Would You Rather: Go to the Dentist Or Ask For Help?

As young kids, my sisters and I would sift though gravel piles looking for sparkly, crystalline rocks. And like many loony ideas that kids have, we would go door to door to try to sell these worthless baubles to neighbors. I would always push my younger sister Sam out in front so I didn't have to do the "Hi neighbor, would you like to buy a pretty rock?" ask.

It's fair to say that I haven't enjoyed asking for help my whole life.

In high school and college I had good grades and I'm pretty sure I showed up to class prepared and curious - yet I hated asking teachers for references.

Upon moving across the country to New York City, I distinctly recall the pain I went through daring myself to pick up the phone and ask for connections via cold networking calls to find a job.

Fast forward to last week: I actually told someone over Slack that I'm "an expert networker." It's no longer a 10 out of 10 on the pain scale for to me to ask strangers for help.

What's changed?

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The Reciprocal Theory of Helping Others

What changed for me is getting into the mindset that, by and large, PEOPLE WANT TO HELP. And, like anything that takes courage, asking for help - be it making a networking call, asking for a promotion, or just asking for help around the house - it gets easier over time.