Why You Should Never Give Advice
Everyone needs a little advice every now and then, and there have no doubt been times when you’ve given yours, asked for or not. It’s what we humans do.
It’s usually a harmless endeavor that won’t get you or anyone else in trouble. But not always. There are times when your advice might not only land you in hot water, but the receiver as well.
In this post, we’ll explore some of the ways your advice could backfire, and why you should probably keep it to yourself.
1) You’re probably not an expert
If you are an expert in a particular field, then there is nothing wrong with giving advice. You know your subject matter and can offer suggestions based on what you know to be true.
But if you aren’t? Then it could get ugly fast.
If someone comes to you asking which stocks to buy, for instance, and you’re not a qualified broker, you should avoid giving them your advice, as it will be based off speculation, not knowledge.
2) It might not be requested or wanted
It’s a good idea to avoid giving unsolicited advice.
If someone asks for your opinion, then you can offer it and they’ll be able to take it or leave it. But don’t go around telling people what they “need” to do without being asked first.
People don’t take kindly to being preached to, and it might seem like you’re judging them if you offer any type of advice they didn’t ask for.
3) You could give the wrong advice
If you don’t know what you’re talking about, then the advice you give could be wrong.
And if they take your suggestion and it backfires? They’ll blame you when everything goes belly up.
This could lead to the destruction of a friendship or relationship.
4) Your advice might work for some but not for others
Every person’s situation will be different, and you can’t know what would be best for someone else, no matter how well it worked for you.
Even if the problem is exactly the same, different people will have a completely different way to solve it, so your advice might not work in this case.
It’s better to leave things up to the person – let them figure out how they want to deal with their own problem.
5) People have to learn from their mistakes
It’s not always a bad thing when people make mistakes. In fact, learning from one’s own mistakes makes a person stronger and more capable to handle similar situations in the future.
Although we like saving people from making the same mistakes we did by warning them, if you keep giving out advice, people will never get the chance to make the mistakes that might shape them into better people.
6) You’ll get annoyed when they ignore your advice
No matter how good or well thought out your advice is, it won’t always be followed.
People will make their own decisions at the end of the day, even if those decisions are stupid. This will only frustrate you for having wasted your time and good advice on someone who ignored it anyway.
7) You could be sued
It’s not just the social repercussions you need to be worried about, there are legal ones too, where giving bad advice could get you sued.
For example, if somebody takes your advice and makes a foolish decision that leads to financial ruin or physical harm, they may come after you for damages.
8) Your motives might not be good
Although most of the advice we give to the people we care about comes from a place of love, that isn’t always the case. Sometimes, we might not be aware that our advice, subconsciously, could be selfish.
For instance, you might be single and miserable, and you want everyone else to join you in your misery, so you give bad dating advice to achieve that.
Thus, you can’t always be sure if you have good intentions when handing out your advice.
What to do instead?
Give anecdotes
If you don’t want to give advice but still want to help someone out, you can give them anecdotes instead. Anecdotes taken from your own life may look like advice but they’re not.
You could easily tell people how you overcame an obstacle without telling them what they should do. This way, you protect yourself, they don’t feel pressured, and you won’t destroy your relationship with them.