When Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition LLC became an official business, I was given a lot of advice about starting a new business - some advice was helpful, a little was discouraging and a lot of it was overwhelming. But the best piece of advice that I was given was "don't try to do everything. Ask for help."
Many people do not like to ask for help as it can be seen as a sign of weakness, there could be fear of rejection or feelings of not being good enough. Some people just don't like to ask for help due to pride or ego. But this piece of advice encouraged me to focus on what I was good at (ex. coaching and nutrition) and to let others help me in the areas that I knew nothing about (ex. accounting). Still today, I don't mind asking for help as I like to collaborate with professionals who specialize in areas that I am not an expert in and I can learn from others. There's nothing foolish or inadequate about not knowing it all.
Asking for help, whether it's business/work related or life focused can boost productivity and can help you accomplish more tasks with greater ease. And this doesn't just apply to work. Sometimes I like to ask for a little help from the grocery store when I am time-crunched and I need to invest in pre-chopped veggies, a box of granola, a can of soup or ready-to-eat grains. I call these my semi-homemade meals as I know a little help from the store as it's not realistic for me to eat only real food every day of my life.
I feel no shame in asking for help when I need a little assistance. I also like to ask for help when I feel overwhelmed with our back-end work at Trimarni. I don't find value in sacrificing sleep or time spent exercising for my mind/body/soul, when I know there is someone else who would love to help out so that I can focus on what I specialize in -which is coaching and nutrition.
Although asking for work or life related help may help you accomplish more tasks in a shorter amount of time (or may help with productivity), asking for help when it's related to your health can be very hard.
It's typical for people to avoid asking for help when before they need it and then when they really, really need it, the help is often found on the internet or forum due to embarrassment or frustration. Most people want to fix problems without the assistance of another person. And when a person is desperate for help because a problem occurred, there's often the tendency to think "I wish I would have gotten help weeks/months ago." Asking for and receiving health in a timely manner can positively impact your health and well-being. Prevention is cheaper than medicine.
If you are struggling with something in your life or with your health or you feel overwhelmed with everything on your to-do list, I encourage you to ask for help. Don't try to do it all. If you are a coach, create a team of other professionals so that you can better help your athletes with nutrition, mental skills, therapy/rehab and strength training. If you are a business owner, focus on your specialty and let others do what you are not good at. If you have an issue with your health, reach out to a professional for help. Asking for help shows strength, not weakness. You are not a burden for asking for help. When you need something done, ask for help so that you can get on with living your life.
Above all, asking for help shows that you respect the expertise of someone else (because you don't know it all) and it gives another person the opportunity to provide their assistance, knowledge or help so that everyone feels accomplished/satisfied.