A Simple Test That Will Help You Tell if Youre Getting Bad Advice

A Simple Test That Will Help You Tell if Youre Getting Bad AdviceA Simple Test That Will Help You Tell if Youre Getting Bad AdviceIn my previous career as a management consultant, I welches considering a big career shift (leaving the field to start The Muse) and turned to a trusted mentor. She gave me some advice- and then added a caveat that I now apply to any advice I receive The vast majority of advice youll be given in your life will be one of two types Either Do what I did or Do whats best for me right now. Make sure you take the time to identify if either is the case before taking the advice at face value.Turns out, she was dead right.I asked a few other advisors at the management consulting firm what I should do. One partner strongly advised me to stay- cautioning me that I was walking away from a career with real promise and pushing me to think about what I was giving up and who I was letting down by leaving. But while he may have been right about my potential career path (or flattering me to convince me), after further reflection I realized he also had a horse in this race He liked working with me, and he had other projects coming up that my expertise would have been a perfect fit for. A good example of do whats best for me right now.Another partner told me to go and take some time to see what else was out there in the world. After probing a bit, I learned he had done the same. It may have been solid advice, but it was helpful to know that it was influenced by what had worked for him (or, alternatively, was a way to continue justifying his decision from years ago).In the end, I got many perspectives and made the decision that was right for me, but Ive taken this trick with me and use it whenever I get advice. Most of the time, I still find most advice to be helpful in one way or another (although context does help), but by asking myself, Is this what they did or whats best for them right now? Ive found a few duds Im glad I can ignore without worry.Phot o of people talking courtesy of Shutterstock.