An advice before you seek advice
I meet a lot of students and budding entrepreneurs who are looking for advice ranging from projects, technology choices, academia, business and startups. The simple fact that someone chooses to listen to my opinion humbles me and I try my best to help them in best possible manner.
I was very intrigued by the post by Yaser on responsibilities of an advisor so I decided to highlight other side of the coin, the responsibilities of people seeking advice. So this post is for anyone who seeks advice from anyone whether he is an entrepreneur or not.
Why do you seek advice?
Asking for advice makes you vulnerable because what you decide next now depends on the input from someone other than yourself. It is important to know that you are vulnerable because you can then take steps to ensure that you dont make a hurried decision. Never commit to something during or immediately after the advice. The best way is to take some time, sleep over it and then make up your mind
Always ask the relevant advisor
This is one of the biggest mistake people make and not surprisingly. After all, the natural reaction of someone in trouble is to hang on to anything that is available. You should always ask the relevant person. This is difficult because you may not have a relevant person in your circle, but keep looking for the right person.
Mind the background
Every advice is loaded biased with the experience of the advisor. So when someone says “Compiler from Sir Shafiq is a terrible course” its probably because he had a bad experience with him. And when I say “If you didnt take Compiler from Sir Shafiq, you dont know Programming” its because I ve had great experience with him. An advice is not absolute and you can even get conflicting advices from the same person based on how his experience has changed.
Resist the decision
If you are seeking advice, its a good indication that you are confused. Consequently, you want to jump to the first decision that you hear. However, resist the temptation to make an easy escape into certainity. Do not take decision from others, in fact avoid the advisors who have a habit of making decisions for you.
Question the advice
This is difficult because you are already in a confused state but you should still question the advice. The process of reaching to the decision is extremely important because it identifies the issues and creates a roadmap for you.
Its your career
Every advice comes with a hidden disclaimer,
“Do not come back and blame me for if it doesnt work”
Always remembet that its YOUR career, its most valuable to you and not to someone else. Others can help you, assist you, advise you, but eventually its your life. You should make the decision yourself because the advisor will not take the responsibility of any kind. You should always have yourself to blame for and no one else.
This is also an advice
Everything above applies to this post as well 
No related posts.
