Never take advice from people whose thoughts are limited by their own reality.

Even when they love you.

Because those who love you often times don’t want you to risk anything.

It is also true that to transcend your reality and live your dreams you need to take risks.

Chances are you’ll find your parents, closest friends, partners and siblings among such people. So it becomes tough to say no to them. More so because any advice they offer will lead with emotion.

What can you do in such a situation?

There is no definitive answer to this question.

I’ll still try.

You’ll find two groups of people giving you advice.

In the first group, you have those who believe in you and want you to do well.

Then there are those who just want to practice their advice giving skills. They don’t care much about you. They offer advice to everyone they meet. Steer clear of this group.

Chances are you’ll speak with the first group often. With them, you need to proceed with caution because matters of heart might be involved.

Whenever you interact with them, hear them out and acknowledge their presence and advice.

Then tell them something on the lines of what I have shared below.

“I know how much you love me and care for me. I also know that you want the best for me. But I can’t follow everything you say because I don’t want to do what you have done. This does not mean I don’t love you enough.

I respect what you do. But I have chosen a different path for myself. It may seem a tough and unusual path but I’ll be alright. If I get stuck at any point who else will I turn to.. You, of course.

And, I am not the only one doing it. There are a lot of people who are doing what I am trying to do. Here are the people (give examples preferably those they know or have heard about) who have found success doing what I do.”

Twist and turn it the way you want.

Remind them of any success you have had so far.

You might have a similar conversation multiple times.

If it becomes too frequent, be tough once in a while and say that you can’t have this conversation too many times because you may lose focus. But always engage. Never hurt these people beyond a point because no point living your dreams without those you love around you.

Anyone who truly loves you want to believe you. They will either understand through your emotions or logic or both. You just need to try.

A line of caution. When you go after your dreams, don’t be a fool or a jerk. Calculate your upside and downside and then jump into doing what you want to do.

Hope this post offered some value to you.

Are you wondering who to take advice from?

Find a good mentor.

I wrote about finding a mentor earlier.