• Home
  • About
  • The Book
  • Archives
  • Advertise
  • Contact

The Worst Mistake You Can Make When Asking For Advice

20 Aug, 2007  Advice  Brian Armstrong

Everyone has an opinion, and they will usually share it with you whether you want them to or not. Ask 10 different people how start your own business, and you will get 10 different opinions.

The same goes for asking advice on how to get in shape, how to find a good deal in real estate, how to make a good sales pitch, how to throw a good party, how to make a good website, how to etc…

So what is good advice and what is bad advice? Who should you listen to?

One of the most important things I ever learned is this: only take advice from people who have already done what you are trying to accomplish.

It’s fine to listen to people you meet, theres no reason to be rude, but don’t put much faith in what they tell you unless they’ve already done it themselves.

I think if you take a hard look at where you’ve been getting most of your beliefs about building wealth for example (parents, teachers, friends, media), they aren’t good sources by this standard.

Let’s say that your goal is to be worth $10 million. Are your parents worth $10 million? Was your economics professor in college worth $10 million? Is your buddy Steve at work worth $10 million? Is the person who wrote that article in Forbes magazine worth $10 million?

Robert Kiyosaki makes this point about who you should listen to in his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

It’s amazing how often you run into someone who is just itching to tell you why you’re wrong. Be careful about who you take advice from, or you could very easily end up just as unsuccessful as they are.

Where have you been getting advice in your life?

Want to get 3 of the top 10 books every written on building wealth for FREE? Just subscribe to this blog and I'll send them instantly to your inbox. Oh yeah, and I promise to keep your email address private. I hate spam too!

3 Comments so far »

  1. Chris said,

    Wrote on August 20, 2007 @ 6:08 am

    I agree with your advice analysis. I can’t count the number of times per week someone in my family asks why I am doing something with my blog, job, or finances. What most people don’t realize is that all of that bad advice can build up over the years and it takes a lot of effort to get rid of it.

    [Reply]

  2. quotes said,

    Wrote on August 20, 2007 @ 9:11 am

    Sidney Harris said, “Never take the advice of someone who has not had your kind of trouble.”

    [Reply]

  3. Brian Armstrong said,

    Wrote on August 20, 2007 @ 11:49 am

    Yep family is often the toughest one to overcome. Thanks for the quote!

    [Reply]

Comment RSS · TrackBack URI

Leave a Comment

Name: (Required)

E-mail: (Required)

Website:

Comment:

For spam detection purposes, please copy the number 4429 to the field below:

Click to cancel reply
  • Subscribe and get...


    3 of the Top 10 Books Ever
    Written On Building Wealth FREE

    instantly delivered to your inbox!
       Or subscribe by RSS
  • Sponsors

    Free Business Cards Plus 14-Day Free Shipping $50+ Click here to start saving with ING DIRECT!
    Learn How To Earn A Living Online
    Your Ad Here »
  • Brian is currently...

Follow me on Twitter »

  • Most Popular Posts

    • How To Stop Letting Little Things In Life Piss You Off
    • How To Analyze A Killer Real Estate Deal
    • How To Understand (and Create) A Personal Financial Statement Each Month In 5 Minutes
    • Day 2: New Article, Amazon Cover Upload, and Digg Comments
    • How A Board Game (Like Monopoly) Can Teach You Financial Freedom
    • How The Rich Think Differently Than The Poor and Middle Class
    • Building Website Traffic - Three Items Per Day For A Month
    • From New Idea To Business Launch In One Month (with pictures)
    • How To Disappear From Your Job For A Year, And Continue To Earn Money
    • Why You're Worse Than You Think At Estimating Risk
  • Suggest A Post

  • Recommended Sites

      • Business Card Printing
      • Business Process Outsourcing
      • Vector Marketing
      • Cash Advance
      • business opportunities
      • 50% Affiliate Program
      • flash drive recovery
      • Don Watros
    • Home Based Businesses
    • Your Site Here
  • Categories

    • Advice
    • Books
    • Business Ideas
    • Education
    • How To
    • Incorporation
    • Interviews
    • Lifestyle
    • Marketing
    • Productivity
    • Psychology
    • Real Estate
    • Success Stories
    • Uncategorized
    • Updates
    • Wealth
  • Top Commentators

    • Creer un site
    • ericabiz
    • Gopal
    • Chris Guthrie
    • Smallbizbee
  • Search

    Google

    An interesting project I'm working on...
    Austin Tutors, New York Tutors, Philadelphia Tutors, and Boston Tutors.

Related Posts

    • The Worst Mistake You Can Make When Asking For Advice
    • A Mentor That Will Help The Competition
    • The Single Most Important Thing To Do In 2008
    • Interview With A Self Made Millionaire - Howard Rambin
    • How To Get A Great Business Mentor For Free
    • Interview With A Self Made Millionaire - Steve Davis
    • How I Continually Test My Sales Page
    • Inspiration to quit for the week…
    • Bill Gates Doesn’t Have an IRA or 401K
    • Get 3 of the Top 10 Books on Building Wealth for FREE

Recent Comments

  • Creer un site: The issue with adsense on a blog is the same as with forum, readers are ads-blind worse, I’m a...
  • Erica Douglass: Hi Brian, I would go one step further and say “the ebook should not be your primary source of...
  • Gopal: Great point. People will always find a way to not pay for something if they can. It’s just become the...
  • Brian Armstrong: Thanks for stopping by Erica, yep Peggy is like a second mother to me :) You have a good idea there...
  • Brian Armstrong: You’re right. We forget how hard driving was the first time. It actually takes a lot of...

Subscribe by Email

...and you'll get

3 of the Top 10 Books Every Written on Building Wealth for FREE

instantly delivered to your inbox!

© 2008 Breaking Free | Resources | Start home based business | Start home business idea | Start home business
XHTML CSS

Podcast Powered by podPress (v8.2)