For More Money, Don’t Do What Anyone Tells You

For More Money, Don’t Do What Anyone Tells You

Citizen's Advice Bureau sign in the United Kingdom with a brightly colored pig sculpture in front of it.

For more money, don’t do what anyone tells you. It’s easy to give advice, and much harder to take it. ( It’s a bit of a “pig in a poke,” you might say. You haven’t any idea what you’re getting.) This is a Citizen’s Advice Bureau in the United Kingdom. PIGMALION by Stephen McKay.

For More Money, Don’t Do What Anyone Tells You: Advice is a Pig in a Poke

Be careful with advice. Including mine. Advice is a “pig in a poke,” because you haven’t any idea what you’re getting. There’s something in there, but you haven’t any idea if it can help you until you try it out.

Trying it out is expensive. Advice is cheap.

For More of Anything, Give That Thing

This is a basic principle: if you want more of something, give it. If you want more money, give money. If you want time, set aside time to have time.  This basic principle is covered in many posts in this blog. (Let me know if you have trouble finding them.)

If you want more advice, give advice. I tend not to give advice. In this blog, I witness to my own experience, which is what I want from you.

One of the Easiest Things to Give is Advice

One of the easiest things to give is advice. Remember that the next time you feel you “should” act on advice. (Remember it when you go to give advice, too. Give experience! Then you’ll have lots more experience!)

For more money, don’t do what anyone tells you.

Or don’t do it because someone told you to do it. Do it because you tried it out and it worked. Including and especially our advice.

Sometimes it is quite terrifying blogging here because I suspect you may follow my advice. I hope you won’t. I hope you’ll construct a wee lab for trying it out, try it out, and evaluate the results.

Other people’s advice is worth nothing without your validation of it.

Validation comes from your experience, digested.

Digesting it means reflecting on it, making meaning from it.

Making meaning from your experience, you could be a blogger yourself.

Heck, you could even give other people advice.

See what I mean?

2 Comments
  • Cat Ransom
    Posted at 15:53h, 22 March Reply

    I read somewhere once that we only follow advice when that is what we were going to do anyway. I’m not sure that’s always true but, in my experience, it is more often true than not. Following advice can he safe; if something goes badly, we fan blame the advisor (advicer?). Although, we tend to take the credit when the outcome is successful.

    • Beth
      Posted at 15:57h, 22 March Reply

      Cathy, this is great. I think my point is that when we do take advice—meaning test it, evaluate the results, and only then integrate them as ours–we deserve the credit. What do you think?

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