Celebrating International Women's Day

#DearMe is a global campaign initiated by YouTube aiming to inspire and empower teenage girls, leading up to International Women’s Day on March 8. The idea is simple: if you could speak to your younger teenage self, what advice and encouragement would you give her?

1. I wish I could have told the younger me to stress less and have more fun. I was always worried about figuring out everything and guess what? I still haven't figured sh*t out, but that's life, and it's a lot more fun when you just ride the wave!

2. I would have told the younger me to be more confident, because I am a smart and beautiful woman the way I am and I never appreciated that back then.

3. I would have told the younger me to be more assertive because I deserve to be heard. I was a pushover and I wasted a lot of time with people that didn't matter because I was too afraid to say "no!"

4.  I would have told the younger me to invest in myself a lot earlier. I wish I would have had the guts to "follow my dreams" a lot sooner.

5. I would have told the younger me to not care about what others thought about me. It made my life so much more fulfilling once I lived the way I wanted, instead of worrying about other peoples opinions.  "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." 

6. I would have told the younger me to learn, learn, learn. Everything I could. Because knowledge is power!

What advice, or more importantly encouragement, would you give to your younger self, man or woman?