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In a lot of situations, it is a social expectation to ask for advice, even if you have no intention of following it.

At the same time, it is socially inappropriate to tell someone you don’t want their advice because you disagree with their opinions/life decisions/etc.

Which is why, as a general rule, I think you should only take advice from people that have the same situation that you want to have - unless it’s negative advice not to do what they did.



This lines up with one of the best pieces of advice I've ever received: if you want to accomplish something, find someone who's done it successfully, and do what they do.

Basically, follow a proven recipe for success. Don't try to figure everything out yourself, pretty much anything you might want to do has already been done, and done well, by someone.


> if you want to accomplish something, find someone who's done it successfully, and do what they do.

This is poor advice: every person accomplished in $FOO has had a large component consisting of luck.

You can do everything Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Obama did, and still not get anywhere close to accomplishing what they did.


No, you can't teleport back to the beginning of the computer revolution, so you can't "do everything Steve Jobs or Bill Gates did."

Nor is this advice typically intended for some extreme example like becoming a billionaire or president. It's more like: if you want to have a successful marriage, imitate the guy that's been married for 25 years, don't listen to the advice of the twice divorced guy (unless he's telling you what not to do.)




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