Taking Help
When I first joined my research lab back in college. I was given the task of setting up the GEM5 simulator. Something used to benchmark the performance of the work we do in computer architecture. I disappeared for a week trying to learn the ins and outs using the documentation, the videos, and so on that were available online. When I approached my guide a week later she was angry.
What I learned was irrelevant to the lab's work. I needed an older version that could support NVMain integration(we dealt with PCM-based Non-Volatile memories). There was a specific setup and properly documented instructions for the lab. I just had to ask one of the older lab members but I didn't. I always had a problem with taking help.
It's good to have agency and do things on your own. But when you join a new place it's important to ask questions. Ask stupid questions. Ask the same questions again. Doesn't matter as long as the doubt is genuine. You are not there to reinvent the wheel from the ground up but to build upon existing work. Don't let shyness, too much ego, or a false sense of self-sufficiency stop you.
And what if you are building from the ground up? Asking questions and taking help is still a superpower. Write those cold emails. Ask yourself fundamental questions. Ask your friends. Stop random strangers in the middle of the street. Knock on some founder's door.
Take help.