FBC – 107- What Would You Change In Your Life If You Could?

What Would You Change In Your Life If You Could?

What if you had the chance to go back in time and meet your 18-year-old self? What piece of advice or insider information would you tell that person?

So the question was:

If you could go back in time and you could meet your 18 year old self, I mean provided that you're not 18 now because obviously that will defeat the purpose of the exercise. What advice would you give to your 18 year old self?

A friend of mine came up with one and said “you know what? I will go tell myself one word only… Bitcoins.” A pretty good answer right. So you could tell yourself to invest in Bitcoins.

But the point for me was whether you wanted to shield this 18 year old self from everything that could happen or would you just provide some basic advice and just let things go through?

Right. So there are different schools of thought. Maybe you will say “ I will give that person every single bit of information and save myself the trouble, whether it's like relationship, don't waste your time with this person and I'll do this and I'll do that and stuff like that because you're going to get hurt and stuff”.  Which is totally valid because this is what you get from other people with experience that can help you.

My take was different. Some people may agree with me, some people might disagree but I really think that the person you are today is the result of all these experiences you had, you know good or bad. OK. And as much as people can warn you or try to prepare you for something that's coming you never actually learn anything from it or take any lesson until you've lived it and you've experienced it.

So the bad stuff that happened to you. OK. It sucks. Right. Nobody wants bad stuff to happen to you. But this is the reason why you became more resilient or why you created something and made a big change in your life. And for me, these things are necessary right. This is how you build your own experience and nobody can prepare you. You can’t be fully prepared for something until you live it. That's really what I think.

What Would You Change In Your Life If You Could?

So good things happened to me and bad things happened to me. And I think that these bad things that happened to me are one of the main reasons why I'm able to do what I do today. I used to play basketball all the time. And then all of a sudden I ended up in the wheelchair. And you know I couldn’t play basketball anymore. So there is this thing where it's more about how you react to it. Right.

So instead of like giving up and stuff, I decided that you know what I am going to play basketball again. And this taught me the resilience. So it wasn't like Oh man I'm going to play basketball again to like tomorrow or you know next week. I knew it was going to take some time and I worked consistently every day to make one tiny little progress every day until I reached my goal. And I think this. Helped me in everything I do today.

So now when something bad happens, I don't give up anymore. I will find a way to bounce back and to go round the problem because that's the thing. Your life is going to kick you in the face. I know how hard life kicks you, but it’s about how adaptive you are. And now you manage to go around these problems.

So if someone will preserve you from every possible problem in the universe and stuff and your life is all rainbows and unicorns and stuff, you're never going to learn anything. You're never going to develop the strength of character.

All right. So as much as I hate the stuff that happened to me, I'm actually thankful because it allowed me to find that inner strength that today I have and I'm very proud of it. And every time every time I go play basketball and do a shoot and the ball goes in, I have the sense of pride.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the value of asking yourself what you would change in your life?

The question forces you to name the gap between your current path and the one you actually want. It surfaces the decisions you keep postponing and the patterns you defend out of habit. Most people only do this exercise after a crisis, when the cost of inaction is already large.

What advice do most successful people give their younger selves?

The repeated themes are start sooner, charge more, fire fast, and trust your gut earlier. Almost nobody says they regret taking a bigger swing at 22. Reading 50 founder interviews reveals the same three regrets so often that they function as a working playbook for anyone under 35.

How do you turn a life-change question into action this week?

Pick one specific behavior you would change and run a 7-day pilot. Track a single metric like hours, dollars, or replies. If the pilot beats your baseline, lock it in for 30 days. Vague answers like be braver fail because they cannot be measured or scheduled.

Why do most people avoid asking what they would change?

The honest answer usually requires changing a relationship, a job, or a city, and that cost feels heavier than the daily friction. Avoidance is cheaper in the short term and more expensive over five years. Naming the change in writing is the first step that breaks the loop.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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