Life Lessons: Advice for My Younger Self

If you could give a younger version of yourself life advice, what would you say? As someone blessed to reach adulthood, I am grateful to be able to reflect on my life and share what I have learned. I can look back on my years and realize that there are many things in my life that have made me a better person. I am sharing some of these life lessons here. I hope that it can also be something that can guide you in your personal growth and life journey.

My idea for sharing these life lessons came from an episode of the Fandesals Podcast. They had a discussion centered on the top ten adulting life lessons learned. For those who understand Tagalog, I have embedded the episode at the end of this post for you to enjoy. 

There are so many things that I wish I had known and understood growing up. It would have helped me to avoid heartbreak. It would have helped me avoid wasting time. I am glad that I learned and understood these life lessons. But it would have been nice if I had someone guide me along the way to make things easier. 

Here are some of the things I would tell my younger self if I had the chance:

Take Care of Your Physical and Mental Health

One of the things that young people can usually take for granted is their health. When you’re young, you think that you are unstoppable, that you can do anything. That may be the case, but it doesn’t mean that we should abuse our health. 

Taking care of our bodies and our minds at an early age will benefit us when we grow older. If we don’t abuse physical health, we can have a body that we can take advantage of for many years to come. If we take care of our minds, then that is even better.

I live in a country where there is still a stigma when it comes to mental health. Taking care of this aspect of our lives is often taken for granted. We need to recognize that taking care of our minds is as important as taking care of our bodies.  Doing so would provide us with more meaningful and longer lives for years to come. 

We need to eat right and have a healthy lifestyle. Indulging in some things may be alright, but we must make sure that we do things in moderation. We need to have a healthy balance of things. 

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others and Thinking of What Other People Might Think of You

People post their lives online a lot these days, and it is easy to get caught up in the pressure of keeping up with others. This is something we shouldn’t do because not everything that you see online is real. It doesn’t always show you the complete picture of what kind of lives other people lead.  We can’t let the way that other people live be our barometer for how we should live ours.

This also goes for those who always worry about what other people think. We cannot succumb to the pressure of other people’s opinions. If we do, we will never be able to live a meaningful and fulfilling life. It would be like we are not living it for us but for other people. We need to learn to be comfortable in being our unique selves. We need to discover who we are without what the world dictates for us to be. 

Keep Yourself Open to Growing and Learning

I don’t know about everyone else but for some reason, when I became an adult, it's like my brain stopped aging. My head feels 20 even if I am no longer in my 20s. I’ve heard other people say that they feel the same way. It’s like at some point in your 30s, you would surprise yourself with this. It's like no matter how old you are, your mind still feels like you are still in your 20s.

In a way, this way of thinking can be a good thing. No matter what age you are, there is always room to learn something new.  Being in this young mindset means you are more open to learning new things and adapting to new ideas. 

This is one thing that we should never stop doing at any age. We can never stop learning, growing, and bettering ourselves. There is always some new knowledge for us to discover. There are mistakes to learn from. There are experiences to help us continue to evolve into the best versions of ourselves. We need to accept this and be open to it. 

Hold Yourself Accountable

As an adult, one thing we need to stop doing is not having accountability. We can't keep blaming other people and circumstances for our mistakes. It may be unfortunate that we have traumas from negative experiences, but we cannot put all the blame on them. How we choose to deal with those negative things is our responsibility.

At the end of the day, we need to learn to be responsible enough. We need to hold ourselves accountable for the choices we make and the way we live our lives. Blaming other people and circumstances might be an excuse, but we cannot live our lives that way. We have to claim responsibility for how we live our lives and how we take on the challenges that come our way. 

Never Be Afraid to Ask or Experience Rejection

This is something that I only got around to doing when I got older. I used to be afraid of asking people things. I always thought that it would be an inconvenience to bother other people. If not that, it felt embarrassing for me to admit that I didn’t know or understand what I was asking about.

As I got older, I realized that there was nothing wrong with asking and learning from other people. Could you be an inconvenience interrupting other people? It's possible. But in the long run, it would save both of you time. 

This goes hand in hand with being open to learning new things. We need to ask to be able to learn and know. By asking, we are giving other people the chance to help us out or educate us on things we need. Plus, you never know what opportunities may open for you because you asked. The worst thing that could happen is that they say no. 

Even if a person refuses to help and says no, that is not a bad thing. Rejection is another learning experience we can grow from. We only need to see things from that perspective. We need to use the experience to figure out how we can better ourselves.

Be Kind

This is something that I wish that people always remember to do. We are lacking so much kindness in the world lately when it doesn’t take much for us to do so. This is not only about being kind to others, it is also about being kind to our planet and being kind to ourselves. The world can be a difficult place to live in as it is. We need to help each other to experience it from a place of positivity as much as we can. 

Be Grateful

Another thing that I have learned is to be grateful. I learned about this when I read about people who have gratitude journals. They would write down things that they are grateful for each day. I used to think that this was silly until I did it myself. Focusing on things we are grateful for helps to keep us positive. Having a better outlook in life helps us not only to be happier but to live more productive lives as well. Positivity can be an inspiring and motivating thing. It is better to focus on the good things rather than wallow in self-pity on the bad stuff. 

Never Stop Dreaming 

Sometimes I encounter people who say that they don’t want to dream and aspire anymore. They think because they are older that it is too late for them to go after their dreams. I don’t believe in that. There are so many successful people these days who started focusing on their dreams late in life. These people still achieve their goals because age is a hindrance only if you think it is. We should never stop dreaming. The day we stop dreaming is the day we stop living our lives. Go for your dreams and keep working on them. 

Our dreams and our goals usually revolve around things that make us happy. If you don’t give up, no matter what happens, it will result in something that will bring you happiness. This is because you are doing something that you love and are passionate about. 

Make Time for the People You Love

The people you love can be your friends, your family, or both. Making time for the people you care about (and vice versa) is always an important thing. No matter what happens, the people you care about will be the people who will be there for you. These are people who, no matter how much or how little time you give them, will help you to fill your cup (so to speak). They will help you to be able to go on through life’s challenges. You need them as much as they need you. Make sure you devote some time to them when you can. 

All You Have is Today

This in a way relates to making time for those you love. We need to remember that all we have is today. The past is already the past. The future is something we can worry about another day. All we have is now. The people we love will not be there forever. We need to make sure that every day counts. 

The same goes for all the other things in our lives. We need to have the mindset that we do not keep looking back into the past and that we do not live in the present anymore. We also cannot keep worrying about a future that isn’t there yet and that we can do nothing about. Let us make our today count so that it won’t be part of a past we will regret. Let us make our days the best we can so that we can look forward to a better future. 

If past me would take note of all the things I mentioned here, she would be able to go through life even better than I did. 

Here is the podcast episode that I mentioned earlier from the Fandesals Podcast. I hope you like it!

What do you think about the life lessons I would talk to my younger self about? Is there anything you want to add? Leave it in the comments so that I can learn from you!

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