I am a keen student of human nature, and that makes me go to great lengths to study people, when interacting directly with them or observing from a distance.

My passion for “studying people” derives from a desire I have to be SURE of what to expect from those I interact with. And my desire  to be SURE comes from a need to avoid repeats of past painful experiences in which I misjudged people, and the value they had to offer, in a way that caused me major setbacks!

Over the past decade of my journey as an entrepreneur breaking new grounds offering custom spreadsheet software for sale in Nigeria/Africa, this passion of mine has come in quite handy.

For instance, it helped me more accurately evaluate unsolicited advice relentlessly thrown my way, by “concerned” nay-saying others.

In particular I learned to see through the antics of arm chair theorist-types, who always knew all there was to know about anything and everything – even more than me. And this despite the fact that they had little or no hands on experience doing what they saw me trying to do!

These “caring”  and relentless advice-givers are to be found everywhere, and they rarely see things they way YOU, doing it, will see it.

Instead, they will most times only see how what you want to do cannot work, or can only work the way THEY tell you it should be done.

Thankfully, I learned my lessons quite early on, after I suffered greatly by following the advice offered by some of them – and I resolved to subsequently follow my own counsel/instincts (But I do give fair consideration to any ideas from others that I consider potentially useful).

The ability to confidently think for yourself, and firmly make up your mind about what to do, in ANY area of endeavor, without out-rightly rejecting useful contributions from others, is a crucial requirement for achieving authentic long term success.

The article linked below discusses “10 Pieces of Horrible Advice Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Ignore” – based on true life experiences shared by 10 extremely successful entrepreneurs. The tips shared in it resonate greatly with me – based on my personal experiences and achievements.

If you want to achieve SUSTAINABLE success, I recommend you read this article to identify those 10 pieces of horrible advice you need to ignore, to avoid derailing!

Preview: Everyone gets bad advice. These entrepreneurs made millions by ignoring it.

Entrepreneurs receive tons of advice from mentors, peers, customers and friends. Some of it’s great. Most of it isn’t. These mega-successful entrepreneurs, who are also members of The Oracles, share the worst advice they’ve ever received—and why you should ignore it.

1. Set reasonable targets.

You should be setting unachievable goals and targets.

Continue reading…

http://www.success.com/article/10-pieces-of-horrible-advice-extraordinary-