The best advice I ever got…

If you want to be miserable in life, do things you don’t like doing or aren’t very good at. Stick to what you know and what you’re good at for happiness. - Dr. Susan E. Black

Twenty-five accomplished people list the best advice they ever got in CNN/Money last month. People like Michael Bloomberg, Tina Fey, and General Petraeus dispense what’s been most helpful to them. Some of my favorites:

You have to focus on the underlying substance. There’s just no way to disguise poor performance. - Mark Hurd, Chairman and CEO, Hewlett-Packard

Always ask for the order, and second, when the customer says yes, stop talking. I have watched more people make great presentations, whether they’re trying to sell to their family or in business or in government, and never get to the point of what they’re trying to get out of it. And too many times when the customer says yes, the person who got that answer just doesn’t stop talking. - Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, founder of Bloomberg LP

In your first years of business life, you shouldn’t go chasing after fancy titles, but try to find people who can teach you something. - Andrea Guerra, EO, Luxottica

On this father’s day I would be remiss if I didn’t mention another useful piece of advice from my own dad. While driving with my dad after being suspended for fighting in school my dad said: “If you’re going to fight, don’t do it in school.”

Not exactly what I was expecting to hear!

But I never forgot it. The lesson I took that when you’re backed into a wall it’s okay to fight back, but you have to choose the right time and right place to do it. See more about fighting back at work in one of my previous articles.

What’s the best advice you ever got?