From Overcoming Bias:
We don’t like to ask for help, men especially, because asking threatens our status. Believing that others won’t help lets us “sincerely” avoid asking.
Imagine if America hadn’t helped Britain with the Lend-Lease Act after the surrender of France. Would Britain have survived the war? Note that Britain never asked for help either. Roosevelt had to take the initiative to keep the Nazis from blockading the island into submission.
I’ve hated asking for help. It was an affront to my ego, which I refused to subvert in the belief that it would make me better than everyone. Not the smartest thing to do. Help is precious, and there are plenty of great people out there willing to help you if you just ask for it.
But that’s just step one. Even if you’re given help, you have to be willing to accept it. People have given me advice before (including when I outright asked for it) and I’ve scoffed and rejected it, not believing the answer to be compatible with my own perceptions.
So step 2 is where I’m stuck at right now. Asking Roosevelt for the goods, even if it means knocking myself down for size.
