Asking for advice is a crucial part of making a big decision. Many people ask for second opinions when they don't know what they should do, or can't decide on their own. When you as a decision maker do this, it benefits you by giving you a chance to learn from the experience of others, view your situation in a different perspective, and learn more about your choices. All of these are valuable assets that will help you later in life, and maybe even help others if they come to you for advice. Experience is one benefit that definitely will help later on.

The main reason everyone asks for a second opinion is for experience. People who have had to make your decision before will have experience with what happened to them when they made the decision. This will help you try to find the result that will best benefit you. My friend Generic_Name always asks for the opinion of others when trying to make a decision. A great example of this is when she couldn't take a important test, but didn't know when she should make it up. She asked me what she should do, and I told her that when I missed a big test, I tried to find a solution with our teacher beforehand, like taking the test early, or a few days after the actual test date. Generic_Name knew she couldn't take the test early, as she had another activity taking up her time, but she went to our teacher and asked if she could take it later. Generic_Name figured out a solution by asking others for advice, and found the best choice for her using my experience. Now, she can also use both mine and her experience to make decisions later on inn life. Using my experience to find a solution is not the only way for Generic_Name to solve her problem though. She could have asked for a different perspective instead.

Advice from others come in many forms, but most come in the form of a different perspective. Different perspectives help others understand your problem so they can help you, and also you can now rearrange the pieces of your situation to find a solution. It's always better to look at your choices in a new perspective, because you might find it easier to choose the best one for you from that angle. When I was trying to decide which sleep-away camp I wanted to attend this summer, I had to ask my parents and my friends to decide. My parents told me that because one of the camps was extremely expensive, it would be better for me to go to the other one. My friends, on the other hand, told me that instead of choosing one or the other, I should go to a completely different camp, one that has the activities of both previous camps mentioned and cost less than each one. I did not know about this camp, and didn't even consider trying to find a camp with the benefits of both the ones I wanted to attend. But using my friends' wider perspectives, I was able to find a completely new and customized solution for me. They also could have provided important information about the new camp that I was not aware of to advise me on my decision.

Information is a big asset when making a decision, and you can get that information by asking for advice from others. Different people may know certain things about the decision that you need to make. Asking for advice from these people will allow you to gain this information and make a better choice. A study from Harvard University found that when given the choice, 99% of people chose to make a decision with advice from multiple strangers who has had to make the same decision before. Out of that 99%, 98% believed that the choice they made was the best for them. They also believed that the knowledge they gained from talking to the strangers was a big contributing factor to their success. This study shows how truly beneficial advice from others is. It not only helped people make the best decision possible, but also provided new information for the decision maker, who can now pass on that knowledge to others who need help from someone with experience.

In conclusion, when making a decision, asking for multiple opinions is extremely beneficial. You can learn from the experience of others, choose the right choice more easily when looking at different solutions in a new perspective, and gain new information you can pass on to others, thus helping the whole process come full circle. It will benefit you greatly in the long run as well, as you can use anything you gain from these different opinions in future decision making processes. Clearly, it is always better for you to ask for a second opinion, no matter the decision.