Stop giving unsolicited advice. It's one of the fastest ways to shut down a conversation.

This is my favorite part of Patrick King’s book 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯:

”𝗜𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗹𝘆. 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗽. 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱.”

It’s easy for us to jump straight into solution-mode, but true support often means active listening first.

𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝘀𝗸: “Are you looking for advice right now, or just a place to vent and think out loud?”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹: In a world full of people trying to be the smartest person in the room, the 𝚖̲𝚘̲𝚜̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚙̲𝚘̲𝚠̲𝚎̲𝚛̲𝚏̲𝚞̲𝚕̲ ̲𝚝̲𝚑̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚐̲ ̲𝚢̲𝚘̲𝚞̲ ̲𝚌̲𝚊̲𝚗̲ ̲𝚋̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚒̲𝚜̲ ̲𝚝̲𝚑̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚋̲𝚎̲𝚜̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚕̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚎̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚛̲.̲