When to Ignore Advice
“Why seek advice from a bricklayer about gold and jewelry?” ― George S. Clason
Some people are more inclined to seek help from others when they want to learn how to do something more efficiently than they currently can or get a better understanding of what they might not totally comprehend on their own. As commendable as it is to have this kind of openness and humility, there are times when we are better off saying “Thank you for sharing” and not putting too much faith in some of the advice that’s given to us.
As quoted above, George S. Clason’s wisdom from the timeless classic The Richest Man in Babylon talks about how the easiest way to lose money is to follow the advice of people who have no authority or expertise to be giving any advice, no matter how well-intentioned or self-certain they may sound.
Unfortunately, there are only too many out there willing to offer their insights and opinions–whether we asked them to share with us or not, whether they are qualified to be giving this advice, or if we want to hear them.
Identifier 1: Actions Speak Louder Than Words: If someone is talking about having the right mentality for abundance and prosperity yet is constantly broke and asking to borrow money from you, would you take him to be your financial advisor? Likewise, if someone has never worked in social enterprise or doesn’t even understand the concept, let alone never interacted with the stakeholders, for example, inner city youth in Seattle, refugees, or traveled to a community project in the Philippines or Indonesia, why would you listen to them speculate? It’s the same as listening to someone give you legal advice when he never went to law school but watched a lot of Better Call Saul on television. Ignore people who have no qualifications–they are the first to give free advice and waste your time.
Identifier 2: Social Media Peanut Galleries: Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, or whatever platform you decide to ask a question on, you are more likely to get people who just want to join the conversation but have no expertise. You might get a kind professional willing to give some advice, but those are more of an exception rather than the norm, and the best professionals aren’t always trawling through the Internet looking to be good samaritans, they’re waiting to be consulted and often for a fee. What you will often get instead are people who think they’re being helpful but don’t understand the context, such as when ranting about a bureaucratic problem before the people trying to help don’t realize that not only are you not talking about the same country (they might assume you’re in the United States), but they didn’t read your question carefully, nor can a websearch they use to try and help you apply because you may have already done that long before asking. Never ask a crowd unless you want everyone to pretend that they’re experts.
Identifier 3: People With Conflicting Personal Interests: This is where it gets tricky, because often it’s your family who can get in the way of your endeavors, especially if they’re not supportive of nonprofit and development work and confuse social enterprise with charity work. If you try to discuss anything finance related with them, especially if they come from traditional industries like accounting, banking, or sales, they are more than likely to interpret what you tell them with extreme bias and shoot down anything you say. Far too often we have encountered young entrepreneurs who are told by parents in traditional fields like sales telling them to “stop working for charity and being ripped off, just save up money and help people when you’re retired” while fundamentally missing the point that you want to help people now and they don’t have the privilege to wait for help but you have the privilege to forgo material wealth and status in favor of serving others. Don’t ask for advice from family members or friends who are unable to fundamentally support your interests and make an effort to understand your life choices–they’re only interested in you validating their opinions by trampling on your feelings.