Let's Stop The Unsolicited Advice When You Don't Want It
When you need advice the most is when people do not give it out.
Recently, I've taken some time off from Odyssey.
My life went from zero to one hundred, literally, in seconds. Climbing to the highest points — thriving in school, rushing a sorority, and planning a trip of a lifetime. Things changed quickly.
Growing up, people voice their opinions a lot... "Oh, you colored your hair?" "You are going to Ohio for school? Why would you ever do that?" "Ew, you like him?" It is not just the adults; peers, mentors, and even your parents... I've spent the majority of my life taking into account others opinions, others views and beliefs.
BUT
When things change for the worse, no one wants to give you their opinion or their advice... funny how that works.
Unsolicited advice usually stresses people out; making whatever in their life is going wrong that much worse. It is incredibly invasive. The people who are giving their advice obviously care, but they don't realize that offering unsolicited advice is rarely received as caring. Instead, it's often experienced as invasive because the agenda is to get the other person to change rather than trying to understand why they are making the choices they are making.
So instead of voicing your unsolicited advice when I do not want it, let us try something different. Instead of doing all of this, let's start giving advice when people really need it.
