What Is The Best Advice You Never Took?

We've all been there. Someone shares a piece of advice with you, maybe a mentor, a boss, a parent, or a close friend. You know they mean well. You nod politely, maybe even write it down. And then you ignore it.

Fast-forward a few months or years and you catch yourself thinking, "Wow, they were right."

So why didn't you take the advice in the first place?

It turns out that the answer has less to do with the advice itself and more to do with the way we're wired to see the world.

The Problem with Advice

Most advice is given through the lens of the person giving it.

A detail-oriented friend will remind you to double-check everything. A big-picture thinker might tell you not to sweat the small stuff. Someone who values relationships above all else might say, "It's not what you know, it's who you know."

Here's the catch: that advice probably worked wonders for them, but it might not fit you.

We all carry natural ways of approaching decisions, solving problems, and handling challenges. They feel so obvious to us that we assume everyone else must think the same way. (Spoiler: they don't.) That's why the best advice often bounces off.

Why We Resist Good Advice

Think back to a time when someone gave you a tip and you didn't take it. Maybe it was:

"Don't rush into it. Slow down and think it through."

"Stop overanalyzing everything and just make a move."

"You don't need all the facts; trust your gut."

"Don't go it alone — ask for help."

Each of these sounds reasonable, right? But depending on your natural tendencies, one of them might feel impossible to follow.

If you're a decisive, action-driven person, being told to "slow down" feels like torture. If you thrive on exploring options, "just make a move" sounds reckless. If you pride yourself on thoroughness, "trust your gut" feels flimsy. And if you're wired to be independent, "ask for help" feels like weakness.

We resist advice not because it's bad, but because it doesn't match how we're hardwired.

The Best Advice You Never Took

A mentor once told me, "You don't need all the answers before you start. Sometimes you just have to move."

At the time, I smiled and nodded, but inside I thought, "That's reckless. Why would anyone jump in without fully understanding the situation?" For me, solving problems meant gathering all the data, weighing the options, and finding the best path forward. Acting without that foundation felt like gambling.

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But later, I watched opportunities pass me by because I was still analyzing and researching while others were accomplishing. In hindsight, I realized my mentor wasn't dismissing the value of careful thought, they were reminding me that too much analysis can become its own kind of risk.

That was some of the best advice I never took: that sometimes progress matters more than perfection, and that moving forward, even imperfectly, creates the clarity I'd been waiting for.

What This Teaches Us

Here's the deeper lesson: the advice we resist the most is often the advice we most need.

It stretches us beyond our comfort zone and forces us to balance out our default tendencies.

For me, resisting advice to "just move" came from a deep desire to get things right. I wanted more data, a clearer answer, a perfect plan. But growth came when I realized that motion itself can create clarity. Some lessons only reveal themselves after you've stepped into the arena.

And it's not just about me. Think about it like this:

• If you're naturally bold, the advice to "slow down" might actually protect you.
• If you're naturally cautious, "trust your gut" might help you seize opportunities.
• If you're naturally independent, "ask for help" could open doors you can't unlock alone.
• If you're naturally people-focused, "don't lose sight of the details" might keep you grounded.
• And if you're naturally analytical, "just start" might be the only way you stop circling the runway and finally take off.

Advice that feels uncomfortable isn't always wrong. Sometimes it's the one thing that makes us whole.

How to Spot the Advice You Need

So how do you tell which advice is worth revisiting? Here are a few clues:

• You've heard it more than once. If different people keep telling you the same thing, pay attention. They're seeing something you might not.
• It makes you squirm. If your first reaction is, "That's not me," it could be pointing to an area where you've been avoiding growth.
• It shows up in your struggles. If you keep hitting the same wall — missed deadlines, strained relationships, stalled projects — look back at the advice you brushed off. It might hold the key.

Giving Advice That Sticks

When you give advice, despite your intention, you're still seeing it through your own lens. Of course, this works both ways. When you give advice, remember that you're seeing it from your own perspective. If you're action-oriented, you'll tell people to "just go for it." If you're detail-oriented, you'll remind them to "check the numbers."

That's not bad advice, but it may not land with someone who is wired differently than you. The trick is to notice what the other person values most and frame your advice in a way that connects with them.

Communication is most effective when it is tailored to the recipient, not the messenger.

Instead of saying, "Slow down," you could try, "If you take an extra day, you'll get better results." Instead of, "Trust your gut," you might say, "What does your experience tell you?"

Advice sticks when it meets people where they are.

Some Parting Advice ;-)

So let me leave you with this: What is the best advice you never took?

Chances are, it's advice that rubbed against your natural tendencies. It felt awkward or even wrong at the time. But maybe — just maybe — it was exactly what you needed.

The next time you hear advice that makes you squirm, resist the urge to dismiss it right away. Sit with it. Ask yourself, "Is this the balance I've been missing?"

Have I been using a hammer all this time when a screwdriver was the best tool for the job?

Because the best advice is rarely the easiest to follow. And sometimes, the advice we ignore today is the wisdom we live by tomorrow.

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