Nevertheless, She Persisted: 6 Pieces of Advice For My Younger Self

I find a lot of value in reflection and something I call “taking inventory” of my life. In doing this, I give myself permission to own my strengths, weaknesses, desires, and the things that don’t add to my life. Also, I find this very important, as I am able to build and distribute advice to my niece, cousins, and anybody else who would like to hear about my life experiences. Oftentimes, I wonder how my life would be, if i could travel back in time and give myself advice as needed. Maybe the results would be the same; maybe not. What I do know is that wisdom comes from experiences, and I am grateful to have a few tid bits to offer others. Quite frankly, I offer this advice to myself daily. So what advice would I offer my younger self? Well, guess I’d need to right a book in order to list them all, but below are some of my highlights.

1. You won’t have all the answers…and that’s okay!

Trial and error offers many lessons in life that we simply can’t buy. It’s okay to change your mind, and embark on a new path. Don’t like the city you live in? Move! Job not satisfying? Change it. On this journey of life, it’s so easy for us to hit a wall and feel as though we don’t know what our purpose is. That question is asked by many people and it’s no different with you. Go out there and try different things. Find out what you like and what you don’t like. Sometimes, not knowing the answers, actually can give you more insight to life than actually being in the know. Not knowing the answers can open your mind a bit, and allow you to explore without pre conceived notions. Every exploration, experiment, expedition (any other fun E word) will help to shape you into who you are destined to be. Use discernment…but take those chances!

2. Your hard work pays off…just don’t kill yourself in the process.

It’s important for you to put forth your best effort when trying to accomplish your goals. But, please don’t get so consumed in the task at hand, that you forget about living your life. Whether it’s work related or personal, you have to learn to have balance in your life. Everyday your blessed to wake up, make sure you create some type of anticipation in your life. Whether it’s the fact that you will get a milkshake after work, or you are going to J.Cole concert…make sure you have something to look forward to. Don’t allow your many tasks to dull your life. Doing the things that you enjoy on a more regular basis, will help to develop a more energized version of yourself. (In return, it will help you to be more productive) So go on that date, travel to Europe, go see that new action movie; Balance is key to a healthy [SANE] life.

3. Be careful of overbooking yourself!

Hard truth: You can’t be everything, for everybody. With that being said, create boundaries, make yourself a priority, understand that ‘NO’ is not a curse word. There will be times that your schedule may seem to be a little chaotic and you don’t know left from right. I encourage you to use a planner to properly prioritize your time. After all, that’s exactly what they were created for.

4. Mistakes will occur…just be sure to learn from them!

You have to learn to forgive yourself. Maybe you let yourself down on a few occasions, but trust me, you could learn a lot from what you view as a “mistake”. Take leaps of faith. Failure is pretty much inevitable…but you’ll come out on the other side better equipped than how you began. You’ll never truly understand your capacity, unless you take those chances.

5. Life is a journey with many sites to see! Embrace it!

You will be so eager to accomplish all of your goals, that you forget to celebrate how far you’ve come. It is important that you take the time to breathe and appreciate your life for what it currently is. Maybe you don’t have your dream home, job, car, etc., but progress is golden! There will always be “more” out there for you to accomplish. “More” will be there after you take your moment to inhale gratitude. Meditation will help to bring awareness to your life. The late Carl Jung once said, “Your vision becomes clear when you look inside your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.”

6. You are not Quirky, You are limited edition!

The ability to stand out, is a rare commodity. So my darling, you are already ahead of the game! Live the life that YOU desire! People often ask what is the key to joy. Maybe I don’t have all of the answers (like I stated in point 1), but doing the things you love has to be at the top of the list. You hold the pen that writes your story, so make sure it’s an interesting read.

What advice would you give your younger self?