How much do you trust the advice you give your closest friends or loved ones when they come to you about some challenge they face, or important decisions they have to make?
A little? A lot? Perhaps none at all?
We are often able to provide our most objective advice to our loved ones, regardless of the nature of the challenges they might be having. We tend to listen to them closely enough to really HEAR and understand what they are saying – and maybe even what they are not saying.
The bottom line is that when we love someone we usually would like to know they will have the best outcome possible, and hence our approach to offering advice tends to be more attentive and measured; practical and at the same time sympathetic.
Amazingly, our advice to others are sometimes treated as irrelevant when we face similar circumstances! Mind you, there might be certain details that make the same advice impractical in our own circumstances. However, for the most part, we might end up totally snubbing our own advice. Part of the reason might just be that no matter how much we think we understand what someone is going through, maybe we really don’t – or not as much as we thought! Moreover, it is far easier to give advice, than to act on the same advice even when faced with the same set of circumstances.
There’s no guarantee that the advice we give, even if sought, will be acted on. It might just be that when all the relevant facts are considered, they might find it difficult – very difficult – to actually act on it. Sometimes it’s out of fear of the unknown, or fear of the repressions, or perhaps because acting on the advice might see them being pushed too far out of their comfort zone.
When we offer advice, it is the best interest of the recipient that takes priority; not ours. Once that is the case, if our advice is good enough for others then it is good enough for ourselves. Recognizing this can help us to trust ourselves more, and ultimately benefit from the very advice we may have imparted to others.
#advice #GivingGoodAdvice