About this quote

Looking back and wishing you could speak to your younger self is often the clearest sign you learned from a mistake. That urge to reach across time can be useful if you turn it into action instead of just guilt. Name the error, decide one concrete change, and tell someone about it so it sticks. What one thing would you actually change tomorrow if you could go back for five minutes?

When to use it

• After being passed over for a promotion, I tell my mentor, "If I could talk to my younger self, I'd tell him to ask for more responsibility sooner."
• On a rough call with my brother I admit, "I wish I could talk to the kid who shut everyone out and tell him to show up more often."
• After losing money on a bad gamble, I sat down and wrote, "Dear younger me," listing the one habit I'd change and then set a monthly savings rule.
• While rehabbing an injury, I mutter to my coach, "If I could talk to my younger self, I'd tell him to rest and build strength slowly."