At this point, I’m more cautious about giving advice than I’ve ever been before. This doesn’t meant that I never give advice. I’m happy to offer advice if someone asks for it and I can be of help to them. However, when someone tells me they’re going through a hard time, I focus much more on listening to them and being there for them. They usually don’t ask for advice and I almost never ask if they want any. This is mostly due to the fact that when I go through a hard time, I just want to either be left alone or to be comforted and supported by those around me; I usually don’t want advice.
Additionally, I’ve learned that since everyone is different, what works for me may not work for you. I use a lot of deep breathing techniques which help me a lot but might be a bad idea for someone who has trouble breathing. The techniques I’ve developed to address my weaknesses may not work for someone who has different weaknesses than I do. And, since learning styles can vary greatly from one person to another, someone else might benefit more from listening to audiobooks than they would from reading print books, which is my preference. These are some of the many things that made me change my approach to giving advice.
I still use my blog to pass on things I find helpful in case they help someone else. Whenever I do this, I try to keep in mind that some things might only work well for me, which helps me avoid getting upset or discouraged if that happens. I think I’ll always encourage people to try a lot of different things out so they can find what work well for them. That’s been my life for the past year or two: testing all kinds of life hacks, routines, and systems to figure out the best ones for me. I hope everyone does this so they can spend their lives reaping the benefits of continual growth and progress.