Why ask for what you want and need when you can simply get it yourself? What is the point in humiliating yourself or lowering your character down to the level of having to ask for assistance, support, direction, financial help, or any other personal or professional help matter?
The reason is simple and comes down to a single simple word…and that word is VALUE! If you place a high value on the quality of life you would like to live, then it is time to start asking for what you want and need for self and others. Many people are embarrassed to ask for anything as they feel it makes them feel weak and incapable. Many of us walk around carrying this 20-ton shield of refusing to ask thinking it will leave our image in good standing and it simply isn’t true. In truth, the shield does a poor job of insulating our egos and living from the space of pure ego helps not one person.
The truth is, in reality asking the right people at the right time is powerful and empowering. We believe in the universal law of giving. It is a broad global circle and you cut off the cycle of giving whenever you choose to become a poor receiver.
The wanting giver standing on the other side of your rejection of their gift of giving is left feeling empty and stupefied as to why you would not allow them to help you when they clearly have ample means to do so.
It took me going through a major life crisis to learn that my biggest character flaw was that I refuse to ask for help. I would never ask for someone to go out of their way to serve me and I would couch my halfhearted asked in some vague mumbo-jumbo disguised as an ask when it was truthfully was nothing more than a lame, weak spirited cloaked failure of and ask, yielding miserable results.
Those uniquely qualified people who manage others, may find the art of asking to be even more challenging. They must discern between what is asking and what is handing down an ultimatum to those who report to them directly. The ultimate discriminator may be found in answering the question of does another person or entity benefit from the ask and should that even matter from the managers perspective?
In order for me to foster the best transformation in my life, I realize that I must make a full paradigm shift and create a system of accountability like I have never seen or experienced before. I did this by declaring 2016 as the ‘The Year of Ask’ equipped with the following ask parameters:
1. I must complete and log 5 asks per day
2. There must be a minimum of 30 days per month of 5 asks per day
3. The year of ask campaign is active through January 2017
As a close companion to my ‘Year of Ask’ I created a system for tracking your asks and results. I also enlisted my Vice President of sales and marketing and our Board of Directors as my accountability partners. I turn in my weekly ask counts with them and full report at the end of each month. I recommend you enlist accountability partners to help keep you focused on hitting your ask goals. They will inspire you to get your ask in gear!
Below, you will find a snapshot of our “Power of Asking” system. What unfulfilled desires are not being met in your life and what are you holding yourself back from asking for? Always remember, there is GREAT POWER for everyone on all sides in the ask!
