Learners navigating adulthood, school, work, moving, caregiving, or a major transition who want a broader and more reliable circle of support.
Course 50 · Life course 17
Build a Support Network & Ask for Help
Map the support you need, strengthen existing ties, make specific asks, join communities, reciprocate, and plan for difficult moments.
Before you start
List current people, groups, services, and places that feel safe or potentially supportive without publishing their private information.
See everything you’ll needWhat you’ll leave with
A practical support map with named needs, trusted contacts, outreach scripts, community experiments, boundaries, and backup help paths.
Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.
Your project
Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.
Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.
- Get your materialsDownload the practice worksheetUse the downloadable worksheet or toolkit alongside the lesson instructions.
- Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
- Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Optional course overview
Watch an introduction.
This overview from TED introduces ideas you’ll practice in the lessons.
Watch directly on YouTubeTEDHow to Ask for Help — and Get a YesYouTube
Course handbook
Know the route before you begin.
Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.
- List current people, groups, services, and places that feel safe or potentially supportive without publishing their private information.
- Choose one low-stakes need for outreach practice and one private location for your real contact map.
- Save crisis and emergency resources separately; a peer network is not a substitute for urgent professional help.
Finish with proof you can use.
Create a private support system with needs map, diverse contact roles, three completed asks, two community trials in two distinct communities (one visit to each), reciprocity plan, relationship boundaries, professional resources, and a backup plan for one difficult scenario.
Save a project record in My ProofSee project checklist and review criteria
- A private support-needs map with type, urgency, privacy, ideal source, smallest useful ask, and professional boundary.
- A private network map with support roles, strength, boundaries, access, gaps, and five realistic reconnection options.
- Three outreach scripts for listening, practical help, and advice or introduction plus one completed low-stakes ask and reflection.
- A five-option community shortlist, safety and access screen, two completed trials, contact notes, and continue or stop decisions.
- A reciprocity plan with listening questions, three ways to contribute, two boundary scripts, referral limits, and repair steps.
- A 90-day connection calendar and one scenario backup plan with roles, scripts, permissions, access barriers, and review date.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas
The rules behind the steps.
Different people serve different roles
Emotional, practical, informational, professional, accountability, belonging, and emergency support need not come from one person.
Specific asks are easier to answer
A bounded request with context, timing, and an easy no gives another person a clear way to help.
Connection grows through repetition
Shared places, regular contact, contribution, follow-through, and time build trust more reliably than one intense interaction.
What do these words mean?
Key words
Key terms worth knowing.
- Social connection
- The size, variety, function, and quality of relationships and the degree to which a person feels supported and that they belong.
- Practical support
- Tangible help with a task, transport, food, child care, information, money, or another concrete need.
- Reciprocity
- A relationship pattern in which care, attention, contribution, and respect move in both directions over time.
- Warm introduction
- A connection made through a person who knows both parties and provides relevant context.
Your route6 lessons.
6 lessons.
One useful project.
Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.
- 1Up next
Name the support you actually need
Separate emotional, practical, informational, professional, accountability, belonging, and emergency needs.
- 222 min
Inventory the network you already have
Map strong, developing, professional, community, and emergency connections while identifying concentration and access gaps.
- 325 min
Make a specific, respectful ask
Request help with context, a concrete action, timing, boundaries, and a genuine option to decline.
- 433 min
Join a place where connection can repeat
Find and test groups built around shared activity, identity, learning, service, faith, sport, work, or neighborhood.
- 520 min
Give support and keep healthy limits
Offer useful support, protect capacity and privacy, repair small misses, and avoid rescuer or dependency patterns.
- 622 min
Build a durable support and backup plan
Create regular connection, maintenance, professional resources, emergency contacts, and backups for a likely difficult situation.
Use the tools
See all tools Tools to help you practice.
Source transparency
Sources and further study.
Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.
Ready when you are
Start lesson one Start with the first useful move.
You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.
Open collaboration ideaHelp keep this complete course free.
Potential collaboration: Libraries, colleges, community organizations, mentorship programs, and employers
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