Advice or Not
What is it about our keen interest in giving people advice? I’ve always wondered why.
So I thought to myself—how can I understand this in a different light? I decided to turn it on myself. I gave myself advice every time I uttered a controversial idea.
Of course, I did this all in my head, but some interesting insight came from this self-education experiment.
To begin, most of us don’t tell the whole story before seeking advice, and we’re often not ready to accept anyone’s advice unless it aligns with what we’ve already shaped in our minds.
So, by asking a set of questions—rather than bombarding someone with advice that could be missing context—you are far more likely to help develop self-advice that actually works and makes sense.
I extracted these questions:
How do you feel about this?
What would you like to know more about?
What do you find challenging?
Is this significant, or can you separate it from how you feel?
By asking myself these questions, I realised it’s also more likely to help someone else come up with comprehensive self-advice—guided by questions—leading to an outcome they will actually follow, rather than leaving them overwhelmed.
So, what’s next? I make it even more interesting. I ask you the same set of questions—about how you feel when giving advice, and what challenges or significant issues you might be able to let go of. I’m not giving you advice not to give advice; I’m simply asking you a set of questions, and you can decide for yourself.
Give it a go and let me know how it works out for you! Feel free to leave a comment below.
