If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t go far. I wouldn’t try to change the world or visit some fascinating but dangerous time period; instead, I would go back to 1998, when I was 14, to give my teenage self some advice (assuming that meeting myself wouldn’t cause the world to explode!).

I would tell myself not to go to art school. I don’t regret my illustration degree, but with hindsight I realize that I was never going to be happy doing it for a living. Getting an earlier head start on my teaching career would have been better.

I would tell myself not to be so proud and rigid and not to judge others so much. It’s hard to be modest at that age, but life has many ways to humble you, and I think realizing that earlier would have improved my relationships with others. I would also give myself some advice about women and relationships so that I could avoid making a fool of myself!

I would tell myself to stop eating so much sugar so that I could avoid all of those expensive trips to the dentist down the road, and I would encourage myself not to give up on cooking after a single fire in the kitchen (although I don’t know how successful I’d be!). 

And of course I would try to give myself a financial advantage. I wouldn’t bet on sports or try to win big on the lottery or anything like that, but I would try to teach myself to be smarter with money, to understand inflation and compound interest, and to know what a good investment looks like.

So, that’s it - just a modest trip 23 years into the past to give myself some life advice. Oh, and I’d probably tell myself that regular vacuums can’t suck up water. That would definitely improve my relationship with my mother!