Have you ever looked back on your life and thought, ‘if only I knew then, what I know now…'? Whether it’s dramas with love, family, or your career, we all learn from our experiences and eventually become all the wiser for it. 

This month best selling author, Tilly Bagshawe lets us in on what she wishes she'd known in her twenties; from how to handle love-life battles to why she wished she'd stopped to smell the roses every now and then.

Tilly's latest book, Flawless, is a romp through Hollywood which plunges the reader into a world of glittering diamonds, beautiful women and powerful men. Diamond maven Scarlett Drummond is determined to make her mark on the diamond business but to do that she must battle through an industry filled with greed and corruption...

WIN: We have 2 copies of Tilly’s new book Flawless (published by Orion, $34.99RRP) to giveaway. To get yourself in the draw just tell us where Flawless is set.



Stop writing that list and slow down! Yes, I know you have a lot to do. Make partner. Get a bigger bonus. Buy a flat, take Sefi out of that God-awful state primary school where all the kids speak Urdu, get your out-of-control playboy boyfriend to commit and magically transform into the husband and father of your dreams. I know it’s a jungle out there, and that every day’s a battle. But maybe if you spent a little more time looking in, instead of out, you’d see how much you already have.
 

Go upstairs and look at the little girl asleep in her bed. (Yes, she is there. Under the 2000 beanie babies, wearing Spice Girls pyjamas. Look a bit closer.) She is seven  years old and perfect – you know that already. But you don’t know how quickly this time is going to pass. Cherish her innocence, her naughtiness, the trusting clasp of her fingers in yours. Don’t worry, the love will never go away. In fact, believe it or not, it will grow stronger and deeper every day. But she will never be seven again. And you will miss it more than you thought possible.

I wish I could tell you your love-life troubles are over. Unfortunately you have five more rocky years ahead. If only you could see how well it all turns out. But of course you can’t. You can’t imagine how much that commitment-phobic playboy is going to change. He loves you so much, even now, but his problems are his own. Your problem is thinking you can solve them. He will put you through hell, but you mustn’t doubt yourself. Of all the battles you are fighting right now, this is the only one that matters: the battle for true love.

You will make partner, by the way, and buy the flat and get a big bonus.  But it won’t matter.  This isn’t the book of your life, you see. It’s only chapter one. The story hasn’t even begun to get interesting yet.