm putting my money where my mouth is: $300 of my own cash for one of my paid subscriber who builds something real during these 30 days.
Not for the biggest idea. Not for the most polished product. Not for the most revenue.
For whoever best embodies what this challenge is really about: stopping the endless preparation and actually shipping something.
Proof that you can bet on yourself. Proof that you don't need permission. Proof that starting ugly beats staying stuck.
The challenge starts June 3 and you have 30 days to build something real.
We'll be building in public together: https://join.stan.store/divineartis
Your move: Are you going to spend the next 30 days watching other people build, or are you going to build something yourself?
It's about creating a different version of yourself.
The version that bets on their own ideas instead of betting on someone else's job security.
Drop a comment if you're joining. Let's build this together.
Update: After further research, we will not be doing this challenge. The Stan Store platform doesn't include email marketing capabilities in their $29 plan, which are essential for building a real business. I apologize for the recommendation I got caught up in the hype and joined before fully testing their features. I'll put together a proper challenge later with better tools and structure.
Here's How This Connects to the Prompt Series
Yesterday I promised you a week of prompt crafting education starting with Day 6. That promise stands we're just shifting by one day because this announcement needed to happen.
But here's where it gets interesting: I'm building a comprehensive prompt crafting course as my Stan Challenge product.
Which means you're getting the foundation version as I build the full version in real-time.
This isn't just theory anymore. This is prompt crafting with skin in the game.
Starting tomorrow, we dive into the prompt series exactly as planned:
Day 7: Stop trying to be clever with your prompts: Why clarity beats creativity when AI lacks context
Day 8: Structure makes you dangerous: How to control output by giving AI a framework to work within
Day 9: Context isn't optional: Why AI breaks when it lacks stakes and how to add tension and constraints
Day 10: Guide thinking, not just asking: Chain of thought prompting to get AI working through problems step by step
Day 11: Can you transfer what you've learned? The remix test of taking principles and applying them to new situations
Day 12: Teaching others is how you know you've got it: The final test of explaining prompting concepts in your own words
You're getting the same education I promised.
The only difference?
By Day 12, you'll know how to craft prompts for your problems, in your voice, for your specific situation.
No templates to copy. No frameworks to follow blindly.
Just the principles you need to direct AI yourself.