The sage advice I’d give to my 16-year-old self

If only I’d known then what I know now … We all say it. Or do we? Your Time magazine asked some local identities what advice they would give their 16-year-old selves if they had the chance.

Terri Irwin

Australia Zoo

If I were to give my 16-year-old self any advice, it would be that life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Don’t try to achieve everything all at once. Take time to care for yourself.

Eat more healthily. Schedule time to slow down and savour life. And above all, prioritise sleep.

I would also share that unconditional love is the meaning of life. Knowing that changes everything. It means you will always see the best in others and have gratitude for everything.

Also, do not make the mistake of thinking that kindness is weakness. Kindness is wisdom, and you cannot have one without the other.

It’s also important to revel in your accomplishments. It’s easy to get caught up in the next urgent thing to do.

Instead, take time to celebrate the special achievements you make. You did that – party!

Today, as a 61-year-old woman, I continue to remind myself of these life lessons. After all, we are still learning every day.

Barbara Pease

Author, motivator and Pease International CEO

High achievers are not defined only by success, but by how they navigate life with resilience, kindness and balance.

The most important thing you can invest in is your health. Eating well, exercising daily and learning to genuinely love yourself creates the foundation for a long and fulfilling life.

Don’t waste energy on small issues or the opinions of others. Often, people’s criticism reflects their own experiences more than yours.

As long as you remain kind, loyal and generous, success will naturally follow.

Life is also meant to be enjoyed — not overthought.

Learn, travel, make mistakes and have fun along the way.

You don’t need to have everything figured out.

The most rewarding journeys often come from exploring different paths before finding what truly inspires you.

Aim to do something you love so much that it never feels like work.

Read widely and travel often. Both will broaden your perspective and help you become more open-minded and worldly.

When making decisions – especially financial ones – take your time, do your research and trust informed judgment over quick promises.

Most importantly, protect your peace.

Anxiety, perfectionism and anger rarely improve life.

Surround yourself with positive people, spend time alone to understand yourself better, and remember that if you don’t take control of your time and direction, someone else will.

A successful life is ultimately one lived with purpose, balance and no regrets.

Scott Hutchinson

Hutchies construction company chairman

The singular message I would give my 16-year-old self is that 30 (or even 40) is not old.

You don’t have to get everything sorted ASAP and you have plenty of time.

Kick the can down the road and don’t take relationships too seriously.

When you’re a 16-year-old male, you’re not old enough to realise you’ve got plenty of time. You’re 15 years behind women socially and the reality for a male is that you haven’t got anything interesting to offer women until you’re at least 21.

I wish I just accepted that, and that things change for the better. Basically, don’t worry about it.

Your life isn’t slipping away.

At work, you feel you have to get up to speed quickly and that by 30, you should be fully developed. That’s not the case and you are best in your 50s.

When you’re young, you don’t realise that you’ve got plenty of time. You think everything has to be done now and everything is urgent and it isn’t.

Things are going to get better.

You won’t have acne for life, and a year is not a long period of time.

Allan Pease

Body language expert, author, speaker and Pease International chairman

What would I tell my 16-year old-self? I would say, “Allan, all the goal-setting techniques that you’ll hear about, they work. Do them all. Having deadlines and plans of action – that works, too. Do it all.”

But the one thing I’d say to him that I didn’t learn until later in life is to decide what you want, not how you’ll do it.

Most people think about how they would do something. “How do I become rich? How do I become a millionaire? Live on the beach? How could I become like Mother Teresa? How could I do … whatever?”

They can’t think of how, and so they get bogged down in the details and possibilities and, as a result, they lose motivation and the goal doesn’t happen.

Just decide what you’re going to do, not how. Say: “I’m going to do this! End of story, full stop, over and out, that’s it, that’s what I’m going to do!”, not “how will I do it?”.

But, others ask, “How would you do this, Allan?” The reality is, it doesn’t matter how.

How is none of your business. Just decide what you’re going to do, and the part of the brain called the RAS (reticular activating system) will find the how.

You’ll see the how once you’ve decided the what.

Hayden Kenny

Surf legend

At 16, I was in the throes of leaving high school in Maryborough.

There were a lot of industries there, such as Walkers Limited shipyards and locomotive building, that needed people.

Representatives of those industries – in my case, the railway – came to the classroom and would make pitches to us.

In the railways, you could start as a lad porter and work your way up. My grandfather was working in the locomotive works. I thought, “Yeah, that must be a good job. I’ll take that up.” So, I went home and explained to my mother: “I’ve left school and I’ve got a job in the railway.”

It was a bit of a shock announcement. She, like everyone else, thought you should finish your main education up to Grade 12.

Maryborough was a hive of activity, as far as repairs and maintenance on the railway goes. My 11 years in the railway took me to some interesting places.

The railway had a system of small sidings and towns. Ideraway, outside Gayndah, had a house where a ganger and his wife lived and she looked after the station. It was one of the first ones I got sent to. When they went on holidays, you’d get sent to relieve and your accommodation was in the goods shed, and that was where you lived for about a month.

You looked after the mail, you had to operate the little telephone exchange, and the Commonwealth Bank.

It was a bit of a unique experience until when I went into the army at 19. They had to keep your position open when you did national service: 13 weeks initial training and then four years and nine months part-time.

Would I do anything differently?

To me, the railway was an opportunity that presented and I took it, and that became my life’s foundations. I’d probably say I should have done and discussed it more with my parents but I got an impression that the railways wanted an answer there and then.

It was a strict life. Everything was built around honesty, your handshake – different rules of living.

Even when I was going to school, if there was a funeral procession, you got off your bike and took your hat off. You never swore in the house. The house rules were made by your parents. There were penalties and maybe a bit of a clip under the ear if you did the wrong thing.

It wasn’t violence: just a wake-up call. And you think back today and say, “I’m glad I got it because it taught me a lesson.”

 Bob Ansett

 Entrepreneur, Budget Rent-a-Car Australia founder

My parents divorced when I was nine and I went to Wesley College in Melbourne as a live-in student for two years.

When my mum remarried to an American engineer, we sailed to California and I was immediately despatched to a military academy for another two years.

When I was 13, we moved to Vista, not far from San Diego, and I went to high school where I was exposed to a new way of learning. By 16, I had made it on to the football and baseball teams, and participated in track meets and basketball.

I got a summer job with a survey team that year, and when I finished school, I worked on an underground railway in Anchorage, Alaska. After a year in Alaska, I was called up for US military service. After doing my training, I registered to join the paratroopers.

Ultimately, I was sent to Japan and served out my time at Far East Military Headquarters, just out of Yokohama. I took over the morning calisthenics for more than 3000 generals, officers and enlisted men at Camp Zama. During the summer, I managed the swimming pool and became knowledgeable about management in general.

Not too long after, I returned to Australia and set up Budget Rent a Car.

The advice that I would pass on to my 16-year-old self is largely about ways in which to prepare myself for the future.

At the back of my mind, I had always thought of ways in which I would ultimately take over my dad’s airline. I worked hard at thinking through things I could do to prepare for this advent.

I clearly wanted to get into aviation in the US, learning about aircraft during my time in the paratroopers.

I wouldn’t change anything.