C’mooonnn. Be honest.
These days, there’s pretty much no reason to ever have to do anything alone. Today’s world is more networked and reachable than ever and there’s always someone out there who is willing to offer you advice if you need it.
Also, even if you don’t need it. But that’s just how that goes.
Even when we may be “by ourselves,” we never really have to be “alone.” Asking for advice on anything you’re doing is not only more-than-ever possible, but also more-than-ever encouraged and more-than-ever necessary.
Ask for advice. Do the research. Get the info. Then, make your well-rounded and substantiated decision. Bam. In a weird way, it IS actually that simple.
But, be careful what you ask for
Here’s the thing, though: It’s human nature to have expectations. In this case, before we even ask for advice on whatever it is we’re doing, we probably expect a certain response that is in line with our preconceived notion.
We’re human. It’s a human thing. Not much we can do about that.
It’s just a matter of time, though, that we get responses that are directly counter to what we had thought before asking. To some, this is a great learning experience, super interesting, and incredibly helpful. To others, it’s just filed under “bad advice.”
So what are you really asking for?
Advice vs. Validation
We all know those people. Some of us might be those people.
We say we’re asking for advice, but really, we’re just asking people to validate our existing thoughts.
We say we’re doing our due diligence and research, but really, we’re just looking hard to dig up other opinions that agree with ours.
Not cool, guys. Not cool.
Be OK with being wrong
When I was first launching my business, I of course asked for a ton of advice and did some up front market research to learn more about pain points of existing products, marketing methods, business models, price points, etc. I sent out a ton of emails and talked to a bunch of musicians that I am lucky to know. It was valuable only because I was 100% OK with getting answers I didn’t like.
Really, those answers were the ones that set me straight and were most valuable when deciding the initial direction of launching the business.
That’s really the only way asking for advice is going to work. Be ok with being wrong about something. There is such thing as bad advice, but contrary advice isn’t the same as“bad.”
When you’ve decided to do something that you know is going to be difficult, the only thing worse than being wrong is being wrong and not knowing it.
Get it and use it
The advice you listen to and ignore is, in the end, up to you. I’ve done my share of heeding bad advice (some knowingly) and also ignoring good advice (also, sometimes knowingly). How you use what you get is up to you, but the call for — and collection of — advice is where it can get tricky.
If you want to use it to make a real decision, make sure you’re getting the real stuff.
#bewhatyoumake
