A question should be simple right? I mean it is just a string of words punctuated by a question mark at the end. Sounds simple, but I guess it depends on that question doesn’t it? What if I was to ask you,

what is the best life advice you were ever given?

I mean the best! It is hard to answer isn’t it? Or is that just me?

Through life we are given loads of advice, some great, some terrible and some we just didn’t listen to (even if we should have).  I am sure we have all done this, but that’s life and we learn (hopefully) by making mistakes.

I recently gave my daughter some advice which I totally love in the form of a wall print from toucanonline.com

Screen Shot 2016-03-24 at 5.51.52 pm

Click to tweet: Always be yourself unless you can be a mermaid. Always be a mermaid!

But it is not really reality, as let’s face it we can’t be mermaids. So what is the best advice I have ever received?

Just the other day I was actually given some really great advice. I was at a talk given by Steve Biddulph and he was giving advice on parenting. He informed the group that we would be getting advice, but then he advised us do do something with what he was going to share. He advised the group to listen to our own ‘radar’. He explained that over our lifetime we will get a lot of advice from so called ‘experts’, but he said when it comes down to what we choose to take on board we have to use our own radar. As his talk was about parenting he was referring to our parenting radars and he explained that he doesn’t like the term ‘parenting expert.’ He said that each parent knows their child the best and has a radar for what is right or wrong for their child.

He basically made us make a promise to him. He said that if he says something that sits right with us then we should take that away with us and use it, but if it sits wrong with us then throw it out as we leave the room.

I think this advice goes way beyond parenting. I believe it applies to all aspects of both our personal and professional lives. We have an inbuilt radar, call it intuition or a gut feeling, but what it does is it tells us what feels right, and what feels wrong. I am sure everyone reading this knows exactly what I am referring to. There is that feeling when we are doing the ‘wrong thing’ that just feels yucky. When we are in the wrong relationship or the wrong job we get a feeling that tells us that we are not doing what we should be doing. We are not fulfilling our needs, we are in fact fighting them.

The night before my wedding I was talking to one of my best friends and we were talking about whether I was nervous. I realise most brides to be are, I mean will the cake be how I want, will my dress look amazing and all that. But when it came to am I sure about Steven being the man I want to commit to, it was a no brainer. As far as I was concerned I was already committed, I chose every single day to be with him, to be faithful to him and to love him, and that wasn’t about to change. I knew in my gut that I wanted to be his wife. If I was unsure, if the thought of marrying him made me feel really stressed and uncomfortable then I would have had to listen to that. I had been in relationships before where it felt wrong, but still I just stayed because I didn’t listen to my gut, most of us have been there and it is just not worth it.

It is the same when it comes to advice, if it feels good and right and makes us say ‘yes that is what I needed to hear!’ Then it is advice worth taking on board. But if we received advice that feels like it goes against our beliefs, or makes us feel bad, then it isn’t worth holding on to. Just throw it out! Don’t be afraid to say “thank you, but this advice just does not suit me.” Or just nod politely and then discard it when they leave. We are often so afraid to stand up for ourselves and say no to people or let them know that we don’t want to use their advice, but if something feels wrong then we shouldn’t do it, it is as simple as that.

I am sure there are a million other wonderful pieces of advice I have received, but this is the one that comes to mind when I asked myself this question today. What about you? What is the best career or personal advice you have received? I would love you to leave me a comment and let me know. Or if you are a blogger why not link up and answer this question yourself?

Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx

Don’t forget my #mg linky on Mondays. Follow me on Instagram @macglanville

You may also like these posts;

Decorate for Easter

I’m not sure I’m ready for this

Get Curious

2015-01-12_17-32-00

Welcome to this weeks Friday Reflections.

Friday Reflections is a prompt led reflective link up hosted by Janine and Mackenzie (that’s me). Chose a prompt you love from our list below and write a post on it. Then add our stylish badge to that post or your sidebar. Link up with us and comment on the hosts posts and some others please. If you follow these rules you may be selected to be our Featured Writer! Looking forward to reading your posts! Have fun, write and create

The 25 March 2016 prompts are;

1. What is the best career or life advice you were ever given?
2. Choose 3 photos of yourself across your lifetime and write a post about how you feel looking at them, where you were, what you were doing, what you were like, etc.
3. It’s gratitude time! Write a post on gratitude.
4. Tell us a quirky story about your kid.
5. Write a love letter.
Bonus VLOG prompt (for blog or your FB page) – tell us about your day.

 

Grab our badge to display. Then add your link at the bottom of this page. 

 
Reflectionsfromme
Our Friday Reflections Featured Writer this week is Parul with her wonderful and touching post Happy 90th Baba! Congratulations Parul you may display our Featured Writer Badge on your website, Facebook Page and wherever you would like. Please everyone show Parul support by reading her winning post.
Reflectionsfromme
 Loading InLinkz ...
il_570xN.452929673_gx81
Domesticated Momster
This Mum's Life