Everyone leans on me. Who do I lean on?
You hold the whole thing up. The young scholar's future, the team's morale, the questions no one else wants to answer. You have done this so long it feels like your job. It is not. It became your habit. Here is the honest part: you let it become one-way. You give and give, and tell yourself that asking for help would look weak, or would burden people who already lean on you. That is not humility. That is fear wearing a virtuous mask. The fix is not to give less. It is to build a return flow — one person, one pod, one real ask. You already know how to teach someone to depend on another. Now do it for yourself.
You do not lack strength. You lack a return flow. Pick one person — in your pod, on your team — and ask for something real this week. Not vague support. A specific thing. Mentoring others does not bar you from needing a mentor. No one builds that exchange for you. Choose to build it.
What changes unlock by starting
- You have at least one relationship where you receive as much as you give.
- Your pod sees you ask for help — and stops assuming you never need it.
- You stop mistaking exhaustion for virtue.
- The people you mentor get a better model: someone who also asks for support.