by Usha Maharaj, Speaker, Coach, Facilitator
Asking for help at work, at home, in any area of our lives is tough. But asking for help could be the game-changer that you need in order to reduce the stress, make more time available, and lessen the burden you’re carrying.
If you see something that could add value to you or to your community, jump on it. Take some sort of action, ask a question, ask for help, say can you, will you, and you’ll find that a lot of good comes out of it.
An example is that ‘Cherylin’ reached out to me after seeing an advert on my Facebook page for a webinar that I was hosting, and then attended the webinar. Before the webinar was even over, she had already popped me an email saying, “Usha, I think this would add so much of value to my community. Please would you come and host a session like this for us too? I’m sure it would help to energize and revitalize the ladies.” And so she reached out and she asked.
This is a reminder to you and me included - if we see an opportunity where we can ask for something that will help us, we need to ask. As women, many of us struggle to ask. I speak from my own personal experience; a lot of us struggle to say please can you, or will you, or can you help me here - or we won’t even think to ask. But if you can do that more often, you will be able to benefit from the results.
Strategies to help
For those of us struggling with finding balance at home, and we’re thinking “I’ve got work, I’ve got kids, I’ve got homework, I’ve got chores, I’ve got cooking, I’ve got so much on my plate….” How many of us actually ask for help? Do we say, I need you to help me to do this – you need to load the washing machine, I will come and turn it on, or you need to unpack the dishwasher, or you need to chop the onions, I’ll come and braise the curry that follows, but we don’t ask. All we do is we know that those are our responsibilities and we just go ahead and get them done - and at the end of the day we’re stressed, exhausted, and completely spent.
What we should be doing is looking for opportunities or ways where we can ask for assistance, for ourselves and for our communities, whatever that community looks like. It could be our family, it could be extended family, it could be our colleagues at work, it could be a wider community that we serve. Whatever you’re doing, look at how we can engage others for assistance to just try and lighten the load or make things go a little bit quicker for us.
Learning to ask for help could be the game-changer you need in your life right now. Go away right now and find one task or responsibility that you could ask someone to help you with….and then, ask.
Usha Maharaj is a Leadership and Women Empowerment Specialist in South Africa where she serves through her Coaching, Mentoring and Speaking at ushamaharaj.com She is also a Non-Executive Director, Board Committee Member and part of the Leadership Team of the PSASA Virtual Chapter. Her professional journey began as a Trainee Accountant after graduating. Usha experienced the highs and lows of a high performing, male-dominated workplace, where she shattered setbacks, crushed challenges and conquered fears to enjoy a highly successful career which included qualifying as a Chartered Accountant (SA). She spent her final 6 years as a Director. Today she is pursuing her passion and purpose, helping women who are determined to create their own paths to success. ushamaharaj.com