{"id":2389,"date":"2011-12-18T18:29:30","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T01:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=2389"},"modified":"2019-03-08T06:35:18","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T14:35:18","slug":"two-types-of-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Types of Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, there\u2019s generic advice. The kind that fills books and graduation ceremonies. It represents the advice-giver\u2019s accumulated wisdom, but it\u2019s not directed to an individual.<\/p>\n

Confucius shared general principles of good living, not just advice for one person. Steve Jobs spoke<\/a> to the entire Stanford convocation, not just one graduate.<\/p>\n

The advantage of generic advice is scale. Instead of reasoning about all cases and circumstances, the advice-giver tries to provide a best-fit approximation of the advice for most cases. The advice is better the closer you are to the author\u2019s ideal case.<\/p>\n

Because of this scale, through books we can access the recorded generic advice of the best thinkers who have ever lived. It doesn\u2019t matter that Seneca died thousands of years ago, I can still draw lessons from his teachings to apply to my own life.<\/p>\n

The disadvantage of this advice is that the more nuanced the situation, or the further removed you are from the ideal case, the worse the advice is. Seneca couldn\u2019t have anticipated how life has changed in modern times, nor could he anticipate all possible permutations of life situations.<\/p>\n

The Importance of Specific Advice and Mentors<\/h2>\n

I love generic advice. It\u2019s probably the reason I read so many books. But the problem with this advice is that sometimes it doesn\u2019t work. You may try your best to implement the suggestions of one author, only to find them useless. Worse are the generic platitudes or advice which is correct \u201con paper\u201d but fail to accommodate the endless nuances of reality.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why specific advice is crucial. Specific advice allows you to tap into the tacit and nuanced knowledge of someone who has been there before. It\u2019s the difference between reading a book on calculus, and having someone show you exactly why you got a question wrong.<\/p>\n

Institutions like universities are mostly about facilitating this specific advice. With Wikipedia, cheap textbooks, libraries and Google searches, generic advice large enough to fill entire lifetimes of education is freely accessible. The gap being filled isn\u2019t the knowledge, but the specific advice that is sometimes missed in a textbook.<\/p>\n

Because specific advice is so valuable, it helps explain the importance of \u201cwho you know over what you know\u201d to fields like business. Because the generic advice is too simple to fill all the gaps. Ben Casnocha<\/a> puts this another way in saying, \u201cthe who you know is<\/em> the what you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding Mentors<\/h2>\n

A realization that made a big difference in my life was that, just as I can read books in a library, I can go find mentors to help me. Too many people put arbitrary limits on who they can attempt to reach out to or ask advice from, and as such, never get the benefits of having someone experienced give them a push in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the higher you aim your sights, the harder it can be to make a deep connection. People are busy, so they won\u2019t always return your emails or calls. But for whatever pursuit you\u2019re trying to excel at, there are thousands, if not millions of people who have done it before. The stupidest thing you can do is not even try to talk to any of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, there\u2019s generic advice. The kind that fills books and graduation ceremonies. It represents the advice-giver\u2019s accumulated wisdom, but it\u2019s not directed to an individual. Confucius shared general principles of good living, not just advice for one person. Steve Jobs spoke to the entire Stanford convocation, not just one graduate. The advantage of generic advice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,682],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-personal-development","7":"category-nc-learning","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTwo Types of Advice - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are two types of advice. Generic and specific one. Find out when to use what and how you can benefit from both of them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two Types of Advice - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are two types of advice. Generic and specific one. Find out when to use what and how you can benefit from both of them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-19T01:29:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-08T14:35:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"headline\":\"Two Types of Advice\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-19T01:29:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-08T14:35:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":555,\"commentCount\":25,\"articleSection\":[\"General\",\"Learning\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/\",\"name\":\"Two Types of Advice - Scott H Young\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-19T01:29:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-08T14:35:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"description\":\"There are two types of advice. Generic and specific one. Find out when to use what and how you can benefit from both of them.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/18\\\/two-types-of-advice\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Two Types of Advice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Scott H Young\",\"description\":\"Learn faster, achieve more\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\",\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Scott Young\"},\"description\":\"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/scottadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two Types of Advice - Scott H Young","description":"There are two types of advice. Generic and specific one. Find out when to use what and how you can benefit from both of them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two Types of Advice - Scott H Young","og_description":"There are two types of advice. Generic and specific one. Find out when to use what and how you can benefit from both of them.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/","og_site_name":"Scott H Young","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/","article_published_time":"2011-12-19T01:29:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-08T14:35:18+00:00","author":"Scott Young","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@scotthyoung","twitter_site":"@scotthyoung","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Young","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/"},"author":{"name":"Scott Young","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"headline":"Two Types of Advice","datePublished":"2011-12-19T01:29:30+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-08T14:35:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/"},"wordCount":555,"commentCount":25,"articleSection":["General","Learning"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/","name":"Two Types of Advice - Scott H Young","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-12-19T01:29:30+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-08T14:35:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"description":"There are two types of advice. Generic and specific one. Find out when to use what and how you can benefit from both of them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/18\/two-types-of-advice\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Two Types of Advice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/","name":"Scott H Young","description":"Learn faster, achieve more","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c","name":"Scott Young","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Scott Young"},"description":"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/author\/scottadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2389"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5048,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions\/5048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}