Advice is kind of weird, right? When I think of most of the times I’ve asked for it, it’s been when there’s something wrong, or if I have a problem I can’t solve.
It hadn’t occurred to me to actively ask for advice when there’s nothing up, no issue or angle, until earlier this year. As part of a project, I had to ask my collaborators four questions from a script, with one of them being: “What advice do you have for me?”
That’s it. Simple. No other context or prompts. A wide open ask for advice.
I actually was telling Drew, Lydia and Jackie about this exchange earlier this evening. Here’s what they had to say:
“Weird!”
“That’s so robotic!”
“It sounds unnatural!”
…and so on.
I agree. And it did feel strange to ask, but guess what? I got some of my favorite advice ever (thanks, Jeremy and Jenny!)
Doodle more.
This advice came at a time when I was in the thick of my creative withdrawal. It was advice I didn’t even know how much I needed. I’ve been picking up the pen more than ever because of it. Behold, two recent, random doodles:
Do you ever ask for advice just because?
This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “2¢. Whether you asked for it – or not – what good advice did you get this year?”