A Letter to My Younger Self: Life Lessons I Wish I Learned Sooner

What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance?

In this heartfelt episode of Brave Moves, Julie DeLucca-Collins shares the life lessons, mindset shifts, and wisdom she wishes she had learned sooner. From learning to trust yourself and stop comparing your journey to others, to understanding the power of service, community, and emotional growth, this episode is a reflection on what truly matters.

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next step, this episode offers practical wisdom and encouragement to help you move forward with greater confidence and self-awareness.

In This Episode

•  Why listening to yourself matters 
•  The danger of comparison 
•  The power of building community 
•  How serving others changes your perspective 
•  Taking responsibility for your growth 
•  The emotions we avoid and how they keep us stuck 
•  Writing a letter to your younger self

Transcript

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After recording yesterday's episode, I realized there, there is so much that I wish I could tell younger self Julie. And if I could sit across from her right now, that young woman who was trying so hard, who was trying to fit in and to prove herself, who was trying to be enough, trying to figure it all out, I don't think I would give her advice about making more money or becoming more successful or achieving more goals. I would simply tell her what it took me decades to learn. And maybe if you're listening today, some of these lessons are meant for you, too. And before we dive in, make sure that you share this episode with someone who may need this reminder today, and stay till the end because I'm gonna share with the lesson that took me the longest to learn and the one that changed my life the most. Now, dear younger Julie, learn to listen to yourself. Not every voice deserves equal weight, and not every opinion deserves your attention, and not every criticism deserves a seat at your table. You spend so much time looking outside of yourselves for answers, and you ask everyone else what they think. You worry about disappointing people, and you wonder if you're doing enough. Meanwhile, your own intuition has been quietly whispering the truth all along. Learn to trust her. She knows more than you think. Now, stop competing. You will win at life when you stop competing with everybody else. There will always be someone with more money, more followers, credentials, with more experience and success. And if your happiness depends on being ahead of everyone else, you'll never feel like you've arrived. The only person you need to become better than is the version of yourself from yesterday. Focus on staying in your lane. Focus on your growth. Focus on your own contributions. The race you think you're running doesn't actually exist. Be the person who gathers others, Julie. Don't wait for invitations. Create them. Be the person who brings people together and reaches out first. Be the person who says, "Come sit with me. Let's have coffee. How are you doing, friend?" You never know who's sitting alone waiting for someone to make the first move. You never know who needs that encouragement, and you never know who needs a safe place to belong. Sometimes you are the invitation someone else is waiting for. And when life feels heavy, serve. Julie, when you're discouraged, serve. When you're stuck in your own head, serve. There is something extraordinary that happens when we stop focusing solely on ourselves and begin to focus on how we can help somebody else. Service doesn't make your problems disappear, but it often changes your perspective. It reminds you that your life matters, your gifts matter, your presence in the lives of others do matter. And I've learned it's almost no downside to kindness, and there is a tremendous amount of healing in helping someone else carry their burden. Julie, don't forget to take responsibility, and this one may be the hardest. Take responsibility for your actions. Not responsibility for everything, not responsibility for others' choices, but responsibility for your own actions, for your growth and healing, for your response to things, and take responsibility for your future. You know, there comes a point when we have to stop blaming our circumstances and start asking, "What can I do next?" The question changes everything. And I wish this lesson had been learned so much sooner. The emotion you avoid, Julie, will become your prison The emotion you avoid is the most often the one that keeps you stuck, Julie. For some people, perhaps that emotion is grief. For others, disappointment. Maybe shame, fear, loneliness, rejection, anger. Many of us spent years trying to not feel uncomfortable emotions. But avoided emotions don't disappear, they wait. They show up in different ways, maybe with your overthinking, procrastination, your perfectionism or people-pleasing. These uncomfortable emotions may be part of your burnout at times. The path forward is rarely around the feeling. It's through it. The moment you become willing to sit with the emotion instead of running from it, you begin to heal. And here's the moment of truth, Julie. Most of the wisdom we seek isn't something we need to learn. It's something we need to remember. Here's your brave move, my friend. Write a letter to your younger self. Not the younger self you criticize, the younger self you love, the younger self who was doing the best she could with what she knew at a time. What will you tell her? What wisdom will you share? What would you thank her for? Because chances are the advice that you'd give her is exactly what you need to hear today. Dear younger me, you don't need to have it all figured out. You don't need to be perfect, and you don't need to earn your worth. Trust yourself, serve others, gather people, keep growing and remember, the life you're building isn't created by one big decision. It's creating by thousands of small, brave moves. And that, Julie, is your brave move