Accepting help does not transfer ownership of your life.

Taking help does not hand anyone the steering wheel. The confusion comes from assuming that a person who supports you acquires a say in your direction, which makes accepting anything feel like a small surrender. In practice you can receive assistance, be genuinely grateful, and still make your own decisions, including ones the helper would not make.

If you have been refusing support to protect your autonomy, try separating the two explicitly. Accept the practical help, and keep the decision. If someone does start converting help into influence, that is worth naming, but do not pre-emptively refuse everyone in anticipation of it.