Printer's Hat, aka. how do I respond to a challenge?

Every Wednesday one of students at our school gives a ‘talk through’. On the last Wednesday of the term we were given a task of using written instruction and pictures to produce a ‘printer’s hat’ made of paper. Here's the sheet that was used:

This provided an opportunity for self-observation.

We were working at 3 different tables, so I shared the space with 4 other people. When I was on step 3 of the process, I reverted to what seems to be very and old forgotten habit – I looked at what other people were doing, looking for guidance... Well, that’s what I relied on at school, that’s how I went through it (until about 2nd half of my 2nd year at the Uni)!!!

We were asked to stop, and proceed with the task again, this time reading the instructions aloud. This time I decided to work on my own to see how I can go about this task independently. Trust my own thinking.

It's interesting to note that I managed to finish the task successfully, whereas none of the people at my table managed to do it. I'm only mentioning this to illustrate the point: it was certainly not the matter of ability, but rather of a strategy. First time I tried to work through the problem, I looked for help too early, and thus undermined my own thinking / problem solving process. All I needed to be successful was space and time to think and trust in my own ability.

I think that being able to ask for help is a very important skill, I know of some people who are not able to do it. The point is, that I was trying to ask for help too early, without really thinking about what I’m doing in-depth. If I tried different approaches to solving this problem, and was still stuck, I would have no problem in asking for help, but at least I would know that I used my resources, I gave it a fair shot. Then there's a question: 

Whom should I ask for help? 

Do I choose someone who is struggling, or someone who knows what she/he is doing, someone who can give me reliable instruction?

But what does it have to do with the Alexander Technique, you may ask?

Well, the AT is about how we do things, this includes habits. 

How do I learn?

How do I respond to the challenges?

How do I solve problems?

All useful  questions...

Why don't you give it a shot to make a printer's hat yourself? Any newspaper page will do...