Breaking the Silence: How Vulnerability Leads to Growth

Here’s one of the biggest mistakes I made when I worked in corporate and felt stuck and woefully unfulfilled:

I never asked for help.

I never asked for what I needed.

You keep your mouth shut and man up.

I’ll figure it out and get what I need on my own.

I don’t need anyone else, and if I can’t do it on my own, then it’s not worth having.

Besides, asking for help and expressing what I need is weak.

And I was terrified of being seen as less than.

There were many factors behind how I landed in federal prison, but they fall under the one ring that rules them all:

Fear

• I was afraid to ask for help.
• I was afraid to express my authentic self.
• I was afraid to ask the world for what I needed.

It took going to prison to understand some things about asking for help:

Going at it alone is lonely.

Denying help only denies me.

The more I learn, the less I know.

Trying to appear smart isn’t smart.