If you're anything like me, you're bombarded with advice on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, if you're anything like me, that means you'll have a hard time following that advise!
If that's the case, it indicates you're letting a lot of information slide through your fingers, which is an issue because it implies you're making life more difficult than it has to be.
Don't let this happen to you; instead, learn to accept advise and use it to better your life.
3 Ways to Use This Wisdom Today
1. Overcome Your Pride
Perhaps the most significant impediment to accepting advice is our own pride. There are many reasons for this: we believe we should be able to figure things out on our own, we believe our ideas are always better than anyone else's, we are embarrassed to ask for help because we don't want to appear stupid, and so on.
Whatever the reason, the important thing to understand is that when you allow pride to prevent you from listening to advice, you end up making your life more difficult than necessary because you limit yourself to only one solution source — you! Nobody knows everything, and the sooner you and I realize this, the sooner we'll realize it's foolish to let our pride get in the way of learning from others.
I know it's difficult, but the next time you find yourself in a situation where you know you could use some assistance, do yourself a favor and swallow your pride and be willing to let someone assist you. You'll be happy you did.
2. Recognize Good Advice
Now that you're at least willing to listen to advice, allow me to throw you a curveball: not all advice is good advice, and it's critical to have some guidelines for separating the good from the bad.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is identify the SOURCE of the advice – is it coming from someone who genuinely cares about you? If that's the case, it's worth your time to at least listen. If not, proceed. However, even if the advice comes from someone you trust, it does not guarantee that it will be beneficial to you. You can tell if someone is giving you good advice by asking yourself a few questions.
Here are a few examples...
- Is the person providing you with advice qualified to do so based on their own life experiences?
- Before giving you advice, did the person listen to you and try to understand your situation?
- Is the advice providing you with realistic options that you want to pursue?
- Are you sure the person giving you the advice isn't trying to take advantage of you?
- Is it still up to you to make the final decision based on the advice?
- Does the advice make sense to you, and do you have a good feeling about it?
These are just examples; I encourage you to create ones that make sense to you — create a list of simple and easy-to-remember questions that you can ask yourself when given advice. If the advice provided answers these Challenge Questions, it's probably worth paying attention to.
Remember that just because you listen to someone's advice doesn't mean you have to take it; the final decision on what to do is yours.
One upside of getting that advice is that you'll have more confidence when you do take action to address your problem because you'll know you took the time to seek wisdom, and that extra confidence could be the final piece of the puzzle you need to solve your struggle.
3. Provide Good Advice to Others
Let's face it: the world is in desperate need of more people who are prepared to help others. I strongly recommend you to join them on this quest.
Why not help someone else if you find yourself in a situation where you have the opportunity to give advice and you believe you have the knowledge to do so? You never know when your words will influence or perhaps save someone's life, so don't pass up the opportunity to help someone. That said, it's critical that you provide sound counsel rather than simply any advice. But how do you do it?
You can use the following formula to help you: Listen First, Advise Second. After all, how can you give someone advise if you haven't taken the time to listen to and comprehend their situation? Once you've done that, you'll be able to determine whether or not you can actually assist them. If you can, give them your counsel, but respect their right to accept or reject it – remember, your duty is merely to share wisdom; the final decision is theirs.
But what if you listen and realize you can't offer any useful advice? That's fine. You can still encourage them, pray with them, and possibly direct them to someone else who can assist them. It's better to do this than to give them bad advice because you're too proud or afraid to admit you don't know the answers, too. Knowing your own limitations is an important part of giving good advice; recognize them and you'll come full circle in your understanding of this lesson.
Don't Delay, Apply This Knowledge RIGHT NOW...
Pick a problem, any problem, and then challenge yourself to seek advice from someone you trust.
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