What's the best advice you ever got, and what did you do with it?

[Pat Coyle]

Sometimes the right advice at the right time can be just what we need to make a breakthrough in business and in life. Other times, if we follow the wrong advice, it can take us on devastating detours. Then again, sometimes we get the right advice, but we don't take it. What about you? What's the best (or worst) advice you ever got...and what did you do with it? Please share your story here

[Mike Seidle]

"Know the facts and act on them" -- Jack Welch, former GE CEO when asked what was the best advice he was ever given. I can't begin to count the number of times this one has helped me climb out of emotional mode and make decisions based on reality.

"It's the people around you, the people you love" -- Warren Buffet when asked by a reporter what the most important thing in life was. The reporter replied by incredulously asking, "Is that it?"
That little exchange helps me get through situations where I'm at odds with someone who doesn't value relationships and people the same way. It's good to know that one of the wealthiest people on earth isn't all about the money, too.

PS. GREAT QUESTION! CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE ANSWERS!

[Linda J Ranger]

Yes, that goes along with what my mother always said..."Pay yourself first". By putting away retirement money and some savings before you have a chance to spend it you learn to live on what you bring home. This has helped us stay out of financial trouble and are lucky to have some savings put aside even after losing much in the market like most others. When the market rebounds we hope to gain some of this money back.

We own our own home and it is smaller than a lot of my contemporaries who I felt did not earn enough to maintain the lifestyle they were living. "Live within your means and save for a rainy day" is a mantra that hopefully will be the silver lining that comes out of this recession.

[Steve Stuck]

Before I graduated highschool, my parents told me I had two choices: 1. Marine Corps. or 2. College.

The day of graduation, my dad told me I had 90 days to move out for school and that the world owed me nothing.

Before my dad passed away, he looked at me and said he was proud that I took his advice from that day. I took it as a great compliment.

[Doug Theis]

Ed Theis, my late father, often told me: "I'm proud of you. Remember, you've still got a long way to go." The advice, or admonition, keeps me on a quest for improvement, little by little, every day.

[Eric Prugh]

"Control the controllables." Awesome advice from my swim coach in college. Of course, he was talking about not worrying about the person swimming next to me, but this plays out in so many ways in real life. Things happen all the time that are outside our control (flights cancelled, economic crisis, etc.). What separates you from an average person is the way you shine by executing well what is inside your control.

[Kirk Booher]

Great question! Boy, it is hard to boil it down in one post.

My father used to always tell me, "if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right". I don't think that mean 'perfect' but 'proper for the situation'.

I love the title to a book by AL Williams entitled "All you can do is all you can do, but all you can do is enough"...it sure helps me to understand that if it is meant to be, it will happen.

Abraham Lincoln has a boatload of good advice...I love this one in particular..."I learn something from everyone I meet, but it is often what not to do."...talk about turning a negative into a positive. It sure helps me in trying to make the most out of everyone I come into contact with.

And the absolute best advice I ever received was when a man of God told me the Bible had the answers I desperately needed. He was right.

Pat, please don’t forget to share yours.

[Lauren Littlefield]

The best advice I ever got was from my boss - "Do what you love and love what you do." If you find yourself at a job that you don't love, then you're probably not giving 100%. It's important to enjoy your work. If you're unhappy, ask yourself, "If I could do anything... what would actually make me enjoy leaving the house each morning?" I took her advice and couldn't be happier.