It is amazing how people respond to a a humble plea for help. You would be amazed how different people will respond to you if they think they are helping you as opposed to managing you, responding to you, dealing with you. Asking for help is an act of humility, which seems to be in short supply these days.
This morning I was worried about a challenge I am having with helping my kids’ robotics team. There is some technical things that we are going to have to accomplish that I am not up to speed on. Although I am sure I could “figure it out,” I certainly do not have the time to invest in doing so. That put a question to me. Am I going to try to be Mr. Cool and really burden myself with this extra workload, or am I going to humble myself and ask for help.
Well, I asked for help. I emailed, linked-in and sent messages to about 15 people this morning and the response was amazing! So many people are willing to jump in and help that I was glad that I asked. Funny, all I had to do was change my perspective. Instead of trying to be awesome at everything, I recognized that I needed help and asked for it. Looks like I am going to get that help and then some. Looks like I will not be required to learn TensorFlow by myself now!
This opened my mind to a new prospect. There are many thing that I probably need help with in my life. Why am I not asking for help? Pride. I suppose the same is true for everything that I am engaged in. Why not change the dialog with people. Instead complaining, fighting, worrying, stressing, maybe I should be more ready to ask for help when clearly I need it! Sure, not everyone will jump to my aid, however, I bet there are quite a few people that want to help others and would jump at the chance if they are able.
That is me, I feel like I would much rather be enlisted in the cause of helping another then almost anything else. So if you are worried about something, ask for help! What a novel concept. If you are struggling, then you need help. Plain and simple. Eat a nice big helping of humble pie this morning and ask some people to help you. I think you will be pleased with the response.
Make sure you actually ask. Do not dance around it, or play games. Just clearly state your perceived problem and ask for help.
Guy Reams
