Dear Friends, Please Don't Ask for Help. Unless...
written by Allan on August 20, 2012
This article is very similar to the last blog post, but it's rewritten, I didn't know which article was better.
Hi. I am Allan Branch. I am a cuddly teddybear and a “successful” person. I am kind and generous with my time. And I am sick and tired of you. That’s right, of you. (Read on dear friend.)
Whoo, I’m glad to get that off my chest. Here’s what I’m really mad about: I’m sick of people who ask for advice or time but are unwilling to help themselves. I’m tired of people who use the excuse, “I don’t have time.”
Here’s the truth: You do have time. You have 10,080 minutes every week. So do I. So does <insert person you admire here>. That's all. We all have the same amount of time. None of us gets to cheat and have an extra 1,000 minutes a week.
Here’s the truth: “Successful” people aren’t smarter than you. Sure, a few of them are a lot smarter than you and me, but most are not. Sure, a few of you are not so smart, so this isn’t true for those of you that are part of that very small group.
Here’s the truth: The reason you’re not successful isn’t because you don’t live in a big city. Many successful people live in small towns.
Here’s the truth: You are the reason you are not successful. You make choices with what to do with your time. You choose not to work on or release that project you’ve been thinking of or tinkering with. You choose not to go to a conference and meet people, or to go but not to make friends with the speakers. You choose to watch TV or sleep instead of doing something to help yourself. You are the one who asks for my time, but can’t find any of your own. You are the one who listens to advice but doesn’t act on it.
So dear friend, I am here for you. I love you, I want you to succeed. I want to help you and support you and encourage you, but you have to find the time to help yourself.
Allan loves his family more than breathing. He lives in Panama City, Florida & grew up washing cars at his family's car washes. Oh and Allan hasn't worn underwear since 2004.
7 Comments
Define success.
Hi Juergen,
We’ve defined success many times over the years and that’s not really the point of this post. It’s enough for each person to define it for themselves here. :)
Success – noun, the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
Love this. First article I read on Less Everything.
I have no problem giving advice to people, but it’s rare that anyone does anything with that advice.
It’s almost as if they’re looking for something magical, anything but putting in the work.
The real magic is in saying bye-bye to excuses and taking action.
Cheerio!
This is clearly written by someone who has never had serious problems with self discipline. For many people, lying on the couch watching TV or , is, in my opinion, not a decision but a default action which they do when they don’t know how to make themselves do what they are supposed to do. I believe that such disability comes from mental or physical consitions which we are not taught to overcome. But when they go ask about it from someone who has not had the problems, they get answers like “just do it”, “pull yourself together” or “use your time more wisely”. I do agree with the writer about that you shouldn’t go ask for his help. But the reason for not doing that is because he doesn’t understand your problem.
@ats couple points…
1) To rebuttal your theory, I’ve never had a self-discipline problem, I’m over weight and my grass needs to be cut. The vast majority of humans have self discipline issues, I’m terrible at being consistent with my eating and workouts. But I’m consistent about working and learning. I can see someone who’s very fit being frustrated with fat person that doesn’t exercise because they’re not born with a six pack.
2) Even successful people were, at some point, unsuccessful, unheard of. They were on the couch, they probably weren’t born with twitter followers and job offers. They worked a plan, and someone probably helped them along the way.
This article wasn’t meant to give anyone a step-by-step action plan to go from couch to tech stud millionaire. Just to simply debunk some common myths that keep people from trying.
I have a self discipline problem. I start out working on a project then need to look something up and end up reading posts like this. I appreciate the reminder that I am the boss of my time. Love the pic btw – what a cutie! Your daughter is adorable too! Off to work…