Personal branding advice you should NOT listen to

Hello there,

I hope you are well.

I just came back from a long walk and the entire time I was thinking about the idea of 'feedback' and 'advice'.

You see, there was a time in my life where I truly believed everyone else knew best. Somehow I had convinced myself there were even a few people who knew me better than I knew myself!

We can all fall into that trap and I see it often with my clients, "my friends and family think I am crazy" or "my colleagues believe this could destroy my career". We take the advice and feedback from others and make it gospel. As a result, we stop listening to ourselves and get busy people-pleasing as opposed to living.

There are two quotes I suggest you keep in mind next time you feel tempted to take advice without first questioning it-

If you wouldn't trade places with them, stop taking their advice.

Stop asking people who have never been where you're going for directions.

Part of the questioning process is looking at the person giving the advice and asking- Are they where I want to be? Have they achieved what I want to achieve? Are we actually on the same page?

Being close is not enough of a prerequisite, in fact, it can be the most destructive form of advice. It may very well be based (unknowingly) on who you were, as opposed to who you want to be.

At the end of the day, you really do know best and even if you do make a mistake or two along the way, isn't that part of the learning process? Trust yourself and have faith in your own decisions, you are the only one who will live with the consequences and the potential regret.

I hope this helps and as always please feel free to share.

Warmest wishes

Carlii