The instruction to evacuate assumes there is somewhere reachable to go.

GRATITUDE

WHAT THIS MEANS

Telling people to leave assumes they have somewhere to go and a way to get there. Without transport, money, a destination, or someone to receive them, the instruction is not actionable, and the people who cannot comply are then described as having refused. The plan looked complete because it was written by people with cars and options.

This pattern is everywhere in advice. Leave the job, leave the relationship, move somewhere cheaper: all of it assumes an exit that not everyone has. Before instructing anyone, including yourself, ask what the instruction presumes. The gap between good advice and usable advice is almost always somewhere to go.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

What advice have you given that ignored someone’s real options?

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