Unpopular opinion but I think giving and taking advice is irresponsible.
I was at dinner with my mom and my sisters in NYC a couple nights ago. They were talking about family stuff… a little gossip. Giving their opinions on what certain people should and shouldn't be doing.
I was quiet the whole time until they asked me what I thought. I said I have no idea and I'm not qualified to even have an opinion. They were upset.
But I had only heard context and stories through a third party over maybe three to five minutes of conversation time…
Who am I to make an opinion and tell somebody what they should do when I don't have the full picture?
I never feel like I should give opinion because I don't have enough information... I never do.
What really killed advice for me was when two of my mentors gave me completely opposite advice on the same problem I was dealing with…
Both very successful, but both were giving advice based on their personal experiences and the 5 minutes of context they had.
Even now if I do give advice or some opinion, I always finish with something like "then again, I have a fraction of the context that you have. I'm a retarded pimply-faced 23 year old. Take what I say with a grain of salt you have more context than me"
It’s the same reason why I also don't take advice from others too seriously as well.
I talk to mentors for 60 minutes a week. They're doing their best but I'm living this shit 24/7 and NOBODY has as much information as I do to make decisions.
So instead, I take in everyone's input… and create my own answer.
I've found that I'd rather live and die by my own sword than go against my gut and regret it.
But most often I’m right.
The problem with advice is that it's always based on someone else's life.