We don’t always listen to others’ advice. We also don’t always listen to our own advice.
Need an example? One of my earliest posts about jogging described how jogging was going to become the habit that creates all the other habits I want. But I didn’t follow through with that habit. I stopped jogging for nearly 3 months until I switched over to running.
I also wrote a post about living life as if someone was watching you. I wasn’t following that lesson either.
In other words, I haven’t been listening to my own advice. But that’s exactly one of the reasons why I started this blog.
(I’m using advice and lessons interchangeably because I call my posts lessons but they can also be considered advice— I call them takeaways, too.)
Giving advice and lessons to others helps me reinforce them and reminds me how I should act; it helps me follow my own advice.
This doesn’t mean I don’t listen to others’ advice. I do. But I’m the one who makes the decision in the end, so I needed my input on the received advice as well.
I grew up listening to others for as long as I can remember. I rarely thought and acted on my own. But when I was in high school, a decision from another person gave me plenty of time to reflect on what I’ve been doing up to that point. For two years, I did more thinking than I ever did. It was during those two years that I fell in love with reading books and taking long walks. I discovered a lot about myself by listening to my thoughts.
I like writing and wanted to share my thoughts with others, so I created this blog. It’s a selfish way of thinking, but selfishness is sometimes necessary to help yourself so that you can help others.
Wanting to change the world, after all, is perhaps the most selfish thing a person can do.
TAKEAWAY #1: Giving others advice or lessons helps us remember them easier so that we can listen to our own.
TAKEAWAY #2: The most important lesson is to listen to ourselves.
Here’s my inspiration for the day.