Day 42 (forty-two) of 365 days

Seeking advice from a reasonable person. This virtue enables us to know who we can trust to have our best interest at heart, as well as when to ask for help. It's important to know how valuable it is to have a handful of trustworthy mentors available to us throughout our lives.

There's probably been countless moments in our lives where we've leaned on someone we trust for advice or assistance. Whether the person you turn to is a professor, friend, family member, athletic coach or others, the importance of mentors is undeniable. These people can help to guide, direct and shape our present situation and future for the better.

Seeking and giving advice are central to effective leadership and decision making. Receiving guidance is often seen as the passive consumption of wisdom. And advising is typically treated as a matter of "good judgement" - you either have it or you don’t - rather than a competency to be mastered.

When we get advise and someone advises us, we both benefit. Those who are truly open to guidance develop better solutions to problems than they would have on their own. They add nuance and texture to their thinking - and research shows, they can overcome cognitive biases, self-serving rationales, and other flaws in the logic. Those who advise on the other hand, effectively wield soft influence - they shape important decisions while empowering others to act.

As engage listener, we can also learn from the problems that others bring to us. However, we need to be careful in giving advice that’s based solely on our personal experience and always be very specific about exactly what needs to be done differently - the specific behaviours the person should or shouldn’t engage in.

Bad advice can leave us frustrated, confused or headed down the wrong path. When we can't just seem to "Be positive" and "Take action", we might feel that the fault lies with us.