You’re out to lunch with a coworker. You get to talking about life and other things and he begins pouring his heart out to you a bit. You decide to give him some advice to comfort him. He appreciates it.
Later that day you’re chatting online with a distant friend. You get to talking about life and other things and she tells you about some rough patches she’s had lately. You notice that her problems are similar to the coworker you spoke to earlier in the day so you decide to give her the same advice.
You come home from work to find your spouse preparing a meal for some guests you’ll be having over for dinner. While you and the guests are enjoying dinner, the conversation turns into something familiar. You recognize that one of the guests has a problem similar to your coworker and your friend. You give them the same advice and they leave the dinner feeling grateful for your help and hospitality.
Notice the pattern? People confide in each other and we try to give advice where it’s needed. Sometimes I begin to notice that I’m saying the same things over and over to different people. Other times, I’m the one asking a number of people for advice and I hear the same message from each person. Have you experienced either of these situations? If you have…
What kind of advice do you find yourself giving to others often? What kind of advice do you find yourself receiving often? Is there a common theme?
On the receiving end, I tend to get a lot of parenting advice, simply because of the position I’m in (brand new 3-month old). I appreciate it all, though it can get overwhelming sometimes (especially since many people will contradict each other). I try to keep everything in perspective and do what I think is best.
On the giving end, I try to throw in my thoughts when it comes to money, since I write about it on a daily basis. When it comes to life, though, I often just throw my hands up. I’m 26 years old, but I feel like life has barely started. I don’t feel like I’m at a point where I could “look back” yet and offer other people any kind of constructive advice. Many in my age group might be able to do it, but not me. 🙂
I’m often advising people to be less stressed. I’ve had a bad habit of stressing my self to pieces and I want others to learn from my mistakes.
The advice I seem to churn out time and time again (although I try not to give advice unless someone’s really asking) is not to make decisions based on money but to think about passions instead. Especially in career choice or next jobs etc. Just seems like so many people around me are stuck doing jobs they don’t want to do and once you get used to a certain financial level of comfort it’s hard to go back. I definitely practice what I preach so lots of people say they’re envious of me, yet they could do exactly the same thing if they wanted.
It always amazes me how complicated people make things. I try to keep things simple, and encourage others to do the same.
Fiances = spend less than you earn.
Relationships = communication is key & always work on the relationship.
School = pay attention in class & take good notes.
The core principles are what everything else is built around. “Pay attention to the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
I definitely find myself telling people over and over to “let go” and to question what the world tells them. I was raised in a very forward-thinking family and it seems to obvious to me, so I’m always amazed at how many people don’t understand those basics.
By contrast, I often find myself asking folks for relationship advice, since I tend to be blind to that sort of thing when it’s my own relationship and not someone else’s.
Since my area of expertise is in strategic communications consulting, most advice that flow in and out of me hovers around the idea of communicating more strategically to produce results. It’s a universal principle that translates pretty much anywhere in life.