A week ago, I gave everyone the opportunity to part with some advice for anyone they deemed fit to receive it. Thanks to everyone who submitted! The results of this mass collaboration post are listed below, with some great advice from a wide range of people, including bloggers, designers, ninjas, chefs and marketers.
Advice to: Women
Stop worrying about how big your tush is. A sour disposition makes it look bigger than it really is. Smile–a lot. As we age, no one really notices the flaws but they do notice when you are bitchy, grumpy and generally unappreciative.
Love your man. Stop trying to be a pseudo-feminist. Men are simple. They like food, sex and communicating with their buddies. They also love you when you are happy, content and not complaining about the way the sun sets.
Life is short. Smile so much it hurts. Laugh at yourself every minute you can. It’s infectious.
Try to remember you were a kid once and how great that was. Be a kid. Stop trying to rule the world and climb to the top.
Success is in the smiles you gave and the laughs you encouraged.
There. I said it. That’s my advice to women.
Advice to: Everybody, but mostly Bloggers and Designers
Maybe it’s cliche, but do not bite off more than you can chew! This involves only taking on projects that you can handle and projects that you will be able to maintain. When you do too much, you end up doing nothing. I can testify to this myself. Often times I think I can juggle 5 different projects and still do my homework and eventually I have to abandon certain projects - that makes me feel like crap. For example, instead of publishing five rushed articles everyday, maybe just write one really good, polished article every week. But, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take risks. Risks are good and can prove rewarding. Simply take them in moderation.
Advice to: Web Designers
I just did a little screencast about a tip to help keeping your code organized in dreamweaver.
Advice to: Cooks around the world
The best advice I can give is around food so I would say……Make sure not to over cook steak! Try it medium rare and you will get to like it and eventually totally love it!
Advice to: Non-Profits
If you think that you know everything, then surround yourself with lot’s of very smart people - just in case ;-)
Advice to: Designers/Developers
Always keep learning and improving your skills. In a fast paced field, stay on top of the design community, keeping up with the latest trends, learning new software, and broadening your skill level is essential. Hard work and dedication pays off in the end.
Advice to: Designers/Developers
Always Remain Teachable.
Advice to: Songwriters
The first draft is always crap. Even if you love it. Never write without humour and humanity. Write concise, meaningful lyrics. No filler. Sing in your own accent, character and style. Never underestimate the power of the first inversion and the octave leap.
And most of all, write more. There’s never an excuse not to have written another song.
Advice to: People who walk in the middle of the pavement
When I’m out for a run get out of my way!
Advice to: Google
Please make your captchas readable.
Advice to: People learning CSS
Use Eric Meyer’s CSS reset to get rid of all the default browser settings before styling things the way you want them to look.
Advice to: Everyone
I advise you to read this blogpost at Minor Issues.
Advice to: Everyone
In memory of my mum, Ann Sewell, “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you can do today”. It’s like she knew.
Advice to: Anyone
Todays musings: Don’t leave things to the last minute. Don’t let someone unreliable do something just to avoid confrontation. There is no such thing as too much coffee.
Advice to: Slow Walking Pedestrians
Please if you are looking to take a nice stroll in nyc on a busy day do so on the side and not the middle of the sidewalk. I BEG YOU!
Advice to: Aspiring Ninjas
Remember not to carry your throwing stars in your pants pocket. Use a specially designed accessory belt instead.
Advice to: My Co-workers
I would REALLY keep close your valued possessions at work this week. Office pranks will NOT be made on ME this week. :-D
Advice to: Web Developers/Designers
Our profession is unique, and we should be unique as well. We should strive for greatness to further our field and help others along the way. Technology is a great thing, and we should all do our part in contributing to the web and Design community in general. If you want to get noticed in your field and make a difference, people are going to look at what you did, and how you helped the Development/Design community advance. Whether it be your great resources, or your great web application or site that you created that helps others enjoy the internet even more, or even giving fellow developers your time and advice. Whatever it is, don’t give up on it, keep your head in the game, and finish what you start. Keep learning and achieving your goals. Do what you love and Others will notice your hard work. And you will be a success at it.
Advice to: Anyone and Everyone
There is a difference between what you are willing to do and what you have to do to succeed.
Advice to: Politicians
Regret everything
Advice to: Independent musicians and music businesses
Understand the internet properly. Not just its mechanics - but the kinds of connections it creates and the different behaviours it encourages. Accept that this is the way it is, and then capitalise on that fact.
Advice to: Bloggers
Forget your SEO and your web design. Write articles that will make people either 1) die from excitement or 2) overwhelm with knowledge.
Advice to: Everyone
The Bible, a good read… ;)
Advice to: Everyone
The best quote I ever read is frighteningly simple - “often the obvious is not apparent” (I can’t remember where I got it!)
With hindsight, the development of the iPod was obvious… but if it was so obvious why didn’t Sony or someone build it?
“Well-informed people know it’s IMPOSSIBLE to transmit voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of NO practical value.” - Boston Post, 1865, quote from an article concerning the arrest of a man who had been attempting to raise funds for work on a telephone.
“I don’t really foresee any commercial possibilities for COMPUTERS and I predict a world market for maybe FIVE computers!” -Thomas Watson, 1940, Chairman of IBM
In short, many things are only obvious after they have been built/created/designed/introduced!
Advice to: Start-Ups
Make money now!
Advice to: Visitors to London
First thing to do when arriving in London is invest in an Oyster card - It will be much cheaper in the long run and you can reuse the next time you visit London!
Advice to: Everyone
There’s no substitute for hard work. To be a little more precise, about 10,000 hours worth.