Are you offered unsolicited advice from family and friends?

Does it feel like every man and his dog seems to have an opinion about you?  Do you feel that others are holding you back from greatness? Well, you are probably right. While advice on life, business, family and everything else under the sun is most often given with good intentions, it can actually be really limiting.

Flaunt Your Latest Skunk Skin Coat

Okay, why would you do that? Or even, why would you want a skunk skin coat? But in Myra’s Threepenny Journey, a rag from the 1800’s, that was the exact advice they gave their women readers.

Zooming forward to today, women are still given well-meaning advice by others, especially in the area of business. While it may not be as obviously ridiculous as flaunting your skunk skin coat, all advice really needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Careful reflection needs to happen before you accept everything you hear.

Cut Those Invisible Fence Lines

Have you heard of those invisible electric fences which keep dogs contained within a property? The dog wears a special collar which gives it an unpleasant shock every time it gets too close to the invisible fence. It soon learns to avoid going near it. Though this was something the dog learnt through experience and not by being given advice, this is something which happens to business women too. Not that they wear a collar which zaps them when they start making progress, but that the advice they are given can both physically and emotionally prevent them from crossing those invisible fence lines.

Being objective

As business owners, we need to assess each piece of advice we are offered. Sure, it is a hell of a lot easier to accept what we are told as the truth, incorporate it into our lives and gain the approval of the advice giver. But do you really need their approval or are you strong enough to know that it’s only your opinion which matters?

It’s Time To Exit The Game

I too have been on the receiving end of a lot of “well intention” opinions. But what I want to do is exit the limiting advice game. I want to move into the area where anything is possible and there are no preconceptions. I want my future to be truly limitless and in order to achieve that, something has to go.

So I’m giving up accepting the majority of the advice which is given to me by others with good intentions. It does not mean that I won’t listen to it, just that I will only take on board what I genuinely feel will be of benefit to me and my career. Being open minded is all about realising that one size does not fit all, which is especially true when it comes to advising too.

Your Turn

What well-meaning advice have you been given before? What did you do with it? I’d love to know, so pop down and tell me in my comments.

Want some time out to wrap your head around your business? Cheek out our next Busy Business Owners Retreat