The Best Advice is the One that Works for You!

I will say the most relevant thing first, the best advice is the one that works for you, period. I will take this even further and say the best advice is that you figured out on your own and then went ahead to make it work for you.

If success was ‘N step linear formula’ all the problems of the world would get solved in a jiffy. A lot of advice would go something like this- Follow step A, then do B and C should be the result. And yet in the real world that is hardly the case.

Chances are that the end of the free advice posts there would be a link to a paid course which would give you all the deep knowledge required for your success! And yet hardly any of the successful people ever admit to taking a course in order to become successful!

People who care for me know that I write a blog, which is moderately successful. They also know that I have quit my job recently. They sometimes forward me links to articles that give advice on how to write well. I recently read an article which collected advice from many great travel writes. It was refreshing to read because a lot of it was contradictory! And that is the key. What worked for someone and got them a lot of success, the opposite worked for someone else and got them a lot of success too!

Most of the advice fall into ‘one size fit all’ category. I am sure the people giving out the advice are sincere and yet they are a product of their unique environments too! What worked for them may not work for me! That brings me to the travel advice articles! While I read a large number of them, in just one I found someone saying their advice was age specific, targeted at 20 somethings. And then the points made some sense. The free bit was, as is the norm, followed by the opportunity to buy the paid course.

I am also a member of many Facebook travel groups. And sometimes I get scared. We so firmly believe in the correctness of our own ideas that we refuse to acknowledge the possibility that for someone else the opposite might be true! And travel is said to broaden our horizons and leave us more open to other people’s ideas! I will stick out my neck and say I have met all kind of travelers- generous, stupid, mean, dishonest, kind, caring, delightful, arrogant, idiots, fun and the list goes on. The same is true for people from any other walk of life.

I will of course keep reading advices, they are fun to read. In fact I have pick up a new hobby too, now that I have quit my job! I am browsing travel coupons and deals as the cash flow has reduced after quitting! Now did anyone mention that as a side effect of quitting their jobs this bluntly? I took my kids to Disneyland last year when I was working, there is no chance in hell I can do the same this year! Or wait the year is not over yet!

In the end I would say read as much as you want about best practices, but figure out for yourself what it is that works for you. And build up on it. But that would require some genuine reflection. And we are just too busy running the race! I would say stop running after ‘advice’ and start investing in what works for you! No one else can figure it out for you!