If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?
More than likely not. Yet, if a famous entrepreneur gave you advice, you would more than likely follow it with little reservation.
Although jumping off a bridge and taking advice may seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, they’re not. Why? If you take bad business advice, not knowing it’s bad, you can end up spending extra time, effort and money that could run your business into the ground. Especially for a startup that has a specific financial runway.
In an effort to better ourselves and get further in life, we often forget that experts are in fact real people like us, and that their advice may not be best for our situation.
The purpose of experts and mentors is to understand the perspective of someone else who has “been there and done that.” But they aren’t perfect. They have made mistakes, and sometimes, they have their own agendas, like to sell a book and appease their ego.
Here are six experts sharing their best advice on why you should be cautious about listening to experts and, instead, forge your own path.
1. Steve Jobs
2. David Ogilvy
3. Bill Gates
4. Tom Hopkins
5. Lady Gaga
6. Bruce Lee
The lesson here is to be receptive to advice and always be learning, but when it’s time to make a decision, don’t be afraid to listen to your gut and pave your own way.