Advice should illuminate options, not impersonate destiny.

Advice at its best widens the field of view: here is another option, here is a cost you had not counted, here is what usually happens. Advice at its worst is delivered as prophecy, as though the adviser knows how your life will go. The second kind sounds more confident and is much less useful, since nobody has that information.

Give counsel in the form of options and consequences rather than outcomes. When you receive it, listen for whether it is expanding your choices or narrowing them to one.