“Take this with a grain of salt.” It’s something I’ve eternally struggled with: how do you know which inputs to accept, and which to guard against?

Alex Hormozi offers 2 criteria:

1. Is this person aligned with me? Are they incentivized for me to be successful?

2. Does this person have domain-sufficient competence or expertise?

That’s all well and good when it comes to feedback in sports or business. But what about in life, in the philosophy of life? Maybe the point is you must be specific—you can’t simply contemplate reality in generalizations.

If seeking life advice, you can probably vet the adviser using the above criteria. Is it someone that genuinely hopes you live well? Do they seem to be enjoying a happy, fulfilling life themselves (even if it’s not the exact life you want)? A ‘yes’ to both those questions means less salt.

And then there’s intuition, which I still highly value. Maybe one day we’ll better understand it scientifically. The way I think of it now: we exist within this particle soup we call the universe, and are somehow connected to all of it. We are a part of it. We are it, and intuition is the feeling of our connection. l find it powerful, useful, and trustworthy. When you’re present and in a clear state, intuition is rarely wrong. If the criteria above fails, it’s safe to lean into intuition.

Without stress--that’s the final part. All the paths before us are merely options, and it’s fully within our power, and purpose, to choose. We may live with as much or as little salt as we like.