I think many people have a general idea towards the best solution to a problem, but aren't able to really manage it themselves. For example, if I told my sister I need a car, but don't have enough money, common sense says she would tell me to save up. If I said I can't, I don't have an income, she would undoubtly say find a source of income, as would many others. If I said I wasn't getting called for interviews, she may say try a staffing agency, or take a class in a particular skill if possible, and so on.

It wouldn't be hard to determine those bits of advice as a possible solution. The kicker is that if that advice came from her, well... she's never worked more than a year and has never bought her own car.

This world would be a very different place if people actually went and did what they have already recognized to be good solutions in life, but I can say atleast part of it depends on what I want in life vs. the person advising me. My sister has no interest in getting a job or car so she's not likely to take her own advice in that situation, even after advising me on it. Sometimes people can come up with ideas/solutions that wouldn't even apply to themselves in an effort to try to give someone else an idea of what route they could take. But it's still best to be advised by someone who is knowledgable with the issue I suppose. If not just because their advice would probably be more thorough, rather than just generalized.

I dunno, there's several factors to consider I guess as to why someone is not interested in taking their own advice.