Can You Help Me?

I think it may be the most universal need that we all have but many times are afraid to ask. That fear has been so avoided that we have actually created names for our “helpers” in order to avoid dealing with the most common need that we all have and that is to get some help becoming more successful or happier or whatever it is that we want to accomplish.

We have created words and titles and jobs in order to “professionalize” our simple basic need to ask someone for help. Consultant, Coach, Mentor, Adviser, Authority, Expert and I can go on, but the bottom line is that we all need help from time to time and are afraid to ask. You see, we have hidden behind the words. We have allowed our language to hamper our ability to confront our basic need for; “Can someone please help me get from here to there?”

I think if we can ask for some help and not think less of ourselves for asking, life will get a lot easier and most importantly, we’ll all be a heck of a lot happier. It’s just hard sometimes for entrepreneurs because we are the “wildcatters” of the internet or the “business owners” in our community. We live by our wits and asking for help is a sign of weakness.

If your garage door spring pops, we think nothing of calling a repairman who specializes in fixing that thing because, let’s face it; it’s dangerous and it takes someone with experience to fix it quickly and correctly. If we can all agree on that, then why is it so hard to ask for help when your business has hit the wall or stopped growing?

Trust me, many times trying to do it alone can be just as dangerous as fixing that garage door spring.

Instead, too many times we think if we work harder, we will “make it”. Working “harder” may be the biggest mistake made by business owners and entrepreneurs today. Now, if you decide to work smarter, success comes a heck of a lot easier.

So, how do you get smarter? I mean, when do you even have the time? Where do you start? Most of the time, more sales will solve problems. And I’ve found that more sales is the easiest problem to solve. The tweaks are relatively simple and once you make them, things seem to fall into place.

My brother is a sales trainer and one of his classes revolves around those four magic words: “Can you help me?” He teaches that it's the best sales line ever uttered and it very well may be, but I contend that if you learn to say those four words just once a day, your life can change.

And if you’re not afraid to ask for help when it comes to your business, you will then have taken the first step to working smarter instead of harder. Good Luck!