What advice would you give to your 20 year old self?
What advice would you have to give to your younger self?
I want to take you on a journey back to when you were 20 years old.
Close your eyes and connect with the you that you were back then.
Where are you, who’s around you? What is being said and heard?
How was your life? What were you doing, what were your days like?
What struggles did you have, what were you afraid of?
Did you have any specific dreams, hopes and aspirations for yourself and your life?
Take a few moments to really connect and get a clear picture of her/him and see yourself standing before them, looking yourself in the eyes.
As you look yourself in the eyes, think about all the things that you now know about yourself and life that you wish you had known when you were younger.
What is the best and most valuable advice you could give to your younger self?
Share three of the greatest things you’ve learned in life since then that your younger self would benefit from knowing.
What advice would you give that you now know would have saved you time, grief and frustration later in life?
List at least three of the most important things you would want your younger self to have known.
Or better yet, write a letter to your younger self:
“Dear 20-Year-Old Me,
I am writing to you from the future where I have a greater and wiser perspective on life that you don’t currently have.
I have learned so much about life and us/myself since then and I want to share some very important things with you.
I am reaching out to you to offer the greatest advice I can possibly give you so that you can live a life that is full of joy and…”
And so on.
Write whatever comes to you, and write as if this was the one and only time ever that you had the chance to talk with him/her.
Say everything you want her/him to know and hear.
What would you say to your younger self?
Write, write, write, and speak it out loud; get it all out.
And then, when you’re done, shift your perspective.
There’s so much power in perspective!
Now see the future you standing before you.
The 20 years from now-old you.
Look her/him in the eyes and really connect with him/her.
It’s the you from the future, 20 years from now, looking you in the eyes.
How do you look? Do you look happy?
What are you wearing, what do you see when you look yourself in the eyes?
Confidence? Love? Poise? Gracefulness? Wisdom?
Now listen closely.
What is your future self’s most important advice that he/she wants to give to you?
Hear the message that is being conveyed to you.
Is the advice you get different in nature from what you just gave your 20-year old younger self, or is it similar or even the same advice?
This is an important question so be very honest with yourself.
The quality of your life and the momentum you can start building from this moment on literally depends on your willingness to listen and take action on what you’re hearing.
My invitation today, and most importantly; the invitation from the Truth of your being, is this:
Think about at least one thing you can start doing (or change) today that is based on the advice you just received from your future self.
The wiser you, the you who knows way more than you know from where you stand in your life today.
Write the things down that immediately comes to mind and get a new, more empowered momentum going in your life.
Trust yourself.
The message you’ve received is from your own true inner being.
Listen to it and trust it because it always speaks the Truth.

Hi Maria,
Thank you for recommending this exercise. It really brought a lot into focus and created a renewed and more defined sense of direction. I really have become more focused and aware of where my attention needs to be. It was easier than I thought, and very inspiring and motivating. ☮️
Glad to hear you did the exercise and found it helpful Mark.
It’s a great exercise to do that really shines a light on the ways in which we hold ourselves back.
It’s important to remember that we only have this One Life and our time here is limited.
Not in the bigger scheme of things, but you know what I mean.
Anyways,.. 😊
My point is; Live, and live NOW while you’re here and have the chance and opportunity.
Enjoy the crap out of it, give the best you’ve got and share yourself with the world – and don’t hold back!
You might like this post too:
https://mariaerving.com/one-shot-one-life/
It’s funny you mention time. That was a key point from my future self. To not take a single moment for granted and to embrace it fully and make the most of it.
Yes I get it !! ☺️
Life is clearly speaking to you Mark. 😊
Thanks for this beautiful article.
Often times I find it hard to push myself to be positive. But this exercise I really connected to myself.
The message from me in 20 years and my inner self is ‘ embrace yourself unconditionally’ so I’ve decided to say to myself ‘it’s ok … no matter what,’ instead of blaming myself saying ‘why can’t I …?’
My resolution for 2022!
That is wonderful, Miki! 😊
Here’s a couple of other articles that you might like and find helpful too:
https://mariaerving.com/best-friend-life-advice
https://mariaerving.com/keyword-guiding-word-2017