If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?

We asked some of the wisest people we know what they would tell their younger selves. Check out their responses below.

Isaac Priest

Trust yourself. Your story, your culture, and your uniqueness will one day become the very things that guide you forward. Read more>>

Kay Durairaj

Trust yourself. Every challenge that feels heavy right now is shaping the resilience, confidence, and purpose you’ll stand on later. You have no idea how strong you are yet, or how far your determination will take you. Keep going, stay focused, and don’t dim your ambition for anyone; your future is bigger and brighter than you can imagine. Read more>>

TETIANA KRUSIR

I would tell her: “You are not wrong. You are not too much. And you are not alone — even when it feels like you are.” I would remind her that the sensitivity she tried to hide would one day become her intuition. That the strength she searched for outside was already inside her. Read more>>

Junghyun Kim

Keep going. You are right. Do more. In the end it will never feel like enough. Do not stop. What you want is the feeling of never ending. Read more>>

Deniise Jr

I would apologize to my younger self from not standing up for us , But let my younger self know that I love her more , & it’s only up from here ! Read more>>

Najashi

Keep focus and be patient. Read more>>

Justin Charles

You’re not too dark, too short, or too different. Nothing about you is ‘less than.’ Your mind is your superpower, even when nobody sees it yet. Keep creating. Every world you escape into now… you’ll build for real one day. And the same imagination people teased you for — that’s the gift that’s going to change your life. Read more>>

Joey Babylon

You’re ready as you are. Reject the criticism of others if it doesn’t build you up. Often they don’t understand themselves and they definitely do not understand you. Read more>>

Andre Forrest

If I could say one kind thing to my younger self it would be, ‘No matter what never let anyone or anything make you feel like you are lesser than or that you don’t fit in. The right people will find you.’ Read more>>

Nvrhme.

I would tell myself it’s worth it, and it works. I never doubted, not because I was so confident I just never had a moment to doubt because I was only ever focused on improving and practicing. Read more>>