Who doesn’t love the powerhouse actress Dame Judi Dench? She’s talented, elegant, classy and makes getting older seem like a gift (Can you believe she’s nearly 80? She has such a youthful spirit!). The other day I saw this article, Judi Dench’s advice to her 30-year-old self on Stylist.co.uk and as I suspected, her kick-ass insights into living your best life weren’t cliche or broad like “follow your bliss!”.

One of her best pieces of advice was “Use fear to your advantage.” I love this, because one of life’s greatest motivators is fear – fear of failing, fear of not finding stable job, fear of not finding love or connection, etc. While you can try to fight against that fear, why not embrace it? Use the fear to guide you. For me, fear tends to be one of my most energizing emotions (that and anger, of course). Fear pushes me to work harder and do everything I can to avoiding ‘losing’ things – friends, jobs, opportunities, etc.

Two others pieces of advice that I loved were “Never stop being surprised by things” and “Fill your house with pets.” After spending a week with our first foster dog Chase last week, I realized how much happier I felt on the whole. All the cliche things you hear about dogs ended up being true – I talked to our neighbors more and I felt more lighthearted and less anxious.

Thanks, Dame Judi Dench! (Now if you could just let me know how your skin looks so awesome. Thanks.)

Oh, and P.S. – We’ll be making the “Advice for your 30s” a regular part of this blog going forward, so stay tuned!