People who want "advice" are full of shit
Hey Post,
I think the subject line says it all. And the sad thing is, I used to be one of 'em. Didn't you?
General advice, general consulting, is meaningless. If there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that to progress/excel, you need to really, truly, want to grow on a deep level. And, while not the only way to express that deep yearning, one of the best ones I've found is to ask the right questions before you get the answers.
I blogged about this on my old blog, but it bears repeating:
If you want to feel better about yourself, ask for advice. If you want to do better for yourself (and others), ask for help with a problem.
I see it all the time. I don't want to single anybody out, because I know and love my friends and (most of) my colleagues, both present and former. But I see it all the time: "I want to be ______. What should I do?"; "I need to take one more course. What should I take?"; "I can't pick up girls. What am I doing wrong?"
Post, if you ever ask me one of these, I'm going to slap you. Good questions, ones that will help you grow, start with "how" or "why". They're more specific, personal, and measurable than the ones I just mentioned. You don't want to be a musician/producer/actor, you want to play a sold-out show at the Horseshoe in the next 12 months; you want to produce a profitable musical that draws record numbers of students; you want to have a supporting role in a Toronto-filmed TV show before the end of 2009.
Last year, the person formerly known as my best friend was trying to grow as a DJ. I sat down with him and we chatted for a couple hours while drinking some whisky and playing Xbox 360, and we made a clear, tough-but-reasonable path: he had to play at least one big show before the end of the summer, have at least one residency at a good local bar by the end of the year, be booked out of town within 12 months, and release some tracks or a mixtape semi-professionally before the end of the following summer.
We accomplished all of those goals (though I wasn't involved with his EP) by knowing what to ask the people we worked with. And, while he hasn't been booked out of town yet, he was offered a gig in Vancouver by the DJ we brought in for New Year's Eve.
I could come up with a bunch more examples, but that might bore you. Maybe another time, mang.
--Aidan
P.S. Like I said, there can be exceptions. One of which I'm going to write to right now...
