A letter to my 16 year old self

Iain Dale has tagged me to write a letter to my 16 year old self giving myself 3 pieces of advice. So here I go.

Dear Nich,

Here is some advice for you.

Contrary to what you might think now about your future, you will actually go on to learn and be educated and you will realise it is what you were meant to do. I know you loathe school, can't wait to leave, and as a result have no desire to do A levels. But don't be too depressed when after two months at Norwich Union you realsie you have made a terrible mistake and wish you had gone on to further education. You will go to University and there you will meet some of the most amazing people you will ever meet, you will make the very closest of friendships, and you will not regret for one moment that you chose this delayed path in to education.

Accept that you cannot be popular with everyone and accept that some of those you count as friends really and truly are selfish arseholes. You know the only child who has everything handed too him on a plate ? You know to whom I refer. He will dump an you and your friends, play you off against each other and in general arse you around. You don't need his friendship or the friendship of his clique he will develop this year (you'll soon see the clique appear). Oh, but stay in touch with Andy. He's a bit misguided sometimes and yes, he will make a couple of monumental errors in his dealings with you over the coming years, but he'll always prove to be a good friend. You'll make many friends because for all your fears about wanting to be liked, people do genuinely like you when you don't try too hard !

Finally, you will really like yourself when you are my age (nearly 39), in fact, from the age of acout 25, you will really and truthfully have grown in to yourself. You will know that you don't have to always be the life and soul of the party, people will trust you implicitly, it's okay to be a little down sometimes, but the grey cloud that is over your head right now (and will be there until the age of 25) will go and be virtually banished accept on bad days. You grow in to yourself and in to your looks and you'll be tremendously happy in your late thirties, and so SO much calmer.

Oh, and to break a rule and offer a fourth and fifth piece of advice, don't get used to Everton winning league titles as this year (1987) will be their last for many many years and you will learn, despite all your hopes, that politics changes nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Cheers

Nich