The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions
Advice is something everyone has, much of it unsolicited. Advice is always subjective, shaped by personal experiences and worldviews, and not universally applicable. Recognizing when to disregard conventional wisdom gets easier as you develop confidence and clarity about your personal vision and goals.
Below are common pieces of business advice I’ve encountered and when I’ve learned it makes sense to thoughtfully ignore them:
“Avoid working for someone else—become an entrepreneur.”
I am not an entrepreneur, yet I’ve spent over a decade working directly alongside one. It’s not for the faint of heart. Every day, entrepreneurs face relentless, brutal challenges without any real “off” days. The bigger your business grows, the more complex problems become. Entrepreneurship requires a specific kind of temperament and resilience.
Despite the popularity of entrepreneurship on social media, it’s not the right path for everyone. Cal Newport, in So Good They Can’t Ignore You, provides an excellent alternative: developing rare and valuable skills, what he calls “career capital.” By becoming extremely good at a valuable skillset, you can achieve autonomy, freedom, and success—even within traditional organizations.
“The customer is always right.”
No, it’s not. If you’re in business long enough, you’ll realize that customers don’t always know what’s best. Sometimes they don’t even know what they want until you show it to them. As your business evolves, you’ll inevitably need to adjust prices or services, causing complaints from existing customers who liked things as they were.
Blindly prioritizing customer satisfaction can trap you in unprofitable relationships. Sometimes, letting go of certain customers who no longer fit your evolving business model is necessary for sustained growth.
“Follow your passion.”
Passion alone rarely guarantees success. I’m passionate about running, but realistically I know I’ll never be a professional runner. However, I can still engage professionally with running through coaching, consulting, or writing—provided I have the right skills.
A smarter approach is developing highly valuable professional skills first. Passion often emerges naturally as you become proficient and respected in your chosen field, as Newport points out.
“Fake it until you make it.”
I remember encountering the “fake it until you make it” concept through Bill Zanker’s story in Think Big and Kick Ass, co-authored with Donald Trump. Zanker recounted how, during his early days building The Learning Annex, he operated from his apartment, borrowing a neighbor’s table to seat his first employees and sneaking them out before the neighbor returned home.
While this anecdote illustrates projecting success, doing so without genuine skill or experience can backfire badly, destroying trust and credibility. True competence and humility will always outlast short-lived facades.
“Work smarter, not harder.”
Efficiency is crucial, but certain goals simply demand raw effort. Becoming proficient in any field—running or business—requires consistent hard work and discipline. If you want to run farther or faster, you have to put in the miles. Likewise, succeeding in business often involves countless calls, emails, and conversations that no shortcut can replace. Sometimes the smarter choice is indeed the harder one.
“Trust your gut.”
In my experience, intuition is correct most of the time. However, critical decisions sometimes require rigorous analysis. The Pareto principle (80% of results from 20% of inputs) highlights that a significant minority of decisions deserve detailed examination. Intuition, informed by extensive experience, can be valuable, but knowing when to rely on data-driven analysis is equally essential.
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Ultimately, the best advice aligns closely with Newport’s core principles: focus on mastering valuable skills, remain adaptable, and embrace disciplined effort. In my experience, these are the surest paths toward sustainable professional success.