are people who offer advice usually wrong

Some people, especially psychologists, believe that the best way to give advice to our friends, family and other people is to identify what they want and then advising them about how to reach that they desire. However, other people, including psychoanalysts, think that it is not necessary to find out the interests and goals of the people who are asking us an advice. As you can see, this issue is a controversial one but a closer examination reveals that identifying what people want is mandatory in order to give a good advice. My reasons are the following:

First, if we don’t identify what people want, probably we will give a wrong advice. In other words, if we don’t consider the motivations of these people who look for an advice, probably we will advise them based on our personal desires and goals, which probably may be the opposite of these people want. Consequently, probably our advice not only would help these people, but also it would work against their objectives. For example, when I wanted an advice from a professor about which universities I should apply for a MBA degree, this professor gave me a wrong advice because he believed that I wanted to apply to a local university, so he recommended me not taking the GMAT because it was a waste of time. If he had known that I was thinking in a Ivy League university, his advice would be totally different. Also, if I had believed him, I would have taken the wrong decision of not studying for the GMAT.

Second, identifying what people want helps them to making clearer their objectives. Sometimes, people are not sure what they want, so they act without a specific orientation. Therefore, this lack of direction makes inefficient their efforts and actions. However, if we find out what people want and help them to identify it also, they will be more effective and efficient in reaching their goals. For example, I was not sure whether I had to study for a MBA degree or for a Master in Public Policy, so my efforts were very unproductive because I was studying for the GMAT and GRE. However, when I found out that I really wanted to get only a MBA degree, my efforts were only oriented toward the GMAT.

In summary, as you can see I believe that finding out what people want is the best way to give an advice because if we don’t do this, probably we will give a wrong advice. Additionally, making clearer the objectives of people will help them to give a better orientation to their efforts and actions in order to reach their dreams and objectives.