For years, when someone I trusted gave me two instructions that clearly could not both be done at once, I assumed the problem was me. A smarter man would surely see how they fit together. So I would nod as I understood, pick whichever one was easier to explain later, and pray nobody checked on the other.
Arjuna handled this better than I ever did. Early in the fifth chapter of the Gita, Krishna praises giving up action, and then in the same breath praises doing action fully through karma yoga. To Arjuna the two sound like they cannot both be true. He is the best warrior on the field, and he still turns to Krishna and asks him to say it plainly, which of the two is actually better.
That is Bhagavad Gita 5.1.
It is a very capable man admitting he is confused and asking for a straight answer. We do the same thing in offices every day, minus the chariot. Grow sales and cut costs. Move fast and break nothing. Take full ownership and check with me before you breathe. Two instructions that fight each other, and most of us just smile, decide the confusion is our own private failing, and get on with it.
Arjuna taught me that the humble move is also the smart one. You go back and say these two things you asked of me are pulling in opposite directions, so tell me which one wins when they clash. It feels like confessing you are a bit dim. Every time I have watched someone actually ask it, I have thought here sits the one person in the room who refuses to guess.
These days I am often the one handing out the two instructions, so I get the other seat too. When someone comes back and asks which of my contradictory demands actually wins, my only job is to not treat them like they are being difficult. They just did my thinking for me and caught a mess I made. How I answer decides whether they ask again, or whether they go back to nodding and guessing the way I used to.
So here is the whole thing in one line. When two things you trust are pulling you in opposite directions, stop and ask for a straight answer before you move. Arjuna did it a very long time ago and it still works. And nobody has ever thought less of the person brave enough to say I am confused, please help.