Recently I was sitting in a local restaurant, talking with the owner discussing a business possibility. After describing some of the difficulties I had endured during the late eighties and early nineties, he noted that I had turned my life around dramatically. I agreed and he asked me why did I think God had blessed me with so much abundance since then? My answer was simple, “I asked for it”.
Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t mind doing things for someone, but I can’t bear asking them to do something for me?” Isn’t it ironic that, in a world where many people complain that they don’t get from life all that they would like, most people won’t ask for what they want? Until we learn to ask for what we want, we kind of live our lives in an unacknowledged state of resignation. It seems that we silently agree never to be a nuisance or a bother, never to intrude on anyone or to be a pest. It’s at this point you become a soldier in the army of silent sufferers, who push on gamely, doing it all themselves because this is the way you’ve been taught.
Early in my childhood, I was told that if I ever needed a helping hand to look at the end of my arm. The message was very clear, I was on my own, don’t ever ask for anything again and I didn’t. I never asked for anything. I never asked for a raise, so I paid less than I deserved, I never asked for a date, so I never had any. I settled for substandard, shoddy. I simply settled. That was my lifeÉa life of settling for less than I really wanted, less than I deserved, less than the best, and less than what was possible.
In order to get what you want, ASK for it! It’s important to ask for four reasons:
1. ASKING INDICATES THAT YOU LIKE YOURSELF AND HAVE A HEALTHY SENSE OF SELF-WORTH.
2. ASKING IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR HEALTH. WHEN YOU DON’T ASK YOU FEEL OVERLOOKED AND IGNORED AND THAT LEADS TO FRUSTRATION AND STRESS.
3. BY ASKING YOU INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING WHAT YOU WANT BY 200%. IT’S THE BEST WAY OF LETTING GOD, YOUR SPOUSE, FRIENDS, YOUR BOSS, AND EVERYONE ELSE KNOW WHAT YOU WANT.
4. ASKING GIVES SOMEONE ELSE THE PLEASURE OF HELPING YOU. IN FACT, FAILING TO ASK IS SELFISH, IN MY OPINION, BECAUSE IF YOU LIKE TO HELP OTHERS, DON’T DEPRIVE THEM OF THE SATISFACTION OF HELPING YOU.
A major component in getting what you want is having the conviction that you are worth it. One of the best ways to develop your sense of self-worth is the ASK.
Mack Newton
Copyright Mack Newton. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of the author.
