With around seven billion people travelling with us on spaceship Earth, there is a seemingly unlimited amount of opinions about what is right or wrong in any given situation. And most people are not at all shy about telling you what they think you should do.
We are constantly being bombarded from all sides, everyday, by the thoughts and ideas of others. Radio, TV and magazine advertisements tell us how their product is better than anyone else's. Friends, family and other loved ones give us their advice on everything under the sun, from romance and sex, to money, what clothes to buy, how we should act. If you can name it, there are tons of people that want to tell us how or why to do it.
Our instinct seems to be, and in fact the way most of us handle things, is to just say and do what other people that we trust tell us. The people that we believe have our best interests at heart are the ones that we tend to take advice from. We treat the people that care about us as authorities on whatever subject it is that we need help with.
The flaw in this logic is that well, it isn't really logical at all. Quite often the people we turn to for advice are just as lost on whatever topic it is that we need help with as we are.
For example, you might go to your favorite uncle for relationship advice because he is someone you feel comfortable talking to. But if he has been divorced four times, the odds are his relationship advice isn't very sound.
Or perhaps you are having trouble managing your finances. You might go to your father for help. After all he was head of the household while you were growing up. He cares about you and would never intentionally steer you wrong. But if he is broke and living paycheck to paycheck, the advice he has for you isn't likely to help out very much.
Most of the advice that we are given by other people is not factual. It is opinions formed by their own experiences in life. If the person giving the advice has not had success with the issue at hand then they are not qualified to share with you what will bring success. They can in fact tell you what did not work for them, but they have no way of knowing what will work for you.
The Oracle in Matrix Revolutions says " You can’t see beyond a choice you don’t understand."
If you haven't experienced something, you cannot share that experience with someone else. If you want solid advice about a given topic, seek out a person that has actually achieved the level of success that you are looking for. Only a person that has done so really knows and understands what they are talking about. Everyone else is just guessing.
The same thing goes for negative feedback. If you are starting a new business or relationship, countless people will tell you exactly how or why things just aren't going to work. Take a moment to separate the list of people giving you advice into two groups, the ones who have achieved what you are working towards and those that have not. Then only listen to and accept into your way being advice from people who have succeeded at what it is that you intend to do. Acknowledge those other people that care enough to share their opinions but realize that they are only opinions.
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