Rant Ahead
Asking for help
Today I was going through my Google Analytics course, Course 5, Module 2, and they started talking about asking for help.
And honestly?
It was SO refreshing to hear.
Ever since I transitioned into data analytics, I've had this idea in my head that I need to have EVERYTHING figured out before I can even think about getting a job.
Like, I need to know Excel.
I need to know SQL.
I need to know Power BI.
I need to understand data.
I need to be able to answer every question they throw at me.
I need to know what I'm doing ALL THE TIME.
And then this lady says something along the lines of, the best data analysts know when to ask for help because everybody gets stuck.
And I was like...
OH.
HEY.
So it's okay to ask for help?!
😅
It was such a small thing to hear, but it was actually really relieving for me.
Because I think I've put so much pressure on myself to have everything in order before I allow myself to feel capable.
And this doesn't only apply to work.
It applies to pretty much everything in my life.
I often feel like I need to have my things together because I don't want to give people the impression that I don't have a good life.
I don't want people to think I'm not smart enough.
I don't want people to think I don't know what I'm doing.
I don't want to look like I can't handle things.
So sometimes I'd rather struggle quietly than say, hey, I actually need help with this.
And why?!
Why have I somehow convinced myself that asking for help takes something away from me?
Because it doesn't.
Actually, it ADDS to me.
If I am stuck on something and I ask someone for help, I get a solution.
And the next time I encounter that same problem, I have something I didn't have before.
Knowledge.
Experience.
A new way of looking at the problem.
Maybe even a better understanding of what I was struggling with in the first place.
So why am I treating asking for help like some kind of personal failure?
I don't know.
Maybe it's pride.
Maybe it's insecurity.
Maybe it's the pressure I've put on myself to prove that I am capable.
But I'm starting to realise that being capable doesn't mean knowing everything.
Sometimes being capable means knowing when you DON'T know something.
And then being brave enough to ask.
That was probably my biggest takeaway from that lesson today.
Everybody gets stuck.
Even the people who are really good at what they do.
Even the people who seem like they have everything figured out.
Even the people I look at and think, wow, I want to be THAT good one day.
They get stuck too.
And they ask for help.
So from now on, I'm going to try to do the same.
I'm going to ask the question.
I'm going to say I don't understand.
I'm going to ask someone to explain it again.
I'm going to reach out when I need help.
Because asking for help doesn't make me less intelligent.
It doesn't make me less capable.
It doesn't mean I don't have my life together.
It just means I'm human.
And maybe that's something I needed to hear.
You don't have to have everything figured out before you are allowed to move forward.
Sometimes you figure things out BECAUSE you asked for help.
And honestly?
What a beautiful thing to remember.
When was the last time asking for help taught you something you wouldn't have figured out on your own?