>I don't think this applies to every situation

Nothing applies to every situation. What you're talking about is a different situation. A can opener is not a bad tool because it doesn't also open wine bottles.

That's not what this is about.

This kind of advice was incredibly helpful to me once upon a time. I'd been waiting for something to happen in my life that would put me on the path to fixing all my problems. Kind of like how in the movie Yes Man, Jim Carrey has an old friend drag him to a seminar, he meets a manic pixie girl as a result, and suddenly he has a great life. It wasnt really a conscious thought, but I realized that I'd been wasting my time waiting for some external help that would turn my life around, almost like waiting for a knight in shining armor to appear. Reading that "no one is coming to save you" helped me get going with helping myself out of a bit of a hole I'd dug myself into.

Kind of an extreme example, but lots of people have problems they're just hoping will resolve themselves. Asking for help is fine, but ultimately you have to be the project lead on solving almost all of your problems.