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Giving others advice is a tricky undertaking.
People aren’t naturally open to receiving advice from those around them. Especially if you’re of the same caliber in skill, success, and general experience in life, giving advice to others is difficult to get right. Being seen as a “know it all” is likely, especially when you aren’t careful with how you present the advice you think will help those in need.
Even if your act of sharing important information is coming from a place of helpfulness and kindness, the ones around you aren’t always accepting of those who say they know more in everyday aspects of life. What makes you so sure your advice is correct? What makes you so sure those you’re speaking to are seeking advice in the first place?
As an entity which gives ‘influence advice’, this topic hits close to home. Presenting advice in a way which will be accepted, adhered to, and appreciated by those who listen is an art in itself. You should be careful in how you attempt to give advice to those who don’t ask for it, and should fear what your words of advice can lead to.
The actions people take whilst adhering to the advice you give places responsibility onto your shoulders. As a successful giver of advice, you are thereby an influencer, and should take that role seriously. This article hopes to remind you of two things to remember whilst giving others advice.
Be in Tune With What the Other Fears
Fear is difficult to numb and suppress. Our mothers will die. Our career may not pan out the way we hope it would, and our opponents may win a consecutive series of battles on their path to overcome our attempt in attaining success.
Will we be another loser in life? The lack of not knowing outcomes leads to fear. Fear is the gel which fills gaps in our attempts to understand life. Fear is what we yearn so hard to suppress and overcome. Fear does well in dictating our behavior.
Whilst giving advice, map out the things people fear. Ensure your advice hits on how to limit their fears, and overcome them. Centre your advice around the fears of the individual in question, and in doing so, they’ll be likely to listen to what you say.
Do this when you actually have things to advise which limit fear. Empty promises surrounding the reduction of fear in the other will be met with hostility and displeasure. Don’t make false promises for reducing fear in the other individual. However, when you have something to say which will suppress the fear in the other individual, ensure they know of the fact that it will.
Be in Tune With Their Desire to Improve Themselves
There seems to be a force which governs the existence of humanity that calls for the improvement of every single individual who serves to comprise the whole. In other words, most people yearn to improve as they continue onward through life. We’d hate to realize that on our deathbed, we haven’t grown in mind and spirit compared to who we were at eighteen. People’s desire to improve themselves entices them to listen to dialogue which contains information on how they can do just that.
Whilst giving advice, attempt to learn what the other desires to improve about themselves. If the person you’re speaking with wants to improve their input during important meetings at work, you’ll know what to focus your advice on.
You’d perhaps merge the advice of how they can improve their input during important meetings with philosophies you hold dear to your heart. That way, you’d be able to not only entice them to listen whilst providing valuable dialogue to them, but also spread your opinionated truths in the process. You’d be able to spread your intellectual seed whilst giving advice in a manner which wouldn’t be possible without personalizing your advice toward the aspects of self improvement that your listener respects.