Want the Best Career Advice? Ignore Your Parents.

A wise man once said, “Advice, like fruit, is best when it’s fresh.”

That man was Jason Fried, founder of Basecamp, and I think he’s right.

“Advice quickly decays, and 16-year-old advice is bound to be radioactive. Sharing a life experience is one thing (grandparents are great at this — listen to them!), but advice is another thing. Don’t give advice about things you used to know. Just because you did something a long time ago doesn’t mean you’re qualified to talk about it today,” Jason writes.

I’m looking at parents here. How many of you have received career advice from your parents?

I bet all of you.

Hell, my mom still dishes it out daily, and I make more than her.

Some of you, like myself, have already realized it’s best to tune out this caring but often misinformed advice. Others will have to learn the hard way.

Our parents, while awesome, grew up in a completely different time than us, and most have held the same job for decades. That’s just not the way the world works…