Yes. This is perfect timing as I am working out today what my focus will be for 2013. Not all at once, but in a big picture/general sort of way. I learned many years ago not to compare myself to others. I excelled quite a bit more once I figured that one out. People are well-intentioned, but so frequently wrong. I think that it is so important to remember to reverse things when you are wanting others to behave in a certain way. For example, no one walks in my shoes so they don't know what is right for me. I know they mean well, but they just don't know. I can reverse this in my relationships with others as I realize that I can't really know what is best for them either. This becomes especially challenging with our children and friends that are going down a similar path to our own that gave us some tough lessons.
I like that you also gave some room for people to listen anyways, though. Even though advice is often-times not appropriate for us, it is still good to listen and pay attention to how our bodies respond to the advice. If the reaction is strong, there could be some lessons there for us.