Cast your mind back to when Back to the Future first hit our screens and gave us a glimpse into what was possible in the future. Back to the Future Day refers to 21 October, 2015 when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), his girlfriend Jennifer Parker (Claudia Wells) and Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) travel ahead in time to the second installment of the Back to the Future trilogy.
Fast-forward to 2015 and the characters find themselves in a world that's highly advanced technologically speaking. Well, daily life including hovering skateboards and flying cars may still be a little while away, but there's plenty to celebrate having hit this incredible milestone.
In fact, Claudia Wells has been in Australia over the last week or so to help fans to celebrate the day in style - take a look.
Given we're in 2015 now, let's grab those creative hats and imagine this:
It's 1985 and the Doc rocks up at our doors offering to take us back in time. You jump into the time machine and suddenly, you come face-to-face with your younger self.
What would you tell your younger self?
It's a question that means more to us all as we mature and experience the many ups and downs life typically has in-store for us. Why seek to answer the question ourselves when we can throw it out there to the inspiring people who've answered the question below?
To kick us off, there's no one better than Claudia - have a watch of the hilarious scene she filmed with Sunrise's Kochie and Sam.
On another note, Claudia (who's also an entrepreneur and a founding board member of Kids in the Spotlight - learn more about Claudia here) is one of the nicest people I've interviewed and met but enough from me, I'll leave you to read the answers to this very simple but complex question:
What would you tell your younger self?
Claudia Wells
You were made for wonderful things - you are not what you do, you are not what people think of you, you are God's creation. And God loves you and that's the most important thing period. If people don't love you, if circumstances seem difficult, you're okay. Your happiness does not depend on your circumstances, it does not depend on whether someone likes you or loves you or not, it doesn't depend on how much money or things you have. Your joy comes from within and your joy comes from the knowledge that God loves you and God made you and he doesn't make junk.
I'd really tell my younger self this: no more negative self-talk, we're only going to do positive self-talk from now on no matter what you've learned and no matter what anyone has said to you. You're going to be kind to yourself and treat yourself like your own beloved. And that's how we're going to live our lives
Jimmy Star - Director of Operations at Spectra Music Group
Try harder. Don't give up. Negotiate more. Don't be afraid to start new things. Don't waste time by starting a new thing when you don't have to.
Go by people's actions, not their words. Don't wait for the right moment, you can start now if you came up with the concept. It takes more time to explain an idea than to do it. Take the initiative and build the team.
Make your own opportunities. Your world is made by you. Trust your instincts, and good friends. If it seems like a bad idea, or too good to be true, it probably is. You will be the only one who regrets not living your life. Haters want you to fail, prove them wrong.
Someday, you won't care what people think of you, start now.
Kaz Aston - Founder and CEO of Monarchy Online
Since my big 'three zero' birthday, the topic of what I'd do differently if I could rewind the clock pops up often. For me, I'd probably tell my younger self to:
1. Always look at the bigger picture and try to open as many doors as you can to make new friends and contacts.
2.Never say never! Take-up opportunities immediately, even if you don't make it happen straight away.
3.Keep it simple and don't over-complicate communications to avoid people becoming confused or bored.
4.Cut yourself some slack as not everything will run according to plan. Different options may arise that often work out to be even better.
5.Make sure you have fun and give yourself enough time to recharge your batteries.
6.Make sure you have someone on-hand that can offer legal advice quickly to ensure you're protected. Business can always take an unexpected turn and your reputation could be at risk.
Peter Ziggy - Founder of 3P Corporation, Author and Speaker
Ziggy, never ever try to be someone other than yourself.... It's impossible for everyone to love you. Find your gifts and talents and be comfortable with how you've been wired and the type of person you are. You are valuable, worthy, important and loved by so many people, even though at times, it may not seem like it.
Focus on helping people to transform their lives and as a result, you'll transform your own life.
Make sure you have a mentor who loves you unconditionally and will tell it to you like it really is.
Avoid gossip, wasteful arguments, slander and putting others down. Never pass judgment on others. Be authentic and do the right thing even when no one is watching because that's true integrity. And above all, LOVE your fellow human being.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE... everything else is just noise.
Erica King - Founder of Running Divas Australia
Erica, believe in yourself, take care of your body and take time to find out what you really want from your life. Stop listening and believing in the negativity around you.
Stop trying to please everyone else and identify what is important to you. You are worthy of loving and being loved.
As you journey through your life, do what makes you happy and fulfilled rather than what you think you should do and don't accept anything less than you deserve. Life is to be lived, savoured and enjoyed every single day.
Your life passes quickly, more than you can appreciate which means there is no time to waste being unfulfilled and miserable.
Go out, grab your life with both hands and take control.
Daniel Flynn - Co-founder and Managing Director of Thankyou Group
Remember to celebrate the wins. Every single one of them.
A few years into Thankyou, a business mentor that I respect greatly asked me, "Do you celebrate your wins?" I wanted to say, "Yes, of course". But I couldn't. Instead, I was speechless.
I realised that up until that point, our team was so focused on the growth of Thankyou and reaching more people in need globally, that we had forgotten to stop and celebrate our successes. As a team, we are incredibly fast and driven to work towards our vision for impact, but over time, we've learned the importance in acknowledging and celebrating every little achievement along the way.
Emma Lovell - Director at Lovelly Communications
When people say "You can't", it's actually them saying "They can't". You can! You will! You do! Dream big! The bigger the dream, the better. When there is an opportunity, take it. You need to trust your gut and go with what feels right for you, whenever you do, it will be right. You will be able to make the biggest decisions in a heartbeat - moving countries, starting a business or joining an epic adventure. Your heart will lead you in the right way and you must trust in that. Most importantly, never give up. Sometimes it's hard to stand alone, to be different and to go against the grain. In order to be true to you, this is what you must do. Take the chances and the opportunities that come your way, and strap yourself in for an awesome ride!
Sunny Lenarduzzi - Social Broadcaster Extraordinaire
I would tell my younger self to trust her gut, to live in the moment and not to take herself so seriously. As I've matured I've realized what really matters in life and I wish I had that sense of perspective when I was younger. So, to my younger self: cherish being a kid, straight A's are great but life experience is magic, the kids who say your dreams are stupid are the ones who aren't bold enough to dream big for themselves, and most importantly, you're doing just fine. And I promise, if you keep following your happiness, when you grow up, you'll be pretty stoked on your life.
Rachel Gillespie - Owner-operator at Inspire Me Women
Listen to this quote: "You become like the five people you spend most of your time with" and really make good choices for yourself here as this creates much of your journey and where you end up in life.
In relationships, love deeply with strength and vulnerability and honour who you love. Find someone who is willing to do the same. Don't settle for the first guy or girl who comes along. Go for values and friendship, not just looks - eventually, this becomes what you build your lifelong relationship on.
If you have a child, don't wrap them in cotton wool. Be there for them but let them find their own way in the world with your blessing and encouragement to enjoy their life, teach them to listen more than they speak and make them believe they can create their dreams if they are willing to work at it.
In business, find out what people really want, not what you think they need.
Overall, work hardest on loving yourself everyday, this will be the toughest thing to maintain.
Adel de Myer - Social Media and Hootsuite Specialist
If I could jump into a time machine and get outta here and hit rewind to see my younger self, I would say the following: There will be this thing called 'Google' - make sure that you invest in it. After that, design a platform online where people can upload photos of themselves, make friends around the world and share videos of themselves throwing water over their heads. Believe me, it makes perfect sense. And while you are on this journey of growing up, please remember: A simple hello can lead to a million things. Travel the world. Practice what you preach. And most importantly, don't leave your dreams on the pillow.
Keith Keller - Global Twitter Marketing Specialist
"Trust yourself. You're bloody awesome. You will be OK." When I was 18 in the mid '80s, I had goals and dreams but I just didn't follow through with them. I was scared. So much so that I didn't jump when opportunities presented themselves. And we all know how quickly good opportunities disappear. Instead, I played it safe... Did the sensible thing. Sucked up people's nasty comments. Anyone who knows me will recognise those words instantly... Because that's the way I talk to myself now and how I live my life. And I'm the happiest I've ever been.
Finally, before we wrap this up, I can't really end this without putting my money where my mouth is and answering the question myself. So here goes...
Falling down, feeling small, making mistakes... they're all part of life and part of growing up. Life will bring extreme highs where you're on top of the world and extreme lows where all you'll feel is pain, hurt and disappointment. Know that people make your life difficult only because they are insecure within themselves. Appreciate the good people in your life, tell people what you need to so that you can move on and get on with it and most importantly: while the darkest of moments will tempt you to change who you are, never change yourself because of the behaviour of others. The moment you start believing in yourself, that's the real game-changer in life.
So, what would you tell your younger self?