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What we will be discussing today has been on my mind for a while, especially with how easy it is to get lost in the flood of advice out there. When I started my self-development journey, I was overwhelmed by creators dishing out quick hacks and cookie-cutter solutions. It’s frustrating because you can’t always tell which advice is genuine and which is just noise designed to go viral.

Today, we’re going to break this down. We are going to discuss

1. The current viral pandemic – The rise of creators who prioritize quick wins over depth and value.
2. The advice paradox – Why even great advice might not be right for you.
3. How to filter advice – Building your blueprint from what resonates with your reality.
4. Building self-awareness – The key to making sense of all the noise.
5. Experimentation and adjustment

Let’s start by looking at the current landscape, where viral content often trumps meaningful, actionable advice.

The Current Pandemic

Everywhere you turn on the internet—especially on social media—creators are advising on how to navigate various aspects of life. Many share insights based on their discoveries as they figure things out, while others simply copy what successful creators have said, without ever testing if their advice works.

Everyone is looking for quick hacks to grab your attention and rack up views. For some, it doesn’t matter if the advice lacks depth or practical value. As long as they can get a million views and more followers, they don’t care if what they’re saying works.

This is one side of the creator economy I dislike. On one hand, it’s great that people are sharing their journey to self-actualization I mean I am also doing this. But on the other hand, we’re seeing a flood of shallow content. Creators are churning out advice just to go viral, and what that creates is what I call advice noise. Everyone is shouting about the “best path to follow.”

For someone just starting their journey, it becomes hard to tell which advice is legit and which isn’t. The worst part? The viral experts are often the ones you come across first—and that’s who you’ll likely follow.

I’ve been there. I followed their advice blindly and felt unfulfilled. Worse, it didn’t work for me because I was building without a foundation, without understanding what applied to my life.

It took time, but I finally realized this: not all advice is good advice—and even good advice isn’t always good for you.

The Advice Paradox

This isn’t to say that there aren’t creators who give valuable advice. Many do. People like Dan Koe, Iman Gadzhi, Daniel Dalen, Cole Hastings, Chris Do, and Tom Nsoke are examples.

They are thought leaders because they share ideas that help people.

But here’s the paradox: just because they give great advice doesn’t mean all of their advice will work for you.

We tend to forget that everyone’s circumstances are different. Where we live, how we were raised, our access to resources—all of these things affect how useful advice can be. The way someone from the UK structures their life might not work for someone living in a third-world country.

For example, I used to wake up at 3 a.m. because some creator said it was part of their routine for success. It sounded great in theory, but it didn’t fit my reality. Living in Nigeria, there’s often no power at 3 a.m. to get any real work done. Going for a run at 5 a.m.? Too risky—there’s a legitimate fear of kidnapping where I live. By the time it was noon, I was drained and sleepy, when I should’ve been productive because there was electricity then.

There was so much friction that it became impossible to stay disciplined. The advice wasn’t bad, but the way it was suggested just didn’t fit my life.

So, even when advice is good, it’s not automatically good for you.

So, how do you deal with all this conflicting advice? Should you just stop listening to advice altogether?

No, that’s not the answer. The key is learning how to filter advice so you can find what works for you.

Learn to Filter

Filtering requires a lot of self-awareness. It’s about being able to tell the difference between advice that works and advice that’s just noise.

To develop this awareness, you need to educate yourself by going back to the foundations.

Every big idea is built on foundational knowledge. Instead of focusing on the latest trend or hack, invest your time in learning the core principles. Read from the pioneers who created the ideas everyone else is refining today.

This should be your focus if you are just starting your journey, or you are already on track.

For example, if you want to understand marketing, start with Robert Cialdini’s The Psychology of Persuasion. If you want to master self-improvement, read James Clear’s Atomic Habits.

When you understand the foundation, you can spot what’s fluff and what’s real. You’ll be able to modify advice to fit your unique situation—your blueprint.

Take the example of waking up early. The foundation of that advice is that the mind craves order. Waking up at a set time and following a morning routine helps organize your day and gives you structure. However, how you implement that foundation should depend on your life. You don’t have to wake up at 3 a.m. to get the benefits of order—you just need to establish a routine that works for you.

That’s why I always try to break down foundational ideas in these letters to you. My goal is to help you build your blueprint, tailored to your life.

Ultimately, the only blueprint you need is your own. Once you understand the foundations you can surf through ideas, flesh them out, pick the bit that fits your reality, and apply them to your life.

This leads to my next point.

Building Self-Awareness

Here’s the thing — you can’t start filtering advice or creating your systems without first being aware of who you are and what your reality is. Self-awareness is the foundation. You need to be honest about your constraints, both internally and externally.

Internally, ask yourself: What are my strengths? What habits naturally align with who I am? What triggers my productivity, and what drains it? These are questions that force you to take a step back and reflect on your own needs, rather than blindly following what someone else is doing.

Externally, it’s about being clear about your circumstances. Look at where you are in life. Are you juggling multiple responsibilities? Are there limitations in your environment that make certain advice irrelevant? As I said earlier, it’s no use waking up at 3 AM if there’s no electricity to work or safety to go for a run. These external factors matter.

This is the self-awareness that lets you see through the noise. Once you know what works for you, you can filter out the advice that doesn’t. It gives you the power to shape your path, based on your unique circumstances.

Experiment and Adjust

Self-awareness is one thing, but it’s not enough. You need to be willing to test things out, experiment with different methods, and adjust as you go. The truth is, no one gets it right on the first try.

Here’s where a lot of people go wrong — they see failure as a reason to quit. But failure isn’t the end. It’s feedback. It’s telling you that something in your approach needs tweaking. So instead of seeing it as a roadblock, view it as a signal. Adjust and move forward.

You don’t have to stick rigidly to one routine or strategy. Try waking up early for a week. If it drains you, shift to a later time. If some productivity hacks don’t align with your flow, ditch them. The point is to experiment and find what clicks.

This process isn’t glamorous, but it’s where real growth happens. It’s about making small changes and staying flexible. Over time, those small tweaks will add up, and before you know it, you’ll have a system that feels natural to you.

At the end of the day, no one can hand you the perfect roadmap for your life. It’s not about following someone else’s steps blindly but about taking bits of advice that resonate with your reality and crafting a path that works for you.

Remember, the best blueprint is the one you create. It’s built on self-awareness, grounded in your personal experiences, and refined through experimentation. You’ll stumble, adjust, and find what fits. But that’s the point—living life on your terms means constantly evolving and staying true to your path.

So, next time you hear advice, don’t just absorb it—filter it. Take what aligns with your journey, leave the rest, and keep building. Your life, your rules.

That will be all for today. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

~ Tolu