Unlocking Your Happiness: The Power of Self-Permission

Summary

In this episode of the Giving a Purpose podcast, Jacques LaGrange discusses the importance of giving oneself permission to pursue happiness and personal fulfillment. He reflects on how societal and familial expectations can hold individuals back from making choices that align with their true desires. Through personal anecdotes, he emphasizes the need to redefine what fun means and to prioritize self-care and enjoyment in life. Jacques encourages listeners to break free from self-imposed limitations and to embrace their individuality, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling life.

Takeaways

Sometimes we hold ourselves back by living up to others' expectations.
It's important to give yourself permission to enjoy life.
Redefining what fun means is essential as we grow older.
Self-permission is a mental shift that can lead to happiness.
Taking time for yourself is not selfish; it's necessary.
You can control your own happiness and fun.
Life improves when you stop holding yourself back.
Self-care is crucial for personal growth and fulfillment.
It's okay to prioritize your own needs and desires.
Living on purpose means making choices that align with your true self.

Transcript

Jacques LaGrange (00:01.1)
Have you ever given yourself permission to do the things that you want to do? Well, let's talk about it next on a giving a purpose.

Jacques LaGrange (00:34.732)
Welcome to the Giving a Purpose podcast where we bridge the highs, the lows, the lessons learned through life's journey and filling in the gap. You already know what it is. New episode, new week, fresh for you. I'm your host as always, Mr. LA. Man, thank you guys for tuning in every time that you do, but do me a favor, make sure you subscribe.

get them notifications, share this with somebody, let them know that you getting some good stuff. All right, man, I would appreciate it. And I'm just humbled by it that tune into us every week. So what I wanna talk to you guys about today is giving yourself permission. Yeah, sometimes we have been

holding ourselves back by living up to somebody else's expectations or maybe not doing things because we're thinking about what somebody else thinks about it or may have an opinion about it or just even if I can break it down like this, I'll use my experiences in my life as an example. There were a lot of things that I didn't do

all the time because I always had like my grandparents and my mom, things like that in my head. So it would stop me from doing anything. I'm like, well, what would they think if I'm doing these things? And it doesn't necessarily mean anything bad or anything like that. It's just, I was so used to, you know, that old school, you know what saying? Do what your parents do, you know? And they were like almost a part of my conscience.

of doing stuff. And so when there were times I needed to take risks, maybe either in business or just in life and just trying to do something, it's just like I had to hold back because it's just, I'm not sure what they would think or the expectation or just doing some like even something crazy, like get my ears pierced. My mom, she even brought it up the other day. Like it was, it took me so long to do it because I'm always thinking what

Jacques LaGrange (02:58.889)
she would think even the tattoos that I have and things like that my mom doesn't like. And it was just like, she's going to say something. But I had to learn. I can make decisions. She raised a pretty good dude. I can make good decisions, but I have to give myself permission to enjoy life and do things that I know that make me happy sometimes. If that makes sense.

I'm also just thankful that I'm getting into a season of giving myself permission. I just got back man, shout out to my family, to my grandmother's side or my mom's side. Shout out to the Dunlap family. We actually went on a cousins cruise, went on a good family cruise. Man, and it was enjoyable. But you know, the crazy thing that I had to do mentally in my mindset,

I had to give myself permission to have fun. I had a discussion with one of my friends the other day and I was just like, sometimes I feel like I don't even know what that is anymore. Like I don't really have a definition of fun. Like I've suppressed so many things. Like I'll go places or many vacations or many things and making sure other people are having fun or they're enjoying themselves.

that I didn't know how to internally have fun. Like if somebody asked me, just like, what does that look like? Like what's fun? And you know, you know, as you get older, some things that you may think were fun, like getting on roller coasters at the age I'm at now is not fun for me. Like that, it gives me a headache now. You know what I'm saying? And I just realized that in my walk,

in my journey and life that I had to give myself permission. I said, when I go on this trip, I give myself permission to have fun. Like nothing like we're gonna do something crazy. Like we're all grown adults, but it was a thing mentally I had to tell myself, go out here and have fun. Don't worry about anything. All right, control what you can control and have fun.

Jacques LaGrange (05:29.862)
Like God wants you to have fun and it's okay and you can do it. So what I want you guys to get from this and understand from this, it's okay to be yourself. It's okay to have fun. Give yourself these permissions to do these things. Take that trip. Take that time off. Get that R and R. Go and get that massage.

Go and get that mani-pedi, whatever you do. Go to that football game. Go to that basketball game. Relax. Take that time. Give yourself permission to reset, recharge. Give yourself permission to have fun. All right? Before you can get to what you need to do, just like you give yourself permission to help other people out.

You give yourself permission to help other people's dreams come true. Give yourself permission for yourself to reach your goals, to reach the heights that you want to get to, to be the person that you want to be. Do that. I'm telling you, life is going to get so much better once you open up and give yourself permission.

You're only holding your back. You're the only person that's in the way. Get out your own way and give yourself permission. Listen, hopefully this blessed somebody. This did something for somebody and hopefully it recognized or it, you know, represents something in your life that maybe you may be going through. Hopefully this is helpful. So I need you guys to do the two most important things I always ask you to do. Make sure you live on purpose and make sure you live in purpose.

I'll see you guys next time. Peace.