Don’t be an askhole is great advice for anyone. We all know that one person who keeps asking you for advice but does exactly the opposite, only to annoy you again with more questions that he will ignore again. Don’t, under any circumstance be an askhole. But the world is filled with more tellwhores than askholes. Those who will spew out unsolicited advice regarding any topic, that they think they have the knowledge and insight worth listening to. These kind of people are worse than white-collar criminals. They are most probably an IYI, intellectual yet idiot, as Nassim Taleb calls in his book “Skin in the game”. The most common way to identify who’s an IYI is to figure out if they have skin in the game in what they are talking about. It might seem obvious, but the world is filled with people who on a day to day basis are fooled into thinking people have more knowledge than them just because they sound smart.
The golden rule is to never take:
- Career advise from a lifer.
- Investment advise from a broke person.
- Relationship advise from a single.
- Fitness advise from a fat person.
- Life advice from someone who has never lived.
Best yet, never take advice from someone who has never deadlifted. I know, what the hell does deadlift have anything to do with it. And I believe deadlift is a metaphor for life. If a person has taken on a task, had skin in the game, and overcame a huge hurdle and survived by lifting the burden, then he or she is worth listening to. If not, they are just an IYI.
Kaushal Sadashiv 