“I’m not the person who asks for help… I am the person people ask for help from.”

I remember vividly thinking that thought almost exactly two years ago.

I had just had my business stolen by somebody I thought was a friend, and had fallen into depression.

This was the mantra that ran through my head as I reached out to ask people for help.

I saw it as a sign of weakness.

Fast forward two years.

This year, I am also going to reach out to people for help. But this time, I don’t see it as a sign of weakness, but as a sign of strength.

You see, two years ago it was my friends and family, and sometimes people I least expected, who tried to pull me out of it.

This year, I am going to do something I always dreaded doing because, I now realize, I saw it as a sign of weakness.

I am going to try to raise money for a business.

One that has gone from almost nothing to $4M in revenue in two years. One that I built alongside my amazing partner Tony, as I rose from the ashes of that dark time.

My thought process is this…

If asking for help in your darkest hour can help you get out, imagine what it can do if you swallow your false pride and do it when things are going well.

So this year, and hopefully every year from now on, I am the person who asks for help.

And I am a better person for it.