The favor you need today does not entitle you to tomorrow’s availability.

Being helped once creates a comfortable groove, and it is easy to slide from asking into assuming. The person who came through last month starts appearing in your plans before they have agreed to be there, and their yes gets treated as a standing arrangement. What they gave was that one occasion, freely, and it stays theirs to give or withhold.

Before you ask the same person again, ask as if for the first time and make refusal genuinely easy. Spread the asking around, and check whether anyone has become your default without ever being consulted.