"I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite."
- Gilbert K. Chesterton
They say opinions are like assholes and everybody's got one. And lucky for us not everyone shares their assholes but for some reason they can't seem to keep their opinions & advice to themselves.
It seems whenever someone is doing someting interesting, creative or simply new everyone lines up with their own thoughts, ideas, opinions & advice. It almost makes you wonder, "If this person is so wise, why didn't they come up with their own creative project?" If they did, they'd be too busy to give you unsolicited counsel.
When looking for good advice the first person to trust is yourself. Most people people have an initial gut reaction that tells them the right course of action, whether we listen is another story.
You can of course seek the counsel of others but beware those dishing it out for free. You usually have to pay for the best forms of advice in the forms in books, seminars or making professional appointments. Bending Warren Buffet's ear over dinner can run you over two million dollars; a bargain when you consider he's now worth over 40 billion dollars.
Blog posts (ahem) and magazine articles are great place for advice on a multitude of subjects, but should serve as a starting point and should be followed up with independent research.
Most of all beware of unsolicited advice from those such as:
* child rearing advice from people with no kids.
* people who tell you to charge others more for your products/ services and then ask you for discounts.
* folks willing to share a great money-making opportunity that hasn't worked for them quite yet.
* out of shape people who tell you what diets & exercise regimens work the best.
* broke people letting you know the best way to manage your money.
* relationship advice from perpetually single people
* people with no psychological or psychiatric background and no experience with ADHD telling you there's nothing wrong with you and exactly how they know.
and my all time favorite...
* people who constantly complain about how much they hate their jobs & lives while telling you that your ideas and dreams are silly and you should give them up. They usually end up as the people who tell you they "knew all along" that you would become something great right before they ask you for a discount.
So remember the words of Marcus Tullius Cicero, "Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself." And stay away from people trying to offer you their assholes... unless you're into that sort of thing.
That's all for now.
Thanks for tuning in.
Until Next Time...
Keep Adding Bliss... or don't. You decide for yourself.
Michelle
