Friday Fun: Share Your Best Advice

[shannonem]

Hi Alteryx Community Friends-

My name is Shannon Emery and I am the Community Recognition Program Manager aka the ACE Program Manager. While I do focus on the ACEs, I wanted to get more involved with the rest of the community so here I am with a Friday Fun post! I hope you all do not mind. 😊

This week - let's talk best advice you would share but a story first...

I was scrolling through the news and my social channels this morning when I realized my jaw was already clenched. The news was filled with sad things and my social channels felt tense. The world can be dark but as it often happens, my Grandmother's voice entered my head with her words:

"Life is hard. Life is short. But girl, life is sweet. Remember to look for the sweetness, it's there. I promise."

I remember the first time she said it, she had both of her little wrinkled brown hands wrapped around one of mine as she said it her gently accented voice. After remembering that, I decided to look for the sweetness. A sage piece of advice from a woman who has overcome more than I could possibly imagine - look for the sweetness. That's my advice to you, if you care to take it with you, look for the sweetness.

Now I invite you to share your advice and hopefully learn from others. What would you share? It can be personal advice, career advice, silly advice, whatever it may be because you never know who you are helping along the way.

Now off to go look for the sweetness, happy Friday community friends! 

[DanM]

My wife and I got married in Glacier National Park in Montana by ourselves and had dinner at the Many Glacier hotel. If you haven't been you must go!

An older couple was sitting near us and at one point my new bride excused herself to the restroom. The older gentleman leaned over to me and said, "I've been married for 50 years and I want to pass some advice to you for a happy marriage. Never cook bacon in the nude"!

I still giggle every time I think of that moment. good advice for sure, but in one way did I think I was going to hear that.

[LeahK]

This piece of advice is for people like me, who have a hard time keeping up with email. Please note, that this may only apply to dog owners who appreciate maintaining a poop-free yard.

Think of each email as a piece of dog poop. It's so much easier to pick things up along the way, than to wait until the risk of stepping in a giant pile of sh*t is far too high.

[MaddieJ]

Fun fact about me: I can have major decision paralysis! I'm eager to soak up all things in life so it can be super hard to pick just one activity, one ice cream flavor, or (shudders) just one direction in life.

So for friends who are likewise afflicted, the best piece of advice I've heard around this was from my dad who told me that whatever decision I choose, I can MAKE it the best decision. Giving myself this power has seriously helped reduce my FOMO, and focus on where I am now instead of wondering if I made the right decisions in the past.

Happy Friday!

[MeganBowers]

A piece of advice/wisdom I got that I think back to is "worry is like a rocking horse... you go back and forth, but you get nowhere." It helps me see how pointless worrying is when I have no control over a situation. And if I do have control, it's better to spend my time making a plan rather than worrying :)

[DataNath]

Although I’m still young, I’d say my advice would be: if you aren’t happy, make a change!

I only recently joined the world of data (4 months ago). Beforehand, I’d been working in a completely different industry which followed on from my degrees and what I’d originally thought I wanted to do as a career. However, after 2.5 years I realised it wasn’t for me. Along the way I met many other people who were unhappy with what they were doing. When I left, they all called me ‘brave’ and said they ‘could never take such a risk’. However, the other side of that coin is staying where you are and being unhappy. Obviously I get that some people have large commitments that stop them from doing this, but if not, what have you got to lose? Just go for it!

[Alteryx_AR]

Hello @shannonem 

My father was a professor of Physics in Government Science College, India. He passed away last year on Sept 16 . He always said to me negative thoughts are like weeds. They grow by themselves without any efforts but to get rid of them you need to put efforts. Don’t let them grow and flourish in your brain.

Sometimes, when I felt alone my mother said that sun is 1 and give brightness to the whole world. You should be like SUN.

My mother said goodbye to this world after 4 months of sad demise of my father.

I should say they live together and died together.

But here advice and words gave me strength to fight, survive and remain happy in all situations.

Hope my comment help someone whoever reading it.

Thanks for starting this thread!

[shannonem]

A couple of these stood out for me!

@MeganBowers - my grandma also says something similar about worry but a little more brusque - "Why worry when worry done kill?" which roughly means the same way - you can always keep worrying but what good does it do? 

@DataNath - I have been there a few times myself and honestly, if you can make a plan to leave or change your circumstance in life to be a bit happier, do it. Life is extraordinarily short and I have never regretted trying to be happier in life with decisions I've made. Glad you did the same thing, hopefully there were others who saw your brave move and felt inspired to change their lives in some way.

@Alteryx_AR - Thank you for sharing these pieces of wisdom because I think they are important. Don't give the negative thoughts more room to flourish and always choose to be the brightness in this world. My condolences for your loss, my friend, but I hope they are together and in peace. 

Thanks for sharing all. I hope others chime in as well! 😊

[AlteryxMatt]

A couple days late to the thread, but my best advice is going to come from my Dad who recently told me that it is nearly impossible to navigate life without any clarity in what you are doing. An example he gave of this is if there was a kitchen sink full of dirty water and someone asked you to plunge your hand deep to the bottom to get something, would you? Whether the person that told you to put your hand deep inside is telling the truth, there is no way to know unless you take the chance. However, if the water were crystal clear, you would have no problem reaching your hand into the depths to retrieve whatever lies at the bottom. You gain nothing in life without taking chances and learning lessons, and sometimes clarity can help you make those decisions!

Matt

[shannonem]

I like that perspective @AlteryxMatt - it's about taking the chance but it also helps to know what you are going after before you jump right in. Something I've learned from @LeahK (or well that she's drummed into my head, ha) is that it is best to start at the end result and work your way back from there. Does that mean you'll achieve the perfect end result? No but you will get close to what you originally envisioned. Hopefully. 😊