Actionable Advice

One of the greatest and most basic tools I’ve discovered in my journey of self improvement is the idea of Actionable Advice.

What is actionable advice? It’s a way of sorting the information you read, separating the good advice from the great advice that you can actually act on. It is...

Advice that:

1. Includes specific actions

And is…

2. relatively simple

Here’s an example.

Vague Advice: Discover your passion in life

Actionable Advice: Sit down with a pen and paper write out all the activities you do recreationally. If no one’s making you do something and you do it anyway it’s likely you have a passion for it. Blogs, magazines or websites you read regularly are a good place to start.

Not every piece of advice has to be specific and simple. But given how hard some old habits are to break it makes sense to try the most direct and memorable remedies first.

How do you use this concept?

You’re reading a piece of advice that interests you, you think it might help you with your life. Great! Now instead of underlining it or saving it for later, stop. Is there a specific action the advice is recommending? Is it clear what you should do to follow that advice? If the answer is yes to either of those questions then you’ve found a piece of actionable advice.

Getting more bang for your buck:

If you want to get more mileage out of vague advice you’re going to need to put in a bit of extra thought and turn it into actionable advice. Just as before: you run into some appealing advice, you think about what you’ve just read and it’s pretty vague. Think: what action would help you live as the advice recommends? Once you have several ideas try and break them down into the simplest possible steps.

For Example:

Let’s say you are looking to increase your creativity and come across this piece of advice: “To be creative we must embrace and often revel in life’s challenges.”

I find that idea quite interesting but nonspecific. So lets try and turn it into something actionable. This requires a bit of brainstorming.

Why is challenge often avoided?

What does it mean to embrace the challenges of your life?

What actions do people take when they revel in challenge?

Revel implies enjoyment… How do you enjoy something? There is enjoyment in almost anything if you look hard enough…

Brainstormed Advice: When something feels hard, look for the benefits. Are you learning something? Are you bonding with someone while your doing it? How does it accomplish your goals?

In a Nutshell:

The best advice is specific and simple. When you come across advice that appeals to you stop and consider whether it advises a specific & simple action.

> If it does, write down the action you should take.

> If it does not, brainstorm actions you could take on a piece of paper and select the best one to practice in your everyday life.