The Voice of Advice

Picture this: It is 10:00 AM on a Tuesday. Your favorite work buddy drops by your desk, shoulders tense, her eyes wild with panic, confessing that they are completely overwhelmed, taking on too much work, and completely forgetting to set boundaries.

Trust me, I am an expert in transforming myself into a mystical sage. I sit up straight, lean in with terrifying clarity. "Listen," I say, my voice dripping with absolute wisdom. "You need to protect your energy gal pal. Say no. Draw a hard line. Go take a walk, close your laptop, and remember that you are an employee, not a martyr."

In my head I sound like Yoda coaching Luke Skywalker on the ways of the Force. (Yes ! I have seen Star Wars )

Now, fast forward to 11:30 PM on the exact same day. What am I doing ? hunched over my own laptop like a gremlin guarding a pile of shiny rocks, drafting my fifth unnecessary email of the evening, eating cup noodles at my home office, and actively ignoring every single piece of brilliant, life-changing advice I handed out five hours ago.

The voice in my head goes “ Why am l a walking, talking hypocrites? Why is dispensing wisdom as effortless as breathing, but following it feels like trying to scale a vertical glass wall covered in grease?

The core reason IMO: other people’s lives are a neatly organized spreadsheet. Your own life is a dumpster fire in a hurricane.

When someone else brings you their problem, you get a clean, bird's-eye view. You don't feel the messy emotional baggage, the imposter syndrome, the 4:00 AM anxiety, or the history of past failures attached to it. You see the obstacle, you spot the obvious logical solution, and you hand it to them wrapped with a nice little bow.

It’s like that classic line from The American President where Michael Douglas’s character notes, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil." It’s easy to be a champion of justice and balance when you aren't the one currently getting tackled by self-doubt.

I shall be honest, giving advice feels incredible. For a brief, shining moment, I am the smarter person in the room and I get to step outside of my own chaotic reality and pretend, just for a second, that I have my life completely figured out.

Ferris Bueller said: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Of course, Ferris says this while skipping school, hacking the attendance computer, and dodging parental supervision proving once and for all that it is infinitely easier to narrate a masterclass on living than it is to actually sit down and do your homework

When we give advice, we assume universal logic. When it comes to our lives, however, we are convinced we are the sole exception to every rule of human psychology.

I know I should sleep but the voices in my head say ;)

“Everyone else needs work-life balance, but if I don't answer this teams message right now, the entire global economy will collapse.”

“Taking a break is healthy for normal people, but my specific brand of chaos requires me to suffer through a weekend project.”

and the saga continues ….

We treat our own neurotic tendencies like sacred, unchangeable laws of physics, while treating everyone else's problems like simple math equations. We act like Bollywood heroes dramatically swearing vengeance, completely ignoring the fact that our immediate priority should just be taking a nap and eating a hot bowl of California Burrito and sip lemonade

So, what do we do ? Stop giving advice? Nah ! Where’s the fun in that?

Instead, maybe we lean into the absurdity of it. The next time you find yourself doling out platinum-grade life advice to a friend or a coworker while your own desk looks like a tornado hit a stationery store, take a second to look in the mirror. Laugh at the comedy of your inner guru.

And if you can't manage to follow your own rules by Friday afternoon? Give yourself a break, grab some comfort food, and remember that even the wisest cinematic legends usually spent half their screen time completely ignoring their own advice.

Thank you for reading ! God Bless