The majority of people willing to give advice to friends, family, and strangers do have their fellow human’s best interests at heart.
That said, sometimes we don’t know as much as we think we do. Other times, we’re just repeating something we heard that maybe made us feel better once upon a time.
Neither of those things always culminates in great advice, even if it sounds good at the time – and these 13 pieces of “good” advice really need to die in a fire.
13. Cringing right now.
Eat all the food on your plate.
I’ll never use that line on my kids. My mom would make us HUGE plates and we would have to finish our plates to leave the table.
Mix overeating with low self esteem, eating your emotions and BOOM! You got an overweight teenager.
With hard work, training and better eating habits I was able to lose 60 pounds and I’m no longer a prisoner in my own body.
12. That second one is better.
“Never give up”
Know when to give up.
11. You might lose the joy.
Follow your dreams.
I was told over and over again that I needed to make a career out of my illustration skills.
Turns out, I hated getting money and expectations involved in something I did because I genuinely enjoyed it.
It’s taken me a few years and a career change to find the joy in it again.
10. Space isn’t always a bad thing.
Don’t go to bed angry with your significant other.
Sometimes you just need to sleep on things and take time to cool down….especially if you’re like me and grouchy AF when you’re tired. Don’t try to force a resolution to a conflict.
9. Buy the same book.
Marry your best friend, not someone you’re passionate with because passion fades.
You’ll be comfortable, and that’s what really matters.
Which is all well and good, until you realize 5 years down the line that your sex life sucks and your partner has found someone they are passionate with.
Now you’re out 5 years, a best friend, and a partner.
The truth is, there’s no right answer to this.
Marry the person you want to be with.
If you want passion, get passion.
You want comfort, get comfort.
Just make sure you’re on the same page with your partner.
8. Positivity can be toxic, too.
Just be positive.
7. The sound I just made.
Wear two condoms for double the protection.
The real thing to do is to double up using both a condom and birth control.
Additional condoms would have an asymptotic rate of return anyway. (The second is less useful than the first, and so on)
Double up on methods and get regularly tested if you really want to be safe. Don’t sleep with people who haven’t recently been tested.
To be clear: don’t double bag condoms. Even if it didn’t risk tearing it or some other issue, the benefit of an extra would decrease asymptotically very quickly.
Realistically you’ll always have problems with leakage and mis-use no matter how many you try wearing. (Again, don’t do this. Double up on methods and not condoms.)
6. Maybe not.
Forgive and forget.
Always forgive. But forgetting only tells the person that you don’t value yourself enough to not allow it to happen again.
So no, I will forgive you and remember how you screwed me over, so that you can’t do it to me again.
5. There are more necessary ingredients.
Hard work pays off.
My dad has worked hard his whole life. Ask him if that’s all it takes.
4. He’s a poet and didn’t know it.
I hear some people say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
But I’ve seen the nearly killed and that just couldn’t be much wronger.
3. Dreamers gonna dream.
Love conquers all.
Don’t get me wrong, love is very important, but love is the common denominator all your persisting romantic relationships should have.
A relationship isn’t special just because you love the other person or they love you. Just because you love someone or they love you, doesn’t mean you have to, or should, put up with their bullshit or worse.
If you don’t employ your head and heart in equal measure, it’s going to be a difficult life.
2. Never, ever helpful.
“stop crying” or “Crying doesn’t solve the problem”
1. The times have changed.
Basically any advice from before 2000 about the job market: -Call to follow up an application (algorithms in application bots weed you out the second you turn an app in)
Loyalty to the company and dependability will pay off in the future (usually just means you will get more responsibility for minimum raises)
“Job hopping” looks bad on resumes (many companies don’t care, and in reality it’s the only way to achieve upward mobility in wages).
Do extra work to be noticed and rewarded (usually any extra hours will result in cutting hours on later days to avoid having to pay overtime or give bonuses)
Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life (unless you are very very lucky, it is much smarter to find something that will allow opportunity and good pay, with no regard for your personal interests)
How about we all agree that none of us ever say anything like this again, hmm?
What’s the worst piece of well-meaning advice anyone ever gave you?
Share it with us in the comments!
