If I could turn back time : advice I would give my 16 year old self

There's nothing more cringey than looking back at your younger years when you thought certain trends were cool and that you knew exactly what you were doing. I can almost hear my parents saying "I told you so" as I type. If I could go back, there's a few pieces of advice that I would give myself.

Save your money

I, like many other young people had a part time job whilst at school or sixth form. This was the first time I was earning money for myself and I didn't really put much away in terms of saving. Being so excited to have the independence to buy what I wanted (within reason) and go out, I didn't take saving as seriously as I should've. Now I am currently saving for a mortgage deposit, a wedding and a honeymoon, that little bit of money could've been a bit more useful than the countless meals at TGIs.


Don't do labels

Yes I went through a stage of being Emo/goth/scene.. to be honest I have no idea what I was doing and I felt under pressure to only enjoy certain types of music whilst wearing certain types of clothes. I remember many occasions of wearing pink and black striped tights under my black cropped trousers, complete with fingerless gloves... oh yeah! I got bored of trying to maintain a particular image and now I just do my own thing. I wear what I feel comfortable in and listen to what I like. In fact,  my Spotify playlist consists of movie soundtracks, musicals, rock, pop, heavy metal and a ton of other stuff. Labels do no one any favours.


Boyfriends are not all that

For about 3 years I dated a guy who at the time I thought I loved. Don't we all think that when we have a young relationship? It was difficult trying to balance a boyfriend, friendships and exams all at once and admittedly I could've done a lot better with my GCSE's if I had stayed single. You live and you learn though right? Not all young relationships last and they aren't worth the grief if your still with someone out of habit.


I wasn't the only one confused

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I thought of a few things but I was never 100% happy or empowered to study one particular topic. I still don't have a huge plan, but I thought at that time that everyone around me knew exactly what they were doing and in reality that wasn't true.


Don't shy away from being you

My teen years were hugely scary for me. I was nervous, shy and uncomfortable for 99% of the time and actually I still am quite a nervous person. I wish I had more confidence then to say bullocks to it and just do my thing. I'm trying to work on my confidence now but had I started then, who knows what my life would've been like now.


Don't sweat the small stuff

As a 22 year old, I have never dealt with so much anxiety in my life on a daily basis. It has caused some "near depressed" stages and I can't quite step away from my worries. I wish I had trained myself at a younger age to just chill and only worry about the stuff I could change. It would've been a lot better now as over the years I have trained myself to be a natural born worrier and it is pretty difficult to try and change that as an adult.


Follow your creativeness

I wish I had explored my creative side sooner. I loved art and writing, but never knew what to do with it. If I was doing it all again, I would've studied photography and started to blog a lot sooner because blogging has given me the outlet to relax and enjoy, without the anxiety creeping in at all hours. I love expressing myself and sharing what I love with you guys. I just wish I knew it a lot sooner.