Giving Yourself Good Advice

• Get it right vs. Get it done
  
• “Look before you leap” vs. “It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission”
  
• Attention to detail vs. Big-picture focus
  
• Think it through vs. talk it over
  

These are all examples of two quite different ways of being. As you look at each pair of statements, you probably relate to one of the two options a little more than the other. If not, think hard—it’s important to be clear on your tendencies. Knowing them will help you give yourself good advice.

For example, if you look at the first pair of statements and know that you are more of a “get it right person” than a “get it done” person, and you’re in a situation in which you’re expected to produce something but you can’t get it just right and now you’re falling behind and in danger of punitive repercussion, unless the “thing” has life or death-type ramifications, this is likely the time when the best advice you can give yourself is to stretch your comfort zone and move forward and get it done as is. And conversely, if you’re the “get it done” type and you’re working on something highly sensitive and all of the “crossing of the T’s and dotting of the I’s” is driving you crazy, this is probably the day to stretch your comfort zone and advise yourself to take a deep breath, know that it won’t go on forever, and focus on “getting it right.”

This may sound obvious. There are two reasons why it’s not—why we need to be awake and aware and make sure we’re giving ourselves good advice:

• Most of us don’t live in a very present, conscious way. We operate mostly out of habit. If my habit is to “get it right,” I’m going to typically over-focus on getting it right in all situations, which speaks of the axiom that our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses, over-used (used for every situation rather than appropriate situations)
  
• Everyone is out there giving you advice, mostly in a vacuum. Turn on the TV or look at a magazine and you hear/see advice to, for example, be bold and live big and move forward. If the “get it done” person hears this, it adds fuel to their regular M.O., which is to be bold, get it done, and move forward. And if the current situation in their life calls more for “getting it right,” they’re now listening to the wrong advice. They're going to move forward when they ought to be slowing down and getting it right
  

There are lots of messages out there. The question is, which ones are right for YOU? You get to decide.

First, know yourself.

Then, give yourself good advice.