People will not help me

Most of us wish for a better life. We write down our goals, read books on how to make them happen, FORCE ourselves to take action and are basically cheerleading ourselves on. And we find ourselves stuck. As I think about reaching out and remaking my world, or at least getting some good direction and advice, I run ideas like: “But I have nothing to offer them. Why would they help me? I’m really lame and I won’t be worthy of their time.” Sound familiar?

But let’s dig in a little deeper.

This argument assumes two things:

1. You have nothing to offer these people in return (or you have offered nothing to them in the past)

2. People are intrinsically looking at this interaction as a cost-benefit calculation. That networking, schmoozing, etc is a zero sum game. A tab is kept somewhere.

From a mindset of scarcity, every single interaction needs to be adjusted for. Every debit must have a credit. However, that is not how the world works. You might have a lot to offer someone in currencies that you did not think about. If not financial, then maybe in terms of friendship, or some advice in an unrelated topic, or just a simple thanks and giving the person the satisfaction that they helped someone worthwhile. I think the latter is a great currency for people like me (young people) that don’t have much to offer back. The ability to show that you are a worthwhile person who will take the time and advice seriously of the other party is richly rewarding.

I know I have loved it when younger people in high school and middle school reach out to me asking me for advice or guidance. They do not always have something to give me, but it feels really rewarding to help them when they are sincere in their questions.

In a world of abundance (and this is a mindset we must adopt, I will post more about why later on), the idea that “people will not help me” just will not do. Once we transcend that, we realize that people are eager to help us move forward in our lives. And that in some way or another, we may give back as well, not from a place of obligation, but from a place of gratitude. We may not even need to give back to that person. The universe has a way of showing us another incident or another person that needs similar help to remind us to pay it forward.

So, banish this invisible script! Go out into the world with an abundance mindset. And give back from a place of gratitude and accept from a place of worthiness.