The art of advice

Today, I celebrated my three year anniversary. It's not your typical celebration. It's not related to work, marriage, kids, or family. It's the day that I officially retired from giving advice or more commonly known in my circle as the conversion business. Today is a reminder that converting people is a skillset that I totally suck at. Today, I renew commitment to no longer providing that service to those I love and the few people I like.

Too often, we find ourselves offering up this amazing thing called "advice". A disguise that serves our inner desire to be right. What good comes from pointing out the flaws in others? Why would you want to solidify your position as the protagonist in their story but not your own? Why don't we take our own advice? Like art, advice is an expression filled with many interpretations.

People might ask for it and others might end up getting it for free. No matter its delivery, advice is a tricky business. The results can be good and bountiful or bad and harmful. That is exactly the reason why I turned in my retirement paperwork and quit converting people. I officially gave up on trying to get people to see it my way and join me in my movement.

I learned that our mistakes and moments are the best teachers. These plot twists add flavor to a persons journey, their adventure. After all, I've been a victim of bad advice and I can't find a single statue in honor of a good advice giver. I challenge anyone reading this to take a look at their success rate for giving advice. Tally up the score and see if they are really good at it. If you find you are not, then stop doing it. Instead, invest more in listening and being present in those moments. People are not yours to fix.

Remember what Shakespeare shared; "The fault, is not in our stars, but in ourselves".