I saw this little statement the other day. Drew Baye tweeted about it. I think he actually made some business cards up so that he can hand them out to people. It’s a great gag item as well as a not-so-subtle way of telling people off or giving them the finger.

I believe it stems back to a comedian on some sit-com or series that gets questioned by a police officer, something along the lines of, “Do you have a permit?” And the comedian guy reaches into his wallet, pulls out a folded up piece of paper that says, “I can do what I want.”

There’s your permit guys. You can do what you want.

I’ve realized a lot of my resistance and even a slight degree of my frustration and anger show up when somebody tells me that I can or cannot do something. Or that I should or ought to do this, that, or the other. Or that I shouldn’t.

I’ve had family members in the past tell me all the time the things I should or shouldn’t do. Eventually I responded with “I can do what I want.”

Even now on the job I hear it all the time. “You can’t do this, you can’t do that. You should do this, you shouldn’t do that.” I can do what I want. I’ll park here. I’ll walk in there. Like Frank Sinatra said, “I did it my way.”

I thought as I would get older, that people would lay off the “thou shalt and shall not.” It hasn’t changed. If anything, and I’m sure it’s part of our modern culture, it has gotten worse. More do’s and don’ts. More, do it THIS way, NOT that way. Your way is wrong, my way is right. Do it the right way.

I can do what I want. Mind your own business. As Billy Joel once sang, “Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone.”

Do you need permission? Do you need a permit? You can do what you want. There you go. There’s all the permission and permit that you need.

So now, if it pleases the crown, I can do what I want.

Realize this as well:

You can do what you want and you don’t have to give a reason or explain yourself either. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to. Because I could.”

You don’t “owe” anyone an explanation. Go do what you want.

Before anyone decides to comment or private message or email me about:

“But Rob! There are consequences for doing what you want! You can’t just do what you want! Blah blah blah….”

I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it all before. I’ve heard it many many times all throughout my life. Guess what?

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