Advice about a path is valuable if you’re actually walking it.
If you’re still circling the decision—dillydallying, testing the waters—advice often backfires. Instead of moving you forward, it deepens your inertia. You begin to mistake knowledge for progress, mistaking someone else’s story for your own steps. You feel like you’ve started, when in truth, you’re still standing still.
On the flip side, advice against a path is most useful before you’ve set foot on it. It can sharpen your discernment, broaden your perspective, and save you the pain of a misstep. But once you’ve chosen and committed, such advice rarely deters you. Instead, it reinforces your resolve. You start to believe your story will be the exception—that your uniqueness shields you from the cautions others raise.
The key is not to dismiss advice but to discern its timing. Ask yourself: Am I on the path yet? Or am I still deciding? That answer will tell you whether to lean into the wisdom of others or to simply keep walking.
— Osasu Oviawe