When it comes to healing, therapy, or personal growth, it’s easy to feel like you’re behind – like everyone else has done the work and you’re still just trying to start.

But here’s the truth: there’s no set timeline for becoming your most whole self.

This short reflection reminds us that being in process doesn’t mean you’re failing.

You don’t have to have it all figured out.

You’re allowed to be messy, incomplete, and still worthy.

Wherever you are on your journey – just beginning, pausing, or circling back – this is your permission to be right where you are.

00:05

Hey, this is It's Okay If, bite-sized permission slips. I'm Matt Gilhooly and today's permission, it's okay if you haven't done the work yet. You know what I mean by the work, the healing, the therapy, the self-reflection, the growth, all the stuff we're told we should be doing to become the best, most evolved version of ourselves. And maybe you, like me, have found yourself in seasons where you look around and think,

00:35

Everyone else is so much further along than me. They've read the books, they've gone to therapy, they've figured it all out. I've been there. Even now. After all the storytelling I do, after all the conversations I've hosted, after all the lessons I've tried to embody, there are still days I catch myself thinking, shouldn't I have healed this by now? Shouldn't I have outgrown this particular pattern by now? But here's what I'm learning.

01:04

There is no timeline for that work. There's no finish line for that work. There's no behind schedule. You're not late to your own life. So if you haven't done the work yet, or you're just starting, or you've done it and you still feel stuck sometimes, all of it's okay. You can be exactly where you are. Messy, incomplete, still figuring it out. So if you're up for it, tell yourself, I give myself permission

01:34

to be in process, to be unfinished, to be exactly where I am. That's your permission slip, friend. Tuck it in your pocket and I'll see you next time.