One of the biggest regrets I have about my youth is that I tried to please everybody, even if it meant putting myself last — and by the way, pleasing everybody is totally impossible.

So, what are the perks of trying to please everybody? To be honest, there are none at all. You just get frustrated at yourself for missing out on things you know that you would have enjoyed.

In fact, you'll just be disgruntled with yourself for being such an indecisive loser and wasting time on people who, at the end of day, do not even care or appreciate whatever you have done for them.

Looking back, I missed out on opportunities time after time due to my own irresolution. I mean, putting the blame entirely on the people you were hanging out with at that point in time is irresponsible and a cowardly move.

Perhaps, it could also be due to the fear of failure or rejection — the very reasons I find myself quite reluctant to do certain things. I mean, no one likes to deal with the idea of rejection.

And I'm sure that I'm not alone in that.

There is this concept about finding your ideal group of friends in school and how to do so. Just enter "school friend group," and then you go. Plenty of articles are based on that topic.

In general, friendships are really complicated. As you get older, the harder it is to find genuine friendships. Other elements, like exploitation of benefits, social status and desire for popularity get involved, providing a whole new definition of the term "friendship."

At times, friendships can really screw around with our brains. They can cause you to make decisions you normally wouldn't. You'll even do things you detest with a passion just to gain your friends' approval or support, despite knowing that it may not be genuine.

This is how much of an influence your friends can have on you.

However, this doesn't justify not pursuing your interests while you're in school. You should pursue the things you love, even if your friends don't think highly of them or aren't interested in accompanying you.

No matter what, keep your chin up and continue with your plans, even if you're doing them on your own. The beginning can be really intimidating and cause serious discomfort. You may have second thoughts. You may second-guess yourself.

But in the long run, all these experiences will allow you to expand your self-definition. You'll receive a new identity and share experiences with new people who have the same interests.

It's all part of growing up.

The reality is that you will always remember the opportunities you missed out on (and deeply want to knock some sense into your past self's head), but you probably won't remember who you were friends with during that period. You won't remember the people who were influencing your decisions.

So, just do whatever makes your heart happy. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly. Don't waste time with regrets over things that didn't happen.