Asking for Help

Asking for help, more often than not, can be a very challenging task for most people. Part of the reason why may be because to ask for help you are required to put yourself in a position of vulnerability; you are required to expose a part of yourself that maybe no one else knows. However, asking for help and support is often really important when you are experiencing change.

Having a support system in place is a very powerful and important in providing you with someone or something that you can fall back on and know that it will be there for you. This support system should provide you with the emotional or physical help that you require.  Conversations with people who support you can help you to see things from different perspectives, perhaps influencing you to make those positive changes in your life. But most importantly, it allows you to form real human connection with one another and deep relationships full of trust, understanding and compassion for one another.

Brene Brown says

“staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection”.

One of the main barriers that most people face when asking for help is vulnerability, however, almost every human connection is born out of vulnerability. Often, people are afraid of being vulnerable and sharing how they feel because they believe that no one will understand them or that they are the only ones feeling a certain way. However, from my own experiences and having heard many others, I know for a fact that you are rarely alone. Most emotions are common to the human experience. All you have to do is speak up. Take the first step towards vulnerability, towards asking for help. There is power in vulnerability - it allows for you to accept who you are, form meaningful connections with others but most importantly, understand that you are not alone.

TRY THIS

To help you take the first step towards asking for help and support, I give these four steps a try:

  1. Allow yourself time to come to terms with the fact that it is okay to be vulnerable - one of the best ways to do this is to be compassionate with yourself, to allow yourself space to be you.

  2. Think of one thing (big or small) that has been bothering you that you have not shared with anyone else.

  3. Think of one person or a group of people that you trust.

  4. Confide in them, whether that’s by writing it down and handing the paper to them or through a face to face conversation - be vulnerable, trust in them.