A Letter To My Younger Self

This blog was inspired by Lauren Fleshman’s ‘Dear Younger Me’ which you can read here (and totally should): http://www.milesplit.com/articles/211759-dear-younger-me-lauren-fleshman

Do What They Wish But Won’t…

A couple of years ago when I stepped back from studies I didn’t quite understand what I was letting myself in for. Lauren’s article really made me think about the last few years and made me question what I would tell my younger self with the benefit of hindsight. This blog was just an idea: a crazy idea that has started to become a reality. Here’s a letter to myself entitled, “Do What They Wish But Won’t…”

For ease of reading, I’ve written a list of 12 short pieces of advice:

1. Fake it till you make it. Until you know what your doing, until you vaguely understand the direction which you are aiming towards, just pretend that you have it all together. Before you know it, you will have fooled yourself and that’s when the magic starts. That’s when you will finally begin to believe your craziest of dreams are coming to pass.

2. Not all decisions need to be justified. If you find yourself trying to justify something too much it may not be your wisest decision. Good decisions don’t need to be justified; just act from your heart.

3. Things won’t always work out by your timing but that doesn’t mean they aren’t working out. Trust in a greater timing and so get used to the constant hustle and endless rejections; it’s part of the fun.

4. Live with conviction in your heart. Once you realise that there’s a greater purpose for your life, you’ll start to question everything you believed up until now.

5. You’re going to fail time and time again but that’s okay. You’ll be humbled until you realise you can’t do this alone. When you see no way forward in certain situations, don’t loose faith. Plans are taking shape.

6. You’re going to develop a strong opinion about what is right and what is wrong. It’s going to lead you to question why and what you are doing. It will change your priorities and I think it’s for the better.

7. Don’t freak out when your goals change. Allow your destination to change and actually just enjoy that journey of stepping into the unknown. Learn to trust that feeling in your gut and if you don’t like the look of how things are going, change direction.

8. You’re going to find the most amazing, positive, humble people in your life. Invest in those people and cherish them. 

9. Remember that generosity increases your influence. Your time is valuable, give it to those who deserve it. It’s okay for some people to take a step back in your life; they might well have served their purpose for now.

10. Take a gamble. Take a risk. People are going to have pretty strong opinions and you don’t always have to listen to them. Do what other people think you’re incapable of.

11. Say yes to great opportunities even when you aren’t sure how you’ll make it work. Find out how to do it after.

12. Don’t forget to keep looking back to see how far you’ve come. Things may not be quite as you expected them to be but you’ve already taken the plunge so don’t stop; keep going.

Oh… and one final point: When people tell you you’re not going to get anywhere by being a nice guy, they lied. (*attempting to*) Being a nice guy will take you everywhere.

Just accept the fact you aren’t suddenly going to feel like you ‘have it all together’ and I’d worry if you did. Just for the record: you’ll still have days when wonder what on earth you are doing a few years down the line. Keep questioning what you are doing and why you are doing it because I truly believe that is what will keep you on the right track. Things are going to be just fine…

Photos by Grace Charlotte. Check out here amazing photography here: http://gracecharlotte.co.za/ and here: www.instagram.com/gracecharlottee/

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