The Best Advice

Craftsmanship & Consideration

I thought it might be interesting to write a series of articles elaborating on the concept of Craftsmanship & Consideration. I feel like I’ve developed a certain perspective about my process which I think could be helpful to others. That said, giving general advice is incredibly fraught.

General advice lacks context. My advice is born out of my unique experience and thus will never neatly apply to someone else’s situation. The best we can hope for is that some small part of my experience is generalizable or universal.

However, when I think about the best advice I’ve received over the years and I found one common pattern. Good advice improves your vocabulary for describing your situation. It helps you to better understand where you are, why you are there, and how you could best change your situation. It can give you a framework to organize your thinking, which is where the power actually derives.

Having the right words to describe something is inherently powerful. It takes the amorphous specters which lurk in the back of our mind and gives them substance; a shape which we can then tackle.

That is the best I can hope for in sharing my thoughts. My situation is unique to me, but by thoughtfully looking back at my own experience I might find some words which are helpful in organizing your thinking about your situation and goals.

I am also fully aware of how self involved this all sounds. That I have something worth sharing, that others should listen to me. I am deeply aware of that.

Confidently writing this kind of thing is difficult for me. Nevertheless whenever I have shared this kind of thing I hear from folks who have found it helpful. So I continue on, regardless of my own lack of confidence and insecurity.

David Smith