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Build Your Panel of Advisors to Ask for Advice
Building your own panel of advisors is a simple technique to expand your perspectives and guide yourself through tough decisions. Think of people whose judgement and values you respect, add them to your mental panel, and when faced with a dilemma, ask, "What would you do?"
While a real panel of advisors is invaluable, an imaginary panel has advantages: it's not limited to people you can call, and it requires no one else's time.
Your panel can include your mum, Uncle Jim, your best friend, or your high school science teacher. But why stop there? You could invite Taylor Swift, Marcus Aurelius, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, or the Buddha—famous figures whose qualities and wisdom inspire you.
Diversity is key to your panel's success, as it brings a broader range of perspectives. Uncle Jim would likely approach a problem very differently from the Buddha, and you can access both viewpoints simply by considering how each might respond.
It's curious how we can get more diverse perspectives by ourselves simply by adopting the view or mindset of someone else (as we understand them). In this way, it's rather like De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats technique. And it reminds me of my favourite research results where people generated more ideas when prompted to ideate as if they were a creative person.
Benjamin Franklin regularly sought to emulate his role models, as in his 13th virtue: "Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates." Similarly, Napoleon Hill described meeting with "Invisible Counselors" in Think and Grow Rich to gain insights from imagined mentors. I can't remember where I first came across this strategy but I love to put it into action.
Who would you add to your panel?
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