What’s the Best Piece of Advice You’ve Ever Received?

[jross]

A successful salesman from Pennsylvania was offered a promising job in the Midwest but hesitated, gripped by fear of failure. He confided in his father, expressing his worry that he might get fired and fail to provide for his family. His father calmly asked, "What’s the worst that could happen? You’d move into our basement, regroup, and be back on your feet within a year. Go for it." Reassured by this perspective, the salesman found the courage to take the risk and pursue the opportunity.

This eventual SR VP shared his personal story with me in a small group setting at work.  "What's the worse that could happen" is now stressed in my family with big decisions.

[Bigbrog]

Best work advice I ever received was probably "Don't let other people's piss poor performance affect your performance."

Close second "Work is like a stage...every time you come through those doors it's show time; however, if you aren't ready or can't perform stay home...that is way better than showing up and not performing to your best ability"...not sure why that one stuck with me but it did.

[Gene Mills Fan]

you only get out what you put in!

[Scouts Honor]

dont become a history teacher 

[mspart]

My Dad.   Marry rich or marry tall.   I did neither.   But happily married for 36+ years.  

mspart

[JimmySpeaks]

Attended a National Sales meeting a couple decades ago where the speaker spent quite a bit of time discussing how 10% of life is what happens to you and the other 90% is how you react to it. 

[ionel]

Never back up when you can go forward. 

[mspart]

Smoke meat or die.

mspart

 

[jross]

Some of the best advice I’ve ever heard comes from the Orange Juice Story, which teaches proactive ownership in leadership. A team hosting a breakfast for 600 guests at a conference center realizes no orange juice was ordered. Five team members respond differently:

• Newest Associate: Informs by saying, “There’s no orange juice” but does nothing.
• Junior Sales Associate: Provides alternatives.  "We can get OJ at $1-per-person cost.  What should we do?”
• Mid-Level Associate: Verifies the $600 cost, Recommends ordering, and awaits approval.
• Senior Sales Associate: Decides to and arranges the $600 order, acts, and Seeks confirmation to place the order.
• Sales Leader: Independently resolves the issue, ensuring the event’s success.  Says "“Good morning! What a beautiful day! Hey, breakfast is just about ready next door. Why don’t you join us?:

The advice? Take full ownership... don’t just identify problems, solve them proactively. This lesson also serves as a gauge for career growth, showing how accountability evolves from pointing out issues to owning solutions.  It changed how I approach challenges.

[jross]

2 hours ago, JimmySpeaks said:

Attended a National Sales meeting a couple decades ago where the speaker spent quite a bit of time discussing how 10% of life is what happens to you and the other 90% is how you react to it. 

If you like core stoic principles, I recommend "The Daily Stoic."

[mspart]

1 hour ago, jross said:

 

Some of the best advice I’ve ever heard comes from the Orange Juice Story, which teaches proactive ownership in leadership. A team hosting a breakfast for 600 guests at a conference center realizes no orange juice was ordered. Five team members respond differently:

• Newest Associate: Informs by saying, “There’s no orange juice” but does nothing.
• Junior Sales Associate: Provides alternatives.  "We can get OJ at $1-per-person cost.  What should we do?”
• Mid-Level Associate: Verifies the $600 cost, Recommends ordering, and awaits approval.
• Senior Sales Associate: Decides to and arranges the $600 order, acts, and Seeks confirmation to place the order.
• Sales Leader: Independently resolves the issue, ensuring the event’s success.  Says "“Good morning! What a beautiful day! Hey, breakfast is just about ready next door. Why don’t you join us?:

The advice? Take full ownership... don’t just identify problems, solve them proactively. This lesson also serves as a gauge for career growth, showing how accountability evolves from pointing out issues to owning solutions.  It changed how I approach challenges.

The sales leader took ownership because he could.   The lower level folks can't spend $600 without authorization in most companies.  If they do, they risk getting fired for fiscal negligence or impropriety, spending money without prior authorization.   That's how it works where I am employed anyway.   I assume that is the way it works most places.   Gotta get signatures.   But the top guy can because he/she is the top guy. 

mspart

[JimmySpeaks]

3 hours ago, jross said:

If you like core stoic principles, I recommend "The Daily Stoic."

I’m not that smart. I just started applying it to the everyday things that made it seem like the world was out to get me.  Is there a way to get thru this?  Almost always yes.  If not , how do I make the most of the situation?   I like Most other people would go the other direction far too often.  The glass half full or half empty turned into the glass is pretty much always full.  

[WrestlingRasta]

This one guy named D3 said something to the effect of don’t argue with idiots…

Edited May 30 by WrestlingRasta

[headshuck]

Actively seek out more information than editorial spin and form your own conclusions.

[El Luchador]

Don't ignore your own experience to accept someone else's opinion.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

"stay off message boards"

[JimmySpeaks]

Don’t let your feelings control your life.  

[JimmySpeaks]

Don’t cry to mods because your feelings got hurt.  It’s just the internet. 

Edited May 30 by JimmySpeaks

[headshuck]

Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

[jross]

14 hours ago, mspart said:

The sales leader took ownership because he could.   The lower level folks can't spend $600 without authorization in most companies.  If they do, they risk getting fired for fiscal negligence or impropriety, spending money without prior authorization.   That's how it works where I am employed anyway.   I assume that is the way it works most places.   Gotta get signatures.   But the top guy can because he/she is the top guy. 

mspart

The story’s about owning what you can do. Everyone, from the newbie to the mid-level associate, can take that next step without permission. Doing just a bit more than your role screams “I’m ready for bigger things.” That’s how you move up and eventually get to call the shots like the Sales Leader. 

And if you’re a Senior Associate, talk to your Sales Leader about getting the chance to make those decisions yourself. I’ve seen it work.  Depending on the boss, you can negotiate preapproval for expenses or the authority to make moves within a set budget. That’s one method to start calling shots.

[jross]

When I was 21, I was struggling with depression after my dad passed away. I was in a college lab, working on a Java program to make a device blink a red light, and I couldn’t have cared less. I was dragging my feet, unmotivated. Then my least favorite professor came over and said something that stuck with me. He told me to stop fixating on the red light and think about what it represented: control. The ability to remotely manage something like your home’s AC... the early seeds of the Internet of Things. That shift in perspective lit a spark. It was my first real lesson in starting with why. Ever since, focusing on the bigger purpose behind a task has helped me push through reluctance and find motivation, no matter how small or daunting the job feels.

[Jason Bryant]

The RA on my floor my first year at that place in Norfolk was coming off a tour in the Middle East.

“If you’re going to be stupid, be smart about it”

[ionel]

3 hours ago, Jason Bryant said:

“If you’re going to be stupid, be smart about it”

This should be pinned to the top of the forum.  

[WrestlingRasta]

When all else fails, stand up and kick the s**t out of somebody.  
 

(In wrestling context of course) 

[ionel]

4 minutes ago, WrestlingRasta said:

When all else fails, stand up and smoke the s**t out of some meat.  

ftfy