There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it. But successful people make sure they deserve the help in the first place.
Imagine you agreed to help a friend move, then showed up to his apartment to find that he’d yet to pack a thing. Sure, good friends help each other. But a good friend would also have respected your time enough to have everything completely ready to go when you showed up.
Private counselors often approach us for advice on starting and running their counseling businesses. We believe in business karma, and we’ve all benefited from mentors who were generous with their advice. So we’re often happy to offer up some time and guidance. But the counselor has to deserve the help. If you haven’t bothered to learn anything about college admissions and private counseling, if you haven’t read our book, or perused this blog, or already taken some measure of effort to get started, you’re the guy who hasn’t packed anything in his apartment and wants us to help you move.
I’ve written several posts in the past about how to ask for help. Two—here and here—were specifically for when you need help from a teacher. And two more—here and here—cover how to put yourself and the person you want help from on the same team.
Don't be afraid to ask. But start by doing the work to deserve the help.