by Kaushik Guha

Created on: June 30, 2009

As you walk along the road to your success, you will encounter countless advice from other people. Some of this advice is good, others are neutral, and the rest are junk.

To separate the good from the bad and the ugly, just follow a simple principle. Just see if the person giving you the advice has already achieved the results for himself or not. Simple.

Today let's focus on another issue you would surely run into-paradoxical advice and opinions.

What does this mean?

Let's consider the dictionary definition of paradox:

a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

The advice and opinion would contradict themselves a lot of time. And somebody with little or no personal experience to validate these opinions can get easily confused. Well, do not be thrown off by the contradictions because in their own way they all make sense because they all point towards a possible truth.

Just for fun, I have compiled a list of such paradoxical advice/opinions that I run into every so often. Some of these are modified versions of famous quotes, some are proverbs while others are more commonplace lines found in your average self help article.

Enjoy!

On Success

1. The guys that make a difference in the world are the ones that go against the grain.

2.Learn to go with the flow. And the struggles of life will vanish.

1. Learn from other's mistakes as those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

2.Make your own mistakes. That is the only way to learn.

1. If you don't get the result, try , try again.

2.Insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

1. You should trust in yourself and value in your own opinion more than others'.

2.Choose role models and follow their advice for maximum results.

1.Accept everything. Resist nothing.

2.Do not blindly accept things at face value. Learn to question even the obvious.

1.Control your desires so that they don't interfere with your success.

2.Only a man that has weak desires can control them.

1..Be happy with what you already have.

2.It's your life. Go after what makes you happy.

1..Goals are dreams with a deadline.

2.How do you set a deadline to something without knowing what challenges you are going to face? Be flexible to achieve success.

On making money

1.You should stick to one niche you are passionate about.

2.You should not put all your eggs in one basket.

1.To be financially successful, do something you are good at and don't listen to countless advice about money-making streams.

2.If you don't step beyond what you already know, you are never going to expand and opportunities will pass by you every single day.

On Confidence and social skills

1.Just be yourself.

2.If you are an insecure, fearful person, being yourself means being insecure and fearful. So fake it till you make it.

1.Be confident to achieve success.

2.To achieve confidence, you have to be successful first. Success alone breeds competence which in turn breeds confidence.

1.Keep a keen eye on audience feedback, how they are reacting, and calibrate your delivery(vocal tone, eye contact, body language) accordingly.

2.If you focus too much on audience reaction, you will lose touch with the present moment and get inside your head. This will mess with your rhythm. Just be in the moment and have fun.

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