Solomon's Paradox

How many times have you heard yourself giving really fabulous advice to someone, only to not follow it yourself? I’m thinking all hands should be raised about now.

Yeah. It comes down to what we know to be true in our heads and/or hearts not always being reflected in what we choose to do. Think eat 5 servings of veggies every day…at least for many of us.

This annoying little predicament actually has a name. It is known as Solomon’s Paradox. For any folks out there familiar with King Solomon (circa 932 BC), a quick reminder. He was the dude who provided some pretty spectacular advice during his reign, and he also made some pretty disastrous choices in his own life, which ultimately led to the downfall of his kingdom. Thus, Solomon’s Paradox.

Psychologist, Igor Grossman, actually coined this phrase when he recognized that we reason more wisely about other’s challenges than we do our own. Go figure.

Three potential steps to take to avoid this conundrum:

•Ask yourself what your bestie would advise you to do with your current challenge.

•Now, share with them what you believe you would do in their shoes. Keep in mind, this can be a monologue in your head. It doesn’t have to be an actual, in-person, conversation.

•Whatever you ‘told’ your bestie to do, you do it, instead. Because the advice we share with others is usually the advice we need to hear for ourselves.