Some people swear by goal-setting and rigid calendars, while others insist that their success came because they took life a day at a time and were never constrained by a bigger plan.

Some of the biggest authors write only after extensive market research, and they explicitly cater to their target audience. Others write in a vacuum and focus on being “true” to themselves.

Southwest wins with low prices, limited offerings, and local travel. Virgin airlines do almost the exact opposite.

Some people stay healthy eating many small meals throughout the day. Others do the same eating in once per day.

Simply put, there’s nothing that works for everyone.

 

Which is why I struggle with prescriptive advice. I don’t even know what has worked in my own life, let alone what’s going to work for me going forward, so how can I possibly be qualified to give anyone else advice?

This is something that I’ve struggled with since beginning this blog a year and a half ago, and here’s what I’ve decided:

Rather than giving advice, I generally find it better to share observations about the world. On the rare occassions when I do choose to share personal anecdotes, I try to focus on what I did, what came from that, and what I learned from it. But in the background, I realize that I rarely have a good grasp on why things turned out how they did, or how things would turn out if the situation were different.

I think Derek Sivers once said it best. I don’t have the exact quote, but it was essentially, “Here’s the cards I played, and here’s what happened. Take from that what you may.”

-Brandon