Many people have trouble taking the advice of others. This article is not for those people. This article is for those of you who can already take the advice of others, but aren’t sure if they are being taken advantage of or not.
Advice Giver’s Interests
The first thing to consider when taking advice is what are the interests of the advice giver. It is often assumed that people only give advice because they want to help you. This is not always the case. It is easy for people to give advice that is in their own interest, even if it is not in yours.
For example, a person who is funding oil companies may advise you to work at oil companies. This is not necessarily bad advice, but the advice giver has a clear conflict of interest. They benefit if you work at an oil company and may not really care how you do relative to your interests and other options.
Lots of people who get paid by the hour, such as lawyers, may have an interest in you doing things that benefit them, but not you. Specifically, a lawyer may advise you to sue your employer, even if you have a weak case. By doing this, they can get billable hours. If the case is weak, you will probably not win, but they will still get paid.
Advice Giver’s Experience and Skill Level
The first question you need to ask is, “Does the person giving me advice have experience and expertise?” If the answer is no, you should pass on the advice.
For example, if you are seeking medical advice and the person you are talking to is not a medical doctor, you should be very careful of taking their advice. It might be valid, but they don’t have the experience or expertise to know for sure. That being said, their advice might still be bad. Doctors often have incentives for patients to get procedures done as they get paid per procedure. The procedures may or may not be necessary, but if it is borderline, the doctor will often recommend the procedure because they profit from it.
Do as the Advice Giver Does
One way to avoid pitfalls is not to do what someone says, but to do what they do. For example, Peter Thiel wants people to not go to college. However, he went to Stanford, which is one of the best schools in the world. If you drop out of college because Peter Thiel says so, you may regret your decision. Peter Thiel will be happy though as he will get an ego boost knowing that he influenced your decision.
A lot of famous people giving advice are just trying to sell you something or make themselves feel good. Be careful. This is especially true of successful people who are also good at sales.
There are a lot of people trying to take advantage of others. The world is full of them. You need to be careful. If someone sounds like a salesperson, they probably are. Run away.
That being said, check out our advice on how to meet people in San Francisco.