What advice would you give your 25-year-old self?

With age comes perspective and wisdom no matter who you are. Looking back there are things we are glad we did and things we regret doing. If you knew what you know now, what would you tell your 25-year-old self?

Rep. Bolet Banal, 3rd District, QC

If I could talk to my 25-year-old self, the first thing I’d tell him is: “Remember Back to the Future? Don’t freak out, but it’s true!” And then I’d encourage him to focus on his young family, to continue being a hands-on dad. I’d tell him to save, save, save. It might (and it will) come in handy, especially when he starts feeling a certain restlessness about being all settled in. When that time comes (and it will), he should listen to his heart and follow his  instincts. When Lee Dawson tells him that he’s nuts because people are lining up at the US Embassy to get a shot at half of what he’s got, not to mention that he’s up for a promotion, he should still quit his job. Against all odds he should gather the girls, load the fridge, the car and everything else into a 40-foot container van, and move back to the Philippines. Before I go, I’d tell him that it’ll be tough and it’ll be rough, but he simply has to trust “us” and just enjoy the ride.

Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, Ist District, Zambales

I would advise her that she should never sell herself short in whatever she does and she shouldn’t dwell on disappointments and failures but they should even serve as a challenge for her to move on.

Izza Gonzales-Agana, model, entrepreneur

Be yourself and don’t always think about what other people might say about you. 

Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez, model,  jewelry designer

I’d tell myself, “Tweetie, at 25, your life is just about to begin. You’re no longer a child but neither are you wise in the ways of life. Don’t fear age. Getting older is a beautiful experience — for you see with your heart and not with your eyes. You care for your soul more than your body. You strive to be wise not just to be smart. That is living...”

David Tupaz, fashion designer

The advice I would give my 25-year-old self? Plan your life ahead of you! Focus on your goals and create a direction or a path that will allow you to make your dreams and goals into reality! Success and achievement are two different views in my opinion! Success is something one maintains. Achievement is winning it and proving that you’re the best. And lastly, be the best of what you can be! Sounds like a cliché’ but there will only be one William Shakespeare, and after 500 years we are still studying and appreciating his work! There is going to be one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and after 400 years we are still playing his music! One Coco Chanel that changed fashion and made the little black dress a uniform for all women of style! Who are they? They are not queens or kings. presidents or princesses. They are just ordinary men and women like you and me, but they became the best at what they can be! And what they shared with generation upon generation mattered! Each of us can be like them.

Kathleen Dy-Go, managing director, Universal Records and Orion Entertainment Philippines

Live life to pursue your passions, and dreams. If music is in your blood and heart, then go with it. Don’t let other people’s comments or perceptions get in the way of your happiness. There’s nothing wrong with giving a promising artist his big recording break, or producing an established singer’s next hit song or album, or being at the forefront of OPM’s campaign to survive.

Myla Crespo Villanueva, CEO, Novare Technologies

My advice to my 25-year-old self: Stop smoking, it’s not so cool in 20 years! Stop drinking margaritas, red wine is much better for you but then again you don’t know what antioxidants are yet nor can you afford the good kind. Most of all, invest and risk everything you believe in, don’t give up even if it all seems so impossible to get there. It’s all very possible to be incredibly happy with faith, hard work, humor and the wonderful hubby you just married!

Len Cabili, fashion designer, Filip+inna

I would tell myself to live out this verse from Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Seek His guidance in all you do, and He will direct your ways.”