What’s the Worst Advice You’ve Ever Received?
Sometimes the people who love to give advice the most are the least qualified to do so. One person’s “words to live by” could be your ” words that ruined my life .” For example, I know I roll my eyes at many conventional truths that are repeated over and over again, such as “winners never give up.” As a certified winner, I quit all the time. Deliberately quitting smoking is the only way to get out of a negative situation, and getting out of a negative situation is the only way to succeed in life. The winners leave.
Other times, some nuggets of wisdom rot because of who gives them, like Kim Kardashian’s recent viral business advice “get your fucking ass up and work.” Plus, there’s romantic advice to ignore, such as from grandparents who tell you that “men don’t like women who are smarter than them,” even if (or especially because) that’s still true for some people.
Or maybe you’ve learned the hard way that it’s important to check all the life advice that’s circulating on the Internet. So many so-called hacks are fake at best, unless they end up making your life harder. (I’m looking at you, ” use your old ketchup bottles for pancake batter! “) From career advice to personal finance, to every area of your personal life, there’s a lot of bad advice out there.
This is where I turn to you readers of Lifehacker. The master becomes the disciple. What is the worst advice you have ever received? What have you learned about not trusting the directions of just anyone? Have you ever corrected a Lifehacker post in the comments section and now want to reach a wider audience? After reading your answers, I’ll collect the best ones to share in a post next week. Let’s hope this is how we can learn tips that really suck instead of finding them the hard way alone.