Yesterday we talked a little about being enough. Part of knowing that you are enough (cool enough, smart enough, enough enough), is accepting help.

All kinds of help

Help with starting, help with growing, help with doing-the-next-thing, help with reaching a new market, help getting to know the people who could help you.

Accept when it's offered

Sometimes, help if freely offered. Someone retweets a link to your awesomeness. Someone tells a friend. Someone writes you an encouraging email.

Ask for it

But often, maybe most of the time when you're first starting out, often you have to ask for help. First, you have to find who can help you. Then, you have to ask them.

This can be scary, because ohmygoodnesswhatiftheysayno? or whatifIsoundlikeadweeb? but it doesn't have to be.

Asking can be an exchange of ease

If someone (even someone you hugely admire) has become a friend, asking for help can be full-of-ease. If you've shared a helpful, useful exchange. If you like them and they like you and you treat each other as equals, you may just be friends.

Asking for help with your business can be as easy as asking your best friend to pick up a bag of ice when she's on her way over.  That never feels weird, right?

Do you have a story of asking for help? I want to hear it in the comments!

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PS.  Need a little more details than “become friends”? Yeah, I thought so. Get lots of details next Tuesday, by joining us here.

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5 Comments on Asking for it

  1. Sparky Firepants
    July 29, 2010 at 6:46 pm (14 years ago)

    I have a lot of trouble asking for help. Okay, so it's not so much in the asking, but in what might happen after the asking.

    As in, if I ask for help and they say “yes,” I will suddenly have to actually follow through on the thing I asked for help about.

    Suddenly I'll be accountable. Scary.

  2. TaraSwiger
    July 29, 2010 at 6:51 pm (14 years ago)

    Oh, yes! Involving another person sorta “locks” you into something (or at
    least, it can feel like that).
    But accountability can be an awesome motivator (when it's not a terrifying
    freeze-ray gun).

    (Also, It's Mr. Pants! In my comments! Woo!)

  3. Amy Crook
    July 29, 2010 at 7:19 pm (14 years ago)

    I always worry that the asking will step on the toes of their Paid Thing, even if we're friends or friends-on-the-internet. But I suppose it's always their option to say, “well, you could buy some consulting…” as part of their answer.

    I will further ponder this as my schedule slowly untwists itself into smoother flows forward instead of the crazy rapids I've been dealing with!

  4. TaraSwiger
    July 29, 2010 at 9:20 pm (14 years ago)

    I guess it depends what you're asking for!
    If you're asking for someone to retweet something…that's usually no big
    deal. But yeah, if you want them to walk you through setting up WordPress,
    that might step on some weirdness.

    Thanks for reminding me that we have lots of layers of needs + asking!