Why Most Advice Doesn’t Work. (And How to Tell When It Will)

Not all wisdom is made for your journey—here’s how to know what to take and what to toss...

Something I have learnt this week:

Not All Advice Works

As creatives we yearn for advice/criticism.

At least we should.

We should absorb everything we can and use it to improve our skill set and ourselves.

But is there a tipping point?

We love to give others advice.

I have been doing it on this very newsletter for almost two years.

(I see the irony of me giving advice on not taking advice.)

I literally set up a podcast that details advice for young actors.

But it is important to note that every bit of advice (I’ve said advicecie a lot of times) you hear isn’t necessarily meant for you.

All of our situations are filled with uniqueness, which makes undertaking or absorbing every bit of help you hear impossible.

And while guidance may be well intentioned, if it doesn’t come from a place of knowledge or understanding of the topic at hand, we should feel more freely inclined to ignore it.

It’s a fine balance.

My point is this:

A lot of people have such a large ego that they don’t take any advice and think they know more than everyone else.

A lot of people have such a small ego that they listen to all the noise around them.

Trust your knowledge, but don’t let it block you from new insights.

Don’t let all the noise in.

Don’t block all the noise.

Filter it.

Something I have struggled with this week:

Transition Period

I’m in the middle of a transition period of my life.

I am moving to London in September.

I will be starting to work 35-40 hours a week.

I won’t be acting every day.

I am going to be budgeting like crazy to live in London.

And I will be honest, I am really fucking excited.

But I am also really nervous.

It’s very much a new chapter of my life.

It’s going to be tough.

I will be working a muggle job I hate just to be able to pay my rent/bills for a very small amount of creative output.

But this is the life I chose.

I must remember what I have said in previous editions.

A lack of passion is something that is sedating young people.

I must be grateful. I am so passionate about an art form that I am willing to move to a city I don’t know and work a job I don’t like to pursue it.

That’s really fucking cool.

Also… it’s okay to be scared.

Doing something because you’re not scared isn’t bravery.

Doing something in spite of being scared is bravery.

Be brave.

Go and pursue your goals.

A film/TV show I have seen:

Fantastic Four: First Steps

Enjoyed it. I thought sometimes the stakes went a little high, but I thought the CGI was great, the film looked fantastic, and the dialogue was good.

Great lead cast.

Shout out to Julia Garner, one of my favourite actors working today.

Also shout out to Chris Finch.

A Quote:

“Creative work runs on uncertainty; it runs on not knowing what you’re doing.” - Austin Kelon, creator, writer.

PS: The first two episodes of the podcast are out now! Go check it out on Spotify