When You Don’t Ask, the Answer Is Always No
Half the battle of achieving anything is knowing when you need help (and let me save you a couple of hundred bucks in therapy here, you ALWAYS need help… think public radio model: “we’re all in this together/I can’t do it without you”). The hard part for some, then, is asking for it.
Obviously, shamelessness = a plus, i.e., just the simple act of asking is not for the tame-at-heart. SOL if that isn’t your bag; you’re going to need to acquire some assertive chops pronto. Because (say it together with me people) when you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
But asking isn’t even the hard part. First, you have to have people to ask. You have to have fans.
Whether it’s your mom (or mine), your friends, your coworkers — I don’t care — everyone has fans. What’s more is, everyone has fans just WAITING to help. They’re WAITING for you to ask, WAITING for you to lead them (don’t believe me? See: Tribes).
In short: you’d be surprised by the people who are willing to go to all kinds of lengths for you (for free!), people who genuinely want you to succeed… and, as Afterschool Special as this may sound, all you have to do is ask.
How you ask is a whole other ball of wax. But suffice it to say, not asking is like leaving money lying on the table. And that would be highly un-entrepreneurial of you now, wouldn’t it? Tsk, tsk!
Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Fans, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, Tribes —
9/7/09
Categories: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE • KATE BRADLEY • OUTLANDOS MUSIC
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5 Responses to “When You Don’t Ask, the Answer Is Always No”
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Help!.
No, seriously–help!!!
I think that’s where the “how” bit I mentioned comes in…
so true….i’m an unabashedly guilty of not having the cohones to ask for fear of the askee thinking “why are you asking me-nobody helped me to get where i am, go help yourself like i did”
but this a a great short n sweet point! you should totally touch on that in your SXSW panel :-}
Asking for (and getting) help builds really strong bonds and realizes a community too.
Again look at the WAMC public radio model. People then feel they are part of a larger worthwhile force. It goes from ‘me’ to ‘we’.
“not asking is like leaving money lying on the table”
That’s so true…and it really does matter how you ask.