Thoughts on Advice

Here we are. 38 weeks straight scrapping one of these babies together.

As usual, when Tuesday rolls around I generally find myself racking my brain for ideas to write about over an improperly poured Guinness at my local watering hole.

At this point, I truly don’t know what’s worse -

Sitting there staring down the barrel of a Guinness with a 3.5-inch head on it. Or, going into the same bar on the same night every week, ordering the same drink, and hoping for a different result.

Jeez, when I write it down I guess my writing process is a little… dark.

(That being said - If anyone knows a good Guinness in PC/SLC please let me know)

Every week, as I sit there and stare into my deep dark ale, I go through a series of questions with myself.

Things like - What happened this week? What changed this week? Anything funny? Anything interesting? Do I even like Guinness?

And on some weeks (like this one) the answer across the board is just.. no.

Nothing funny, nothing crazy, just another spin on the ol’ hamster wheel. That’s just how life is sometimes, I guess.

As I analyze my last 37 weeks of writing, I’m still asking myself what I’m trying to accomplish here. And like most things, I still don’t have a great answer either.

I guess my goal is really just to provoke some thought.

To give the few loyalists who read this thing every week 5 minutes to explore an opinion/idea with me, and maybe ask some questions of their own.

Although I thought it once was, I’m now realizing my goal here is not/can’t be to give/provide advice.

And I know I have a few posts that do just that. So sue me.

I’m coming to terms with the fact that every time I write an “advice” piece - I’m frankly left feeling fraudulent & contradictory.

Why?

Well candidly - I have an incredibly hard time implementing my own advice.

I know just what to do, but it’s hard to actually do it.

I’ve written about better sleep, better work productivity, etc. Does that now make me the pinnacle of REM and productivity? I sure as hell don’t think so.

I can write about better sleep, and still find myself scrolling to the depths of X until midnight.

I can write about better work productivity too, and yet I still have a lot of days where I feel I haven’t accomplished much at all.

So who am I to give advice?

Not only does it make me feel like a walking contradiction, but it also makes me question what I read, who I follow, and who I take/seek advice from, too.

I’m finding it’s easy to talk/write about something. It’s a lot harder to implement/action it.

“Ya… no sh*t Ted. Tell me something I don’t already know.”

As I sit here and evaluate my own shortcomings in implementing my own advice, I’m left asking myself - does this mean I should be re-evaluating the others I take advice from too?

Or is it just me sitting here solo with the clown paint on?

Should I re-evaluate who I seek out for coaching? Who guides me?

What really makes a good coach/mentor/advisor/counselor anyway?

Is it:

Someone who can talk the talk?

Someone who can walk the walk?

Someone who learned through experience & failure?

Someone who learned through schooling and proper instruction?

Someone who was just born with ‘it’?”

Obviously, the answer probably lies in a combination of all the above.

But how do we analyze more deeply? How do we know who to listen to, who to be receptive to, and who to disregard completely?

Would you hire a personal trainer who’s 50+ pounds overweight? No?

What if they had their PhD in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition? Would you then?

If you wanted to learn how to hit a home run, do you think Barry Bonds would be a good coach? Or was he just born with a god-given innate ability to deposit baseballs into McCovey Cove?

If you set out to finish an Iron Man race - would you take advice from someone who has never completed one themselves?

We all have opinions, we all have particular thoughts, and we all want to share our life experiences/advice with the world so that others may learn.

But I guess my big question this week is - what actually qualifies us to do so? And what encourages other people to listen, and to keep listening?

Maybe it’s just a stupid question.

But with such a wide array of people in this life, how do we figure out who we should listen to, and based on what?

Maybe it all just depends on the advice you seek.

Food for thought.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! See you next week!