Word-Of-the-Week #749: Advice
December 13, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #749: Advice
Advice – an opinion that someone gives you about what you should do.
How receptive are you to getting advice? Do you trust your own gut instincts?
This is a follow up to last week’s Opinion. I think there are people who mistake an opinion for advice. When someone offers their opinion that’s all it is. If they’re telling you that you should do something or act differently that becomes advice.
“The trouble with advice is that it’s usually something you don’t want to hear.”
– CHARLES DE LINT, The Onion Girl
In pondering this I realized I prefer advice when I have asked for it. How many times have you gotten unsolicited advice? How did it make you feel? Basically for me it brings up feelings of “I know better than you do” and superiority. Does it seem like the one’s giving unsolicited advice a lot of the time are those people closest to you?
I like to share and receive information, reviews, etc. Sharing information is not giving advice but actually a way to receive advice or validation. It really comes down to how that information is presented and perceived.
“Before you give advice, that is to say advice which you have not been asked to give, it is well to put to yourself two questions–namely, what is your motive for giving it, and what is it likely to be worth? If these questions were always asked, and honestly answered, there would be less advice given.”
– JOHN WILLIAM MACKAIL, “On Giving Advice”
When I travel I have always asked people their advice on places I haven’t been to and it has served me well! That being said, it is my gut feeling that ultimately decides whether to use the advice or not. I can’t explain why I believe some people and not others.
“I only do what my gut tells me to. I think it’s smart to listen to other people’s advice, but at the end of the day, you’re the only one who can tell you what’s right for you”
– JENNIFER LOPEZ, Woman’s Day Magazine, Nov. 13, 2007
This week is all about advice. Do you have a tendency to give it more than you take it? How about your family members? This is the time of year when you see more of them and a reminder that they may be just giving their opinion and not advice!
PS – I write about that which I need to be reminded of or that resonates with me. And things that I would like to or will say to someone I love and care deeply about. I try to keep my emotions out of my WOW’s but they have a way of creeping in! Pretty much like my life 😊
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Word-Of-the-Week #640: Advice
November 10, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #640: Advice
Advice – an opinion about what could or should be done.
Do you think your parents gave you good advice as a child? Do you often give your opinion about what could or should be done? Are you good at accepting advice?
The July 6, 2009, Fortune Magazine cover reads, “The Best Advice I Ever Got” by Bill Gates. In the article he states, “My dad and my mom were great at encouraging me as a kid to do things that I wasn’t good at, to go out for a lot of different sports like swimming, football, soccer, and I didn’t know why. At the time I thought it was kind of pointless, but it ended up really exposing me to leadership opportunities and showing me that I wasn’t good at a lot of things, instead of sticking to things that I was comfortable with. It was fantastic, and now some of those activities I cherish. They had to stick to it because I pushed back a lot, but it was fantastic advice.”
Bill Gates Sr. says, “One of the best pieces of advice I ever had was to get along with and encourage the right things with your youngsters. Bill’s mother and I were involved in parent effectiveness training. And what the people taught and emphasized, which is central and so significant, is that you should never demean your child. I’m a great fan of my son’s. I think he’s an incredible citizen and a wonderful business man, and we let that show in the things we do together.”
And Bill says, “One of the reasons we have a great working relationship and are a close family is because we have well-defined roles. I’m kind of a driving, “Why haven’t we gotten all these things done?” [kind of person], and dad is the voice of wisdom. We’ll be having a meeting, talking about the calendar or the cost or those things, and he’ll make a comment that will get everybody to stop and think. You know, we missed that way of looking at things. And his being there at the foundation full-time really has shaped the values. When we have the foundation meeting, people get up and applaud because they see that that really makes a difference. And to create a family foundation, when I was busy, and yet to know that the values were going to be right and strong, I give credit for that to my dad.”
I have heard that the only person who wants to hear advice is the one giving it. I tend to be more receptive when people ask if I want their advice. How about you?
This week focus on giving and receiving advice. Can you give advice in a positive manner? How does it make you feel when someone offers their opinion on what you could or should do?
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WOW Word-Of-the-Week #513: Advice
June 4, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #513: Advice
Advice – an opinion or recommendation on what could or should happen.
Is there someone in your life that has given you good advice? If you could go back 10 years, what advice would you give that you have learned? How receptive are you to taking someone’s advice?
I found another great follow up to for last week’s WOW on investment by Jonathan Clements in the Wall Street Journal Sunday titled, “Some Life Advice for the Class of 2014.” His son Henry graduated from Washington University and he had 7 good points of “parental wisdom” advice to give him. Today I will share the first two.
- If you aren’t careful, you will spend your life pursing goals that you think will make you endlessly happy, but in fact, will give the most fleeting of pleasures. You’ll hunger after the next promotion and pay raise. But a few months later, it’ll be just another paycheck. You’ll lust after the bigger house and new car. But after six months, the house will be just a place to live and the car will be just a way to get around town.
At issue here is a phenomenon known as the hedonic treadmill. We pursue these goals, sure that they’ll bring us great happiness. But instead, we quickly become dissatisfied and start hankering after something else.
- You could live an extraordinarily long time. In 2000, the median U.S. life expectancy at birth was 77 years, up from 47 for those born a century earlier. Moreover, as you age, your life expectancy rises, which means today’s 65-year-olds can expect to live to their mid-80’s. The upshot: You’re part of a vast experiment, where we have millions of people not only spending unprecedented lengths of time in the workforce, but also an unprecedented number of years in retirement.
I have heard that the only person who wants to hear advice is the one giving it. I tend to be more receptive when people ask if I want their advice. How about you?
This week focus is on giving and receiving advice. Do you think your parents gave you good advice? Do you often give your opinion about what could or should be done? How does it make you feel when someone makes a recommendation about what you could or should do? Would you like to share Clements advice with your own children or grand-children?
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