Ask For Help
February 24th, 2013 § 2 Comments
Asking for help is an important step toward real success. And yet, it’s one of the most difficult things for many of us to to. Why do we have such a difficult time asking for help?
Perhaps this sounds familiar. First you fool yourself into thinking about the other person and how you don’t want to burden them. Then you tell yourself that they will say no or, even more awkwardly, reluctantly say yes because they have so many other more important things to do.
Mostly I’m not buying it. I think we aren’t asking for help because we feel like we are supposed to accomplish things on our own. Western culture teaches us this at an early age as we celebrate the individual succeeding against all odds. But those heros had help along the way. Consider the Oscars spectacle that ran tonight. No one stood up and thanked themselves for being so great. They all had a long list of people who were there when they needed it to make their project happen.
My brother-in-law helped me assemble a new cedar playhouse for our kids to play in today. In the assembly instructions they listed all the tools required to complete the job. One of the tools listed was “an adult helper”. We need to be reminded of that more often.
Interesting article, David. I would add that many of us do not ask for help because we fear that it will reveal our ignorance about something we think we should know.
Great point! So painfully true.