I feel like as young people we have fixed views on where we want life to take us. There's that age old question - 'what do you want to be when you're older?' - and for most of us we'll have some sort of answer that confines us to a box whether than be an area of employment or a specific job. The same thing applies for the way we style ourselves, the things we're willing to do - we all have these subconscious ideas about what we will and won't do.

My advice is to let yourself look outside these fences we all build for ourselves. Don't immediately write off something because it's scary and new, because maybe you're missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime. The only way to know if something isn't for you is to try, and live life more experimentally.

I had my hair cut to my shoulders recently which may not sound like a lot but I've been too afraid to have it short for years after having a really bad haircut when I was 13 which was too short. And you know what? It looks good shorter. I have doubts every day about where I want to go in life and I've realised the only way I'm ever going to figure it out is to actually go out and do things and research.

Take every opportunity Fate gives you because who knows what it may unlock inside you. Maybe you'll attend that lecture on nuclear physics and realise it's something you've wanted to do all your life. Maybe you'll see a person in a new light and fall madly in love. It can be as simple as buying those jeans you've seen in the shop window but been too afraid to buy in case you can't pull them off.

So rule fifty six of surviving Teenagehood: if you have that feeling in your gut, it's fate telling you to do it (or you may have indigestion).