Listening to consultants

I have a real problem with consultants.

I don’t think that they are bad people, necessarily. But I do think that their way of working is flawed.

A consultant is someone who gives advice on a problem that they may have solved before. Some of the better ones actually have the experience in that particular problem. In which case, they have some measure of credibility because they’ve solved it.

But most consultants have never fully experienced the situation at hand. And that leads to problems when it comes to following their advice. Ideally you’d prefer to take advice from someone who has walked the path before.

Now to me, anyone who gives advice to another person, is a consultant. Which makes your parents, family members and even your closest friends, consultants.

Normally, that’s not a problem. Sometimes you want people to help you decide what to do. And in that case, it’s a huge help having them give advice.

But when consultants give advice, without the credibility of solving it before, then I have a problem. How could they do that? Who gives them the right to tell you what to do?

You do. 

For those situations when a consultant is giving advice, here’s a better suggestion: Follow your own star. Get comfortable knowing what your intuition is saying to you and do that. Chances are that your intuition has a much better understanding of your particular situation than they do.

There are a myriad of ways to get in touch with your intuition. You can go for a walk. Or you can get still and meditate. Or you can write things down in a journal.

But whatever you do, don’t listen to consultants if they don’t have the experience. You can trust that you know yourself better than they do.