Thus was my email to family members recently:
“Dear Family, you’ve been preoccupied lately with thinking of what to get me for Christmas. 🙂 It is my sincere wish to relieve you of this terrible burden. I crave above all else, one thing…Knowledge. It is with that in mind that I hereby humbly request the following books from Santa…”
You’re thinking two things, (1) I wonder what books he asked for, and (2) wow, he puts a lot of thought into writing even basic communication.
Re: (2) thank you, yes I do.
And (1) sorry, me no tell…
This leads me to today’s venerable truth.
The way to get what you want is to ASK for it.
Before you go DUH, let me clarify…
If you watch kids, they have zero problems with asking. My four year old basically wakes up in the morning asking, and doesn’t stop asking until it’s lights out and time for bed (and even then she’ll keep going if we let her…)
As we *grow up* [frown], most of us are conditioned by others to think it’s selfish to ask for things, or impolite, and that you shouldn’t *bother* people.
This learned inhibition affects all aspects of our health, happiness, and success.
Our natural state is to be abundant.
My daughter’s *askiness* is proof of that.
Yet sometimes we unconsciously (or consciously) hold ourselves back because of our fear of saying what we want – and moreover, our inability to accept it coming our way. This arrested communication with other beings and the world at large keeps away lots of goodies we deserve (a lean body, success and money, strong relationships).
This holiday season, I propose a different type of exercise.
Train your asking muscles.
(As I once heard Jack Canfield say, become an *ask-hole*.)
Ask every chance you get.
You’ll discover people love to help and they might even thank you for your forthrightness.
Forget the notion that giving is somehow better than receiving. It’s a two-player dance. You need both for it to work. By being a poor receiver, you’re depriving someone else of the pleasure of giving.
Childlike excitement for your desires still exists in you, somewhere.
Set it free.
Too much modesty never did anyone any good.
By the way, I invite you to use the above message-to-family for your own purposes.
Who knows, you may even get what you ask for.
For your body-related goals (losing fat, reducing pain, boosting energy), call (416) 826-4844 to request (there it is again) your personal training consultation.
Happy Asking,
Conor Kelly
conorkelly.com