Did you make your bed every day last week? In fact, are you making your bed or did you run out of time? I am paraphrasing Neil Armstrong, “It is one small step for you and one giant step for moving in a new direction.”
The term resources is often misunderstood. To put the term in perspective, let’s use the following definition: Resources can include people, skills, time, money, equipment, material, and a myriad of other options. All resources impact our ability to complete the work that we have on our plate. We either have resources or we don’t. If we don’t, then we must find them.
The most important resource that we have is people. After all, it is people with the right skills that do the work. It is people that we build relationships with. It is much easier to be successful when you know who your team members are, their strengths, and weaknesses. If you don’t have a warm, vertical, breathing, and thinking body, then you must know the skills required to complete the work. In other words, can you recruit 5 people to help?
Let’s put this in context.
- I can sew the most complicated clothes that you have ever seen for someone else. If the clothes are for me, I need help with that.
- I can do basic car maintenance, such as changing tires, changing the oil, replacing fuses, replacing air filters and so on. To replace major components, I need a mechanic or my husband for that.
- I am a project manager. I can run any project. I can’t do it alone. I just don’t have all the necessary product knowledge to complete the project, so I need help with that. And so on.
It is always humbling to realize that you aren’t omnipotent and absolutely need help. Sometimes, it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you will never get traction. You need to capitalize on your resources. Ask, ask, ask. It takes courage to ask for help. You never know. The answer might be “yes, I can help you with that.” Take the win and run with it. If you never ask, the answer will be “no” 100% of the time.
My Rule 6 Challenge for you:
- Select one thing off your list.
- List your skills.
- Do you have the skills to complete the work or do you need help to complete the work?
- Identify 5 people that you can reach out to help you with your idea.
- Reach out to them.
- If they refuse to help, as hard as it will be, you must walk away and move on to the next person on your list.
- Take the first step, do the work.
- As always, celebrate.
We need to be willing to ask for help, and give help when asked. We must also stay out of the way when it is necessary. Find a coach or mentor. Be a coach or mentor. The bottom line is that we are not on this rock orbiting the sun alone.
Have an absolutely amazing week.
Quotes of the Week
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” African Proverb
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Helen Keller
