The other day I became fascinated by a bee that was trying to get unstuck and fly back to freedom.
He was frantically banging his head against the window, moving a few centimeters and trying to fly off again.
But he wasn’t going anywhere and he kept hitting the window over and over again.
In his mind there was no reason why he couldn’t get unstuck so he kept trying his best. He was determined to fly off and he wouldn’t quit.
The problem was he couldn’t see the glass. The poor guy was stuck behind an invisible wall.
After a short while, I decided to help him out. I picked up a piece of paper to guide him to the other side of the window and help him regain his freedom.
But instead of letting me guide him out, he got freaked out by the giant piece of paper.
And now he was trying to escape from the sheet of paper and banging himself with even more fervor against the window, desperately trying to leave.
This went on for a few minutes.
Finally, I managed to guide the little guy out and he took off majestically.
THE INVISIBLE WALL
What had kept him stuck?
It was not lack of direction, lack of determination, lack of flying skills or lack of effort.
It was lack of perspective that made the difference between been trapped forever and freedom.
Often this happens to us as well in life.
We have a goal and we see an apparently logical path to reach it. We put our best effort and apply all our skills. But we still can’t get there and we end up confused, stuck and frustrated.
It’s not because we are stupid, because we’re not motivated or because we don’t work hard enough. It’s because we lack perspective or knowledge to get unstuck.
THE H*** WORD
Most people don’t like asking for help. It’s one of these words that makes people uncomfortable.
We tend to think that asking for help makes us look weak, makes look stupid or that we will lose control.
I am the first to admit it that I’ve been more than guilty of this myself.
It’s a lesson I have learned the hard way: in my life, I’ve wasted an incredible amount of time, energy and money before I came to the conclusion that it was ok. No! Actually, that it was an absolute necessity to ask for help.
Now, I do it as often and rapidly as the need arises and that one little habit has allowed to take giant strides.
Recently I was talking with one of my friends about a situation she was dealing with. After describing her challenge, she concluded by saying: ‘Oh, but I can figure it out. I’ll be ok’.
And my answer was somewhere along those lines:
‘Look, you’re awesome and you’re smart. Of course you can figure this out. But in how long?
You’ve got your husband to love, your kids to play with, your business to grow. And time is a non-renewable resource. What’s most valuable to you? Those moments are not going to come back. Do you really want to waste them by dealing with this on your own?’
You can't afford to stay stuck. Learn to ask for help. Click To TweetTHE SMART WAY
Let’s face it, we can never be masters of all trades.
Some research says it takes around 10 000 years to really master a skill. That’s 10 years of intense practice. So to really master 10 skills that would be 100 years.
Poof!! That’s your whole life gone right there!
Obviously, you don’t need 10 000 hours of training to solve every problem you encounter, but more often than not you will need the skills and perspective gained from having those 10 000 hours of training to solve it. And you may need more than 10 skills at a time!
That why people hire lawyers or accountants. Sure, their skill can be learned. But the paperwork needs to be filed now, not in 10 years!
If you want a rich and fulfilling life you have to consistently surround yourself with experts, that how all the wildly successful people leverage their precious time and acquire lifetime skills and perspective that allow them to soar at dazzling heights in record time.
Anytime you’re stagnating, anytime you fell stuck, helpless, overwhelmed, exhausted, do yourself a favor and reach out for help to get yourself back on course rapidly.
Find someone who has the skills and the perspective you need to get unstuck, someone you like and trust, someone who gets you and who gets where you’re going and get to work.
It will probably be scary just like the giant sheet of paper was scary to the bee but I guarantee that you will reach incredible heights in the blink of an eye.
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