At my tender old age of 19, I'm already beginning to look in hindsight at my formative years and I've come up with some things I wished I'd known all those years ago.

No YOLO

The whole premise of this idea of doing things you'll later regret because you only live once is bullshit. If you're going to regret it, just don't do it. You will not only hurt yourself but somehow ultimately you'll hurt others. You won't know who, or to what capacity but it will happen and it will fucking suck.

Karma is real

And my god, does it bite. People only deny karma until it is proven to them by receiving bad karma. Found $2 on the ground once? That's proof of good karma, you don't want to experience the proof of bad karma.

Be nice to everyone

Literally every single person you ever meet, even if you are fantasising about how you'll kill them, fake it. You don't want anyone to ever be able to say that you weren't nice to them, if you're not nice to someone, then they will always remember you like that; regardless of what you do to make up for it.

Focus on your education

Don't fuck around with shit at school, just do the absolute best you can. But don't forget about balance, you don't want to have a nervous breakdown at 17.

Be open with your parents

They were young once too. They've said it to you and you just ignore it, don't. If you can forge an open relationship with your parents your life will actually be infinitely better.

Keep a diary, take photos of everything, make a playlist every month

Do things that will make you remember exactly how you felt at that time in your life, you'll grow from them and instead of forgetting the bad things you'll learn from them and turn them into better experiences.

Talk to strangers

You never ever know who'll you meet.

Follow your dreams, not money

Don't do a degree because the job at the end of it pays well, do something you've always wanted to do but always said you couldn't, you can do it. No seriously, you can, just try.

Save all your money for travel

You don't need a Billabong bikini, Kmart has them for a tenth of the price. I mean, its cool to op shop now, take advantage of that. Because once you've seen little bits of the world, you'll realise that even though they may have an amazing wardrobe, they have no life experience, at all.