Asking for Help

Am I copping out? Isn't this blog (and the forthcoming book) about how to be good at everything?  That's true. But there will come a time when you just won't care about getting better at something. When you'd rather spend your time mastering your backhand rather than how to repair your DVD player. Here's an example from my own (current) life. As you probably know, I have a small graphic and web design business called JAMES DID IT. I am working to build my client base, which means taking on sites whose technical demands are beyond my current expertise. Here are the choices: spend time cultivating more clients and designing their sites  -- or --  find people who are good at the technical part and have them make the sites I designed work.  I choose the latter. As with everything in life, it would not be difficult to learn the programming stuff. It would mean reading some of those books I bought like two years ago and finding online training videos. It would take a few hours, but I could do it pretty easily.

The point is: I don't want to. I don't really care if I know exactly how this stuff works because there are tons of great people out there who are already great at it. So my job becomes cultivating client relationships and creating the visual look of the site (both of which I love) and letting someone else do the part I don't find as rewarding. 

What if we all restructured our lives this way? Do the things you love and ask for help on the things you don't. That doesn't always mean having to pay someone: barter for things when you can (I bet there's something you love that someone else doesn't). Or call in a favor. 

Doing so makes you more of a man. Asking for help takes balls. So grow a pair and get what you need.