A favor is easier to request when an honest no will not damage the relationship.

Asking depends entirely on how safe refusing is. When a no costs the other person something, mood, warmth, a hint of distance afterward, then no request is really a request, and both of you learn to be careful. People in that position stop asking for the small things first and eventually for the large ones too. What looks like independence is often just the absence of a safe way to be turned down.

Say that a no is genuinely fine, then behave that way the next time you hear one. Practice refusing other people warmly and without a long justification. Notice whether anyone has quietly stopped asking you for things.