Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me

That person in freshers' week who seemed to already have twenty friends? Terrified. Everyone is performing. Everyone is winging it. The performance just gets more convincing over time.

The first job, the first flat, the first relationship — none of them are permanent. Don't treat choices that can be changed as if they can't. You're allowed to pivot. Often.

It's the most efficient thing you can do. Struggling alone for weeks when you could ask a question and fix it in five minutes isn't resilience — it's just slower.

People who can cook eat better, spend less, impress dates, and feel like functioning adults. It takes maybe three weeks to get comfortable. Start now.

Sleep, movement, social contact, time outdoors — these aren't luxuries. They're infrastructure. Skipping them is like skipping oil changes and acting surprised when the engine breaks.

Someone will always be further ahead, thinner, richer, more together. They also have things you'd never want. Stay in your lane.

That embarrassing thing you did? Nobody remembers. They're busy thinking about the embarrassing thing they did.

Your memory is not a filing system. Deadlines, appointments, names, that thing you promised to do — write it down, immediately, somewhere you'll see it again.

It doesn't feel urgent because it creeps. But interest compounds and habits calcify. Deal with debt early, aggressively, and don't let it normalise.

You won't feel ready before the job interview, the conversation, the trip, the first day. Readiness is mostly a myth you'll wait forever for.

Most adults are also making it up as they go. Some are just better at looking like they aren't. You have more time than you think.