advice – Sean Blake Blog

Asking the right person

A lot of time can be saved by getting the people who actually do the work in the room early on.

Usually, time spent talking about possible challenges and solutions is completely wasted because no one thought to ask the person who will do it.

Ask yourself:

What do we need to do
Who does it
When does it need to be done

But don’t ask:

How do we do it
What happens if we do it like this
Why can’t we do this

…until you’ve got the right person answering the questions.

Try something

The worst place to be is stagnant, afraid to make the next move. After failure, the next best thing to do is try again.

If we find ourselves second-guessing or holding back, we’ve already lost.

Success only comes to people when they try something over and over again, a slightly different attempt each time.

We learn. We build muscle memory. Change velocity. Wins are subconsciously enforced as good behaviour. Over time, we discover the right method or approach.

There’s no such thing as an overnight success, simply someone who has tried a thousand times.

2 ways to take advice

Ignore it. Pretend like you’ve heard it all before and that you should be the one giving them advice, not receiving it. Nod and say, ‘yeah, I do that already but it doesn’t work’.
Even if we’ve heard it all before, listen. Think about why they’re telling it to you. What are their perceptions of you? What experiences have they had that you can learn from without making the same mistakes. Thank them. Ask them more questions. Sure, ignore the things you disagree with, privately. Everyone can learn something from someone else.

Advice is a gift and often helps us skip the most painful experiences because someone was kind enough to warn us or show us the way. Who can you give advice to today? Who do you need to listen to more?