Baggage Management

Not all  advice is helpful. Not all advice is timely. And not all advice is worthwhile. Despite that there is no shortage of people offering judgement, opinion and direction.

For each and every challenge we face during our life journey we will find any number of individuals and organisations suggesting ways we can do it better, do it easier and do it cheaper. Quite often there is so much being said by so many people that the only result is confusion. Confusion is not helpful.

So much of the advice we hear and see appears to be sincere and yet far too much of it has either a personal of financial motivation. It’s being offered by people who want to gain not give. So many people want control over our emotions or our finances. Such advice is far from free and useful.

Any advice offered should be carefully considered before it’s accepted or modified to suit circumstance. Snap decisions are ill-advised.

It’s important to take the time to consider the motivation of  the advice-giver. Sincerity is not  necessarily a qualifying factor. Conviction may suggest qualification but even the most heartfelt guidance can be wrong.

If the advice  being offered is a link or a bridge from where we are in life to where we want to be then it may well be worth further cautionary thought. However, there’s a cost or a consequence for every decision we make. We are the only ones who can decide if that cost is worth paying or if that consequence is worth owning. It’s personal.

There will always be occasions when we decide with our heart and not our head and, acting on the opinions of others, choose the wrong direction. To err is human. But we should use our common sense to ensure that the baggage we carry is kept as light and manageable as possible.