The more successful an individual is the more open they are to being open and curious to learning, and to ask for help.
As regular readers will know, I’m taking chemotherapy tablets for six months as “insurance” against colon cancer recurrence. My side effects are mild by chemo standards, but it is still tough. Most days I don’t feel I like leaving the house, both from fatigue as the body copes with the toxic chemicals, but also from having a mild feeling of nausea almost constantly.
As I got five or six days into my current 14-day cycle of tablets it was getting me down, so I thought to myself “I know my chemo side effects are mild, but this is bothering me both physically and mentally, so let me call the oncology team and ask if there is anything they can prescribe”.
Why had I not asked before? Because “they have patients worse off than me”, “I don’t want to bother them”, “I can cope with this” etc etc.
I called the oncology team and they immediately prescribed me a medication to take a few times a day that both acts to relieve nausea plus protects the stomach to some degree from the power of the chemo meds.
Key thought. They were very, very happy to help. That is what they do, that is what they are there for.
The new meds started to help within a day. They haven’t reduced the effects 100%, but they have improved things well enough that last night I actually managed to go out for dinner for the first time in a month or so. Wow, it felt good to be back in a favourite local restaurant enjoying their wonderful food and chatting away with the couple that owns the place.
The lesson here is simple. Ask for help.
Sounds simple, right? Yes, but be honest with yourself, how often have you chosen not to ask for help when it would have been of great benefit to you? So many reasons why, from “I don’t want to bother someone”, to “I can cope on my own”, to perhaps “I don’t want to show weakness in my role in the business” to even arrogance of “I know what is best for me and I don’t need any help”.
As a coach for more than a decade I have learned that the more successful an individual is the more open they are to being open and curious to learning, and yes, to ask for help.