Avril Lavigne on trusting your gut and knowing what you want. She wrote Under My Skin in six months by following her instincts, creates music for herself first, and pursues multiple creative projects from acting to her clothing line Abby Dawn. She emphasizes authenticity and speaking up confidently about what matters to you.
Chapters
Make sure that you know what you want and go for it. I'm totally like a confident person. I'll stand up to everybody. I just love to express myself. I always just focus on the positive side.
You're gone. Pieces of my heart are still winning.
You're gone.
What's up, Believe Nation? It's Evan Carmichael. My one word is believe, and I believe that you have the ability to do something special that can change the planet. So to help you on your journey today, we're going to learn from from the Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne and my take on her top 10 rules for success. Rule number 9 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best.
If you could go back, like in a time machine, and speak to you when you were 15, you know, what, what sort of advice would you give yourself knowing what you know now? Pretty much the same advice that I do know, which is make sure that you know what you want and go for it and don't let anyone change your mind. I was always very focused and I've always been the type of person that listens to my gut and I think it's important to do that, to go with your instincts. I would say that to myself, and I definitely did do that. Pretty much everyone that's working with me gets like what I'm into and what I like and stuff. But if there ever is a situation, then I'm totally like a confident person. I'll stand up to everybody and tell them like, "No, I really believe this. This is what my gut's telling me." And yeah, if there's something that's bugging me, like I'll totally speak up to it, like speak up about it. I'm not shy and I'm not gonna let— it's too risky to let, you know, this is my life. I don't want to like mess up my career, and so I need to speak up and like tell people what I think. On Under My Skin, I kind of just went right off of my tour into writing the record, and it was done in 6 months. I knew how I wanted it to sound and how I wanted it to come across, and so I had to share my vision. Give up the grudge.
Why you gotta judge everybody but yourself?
I feel like this record is more emotional for me, you know? It's just deeper, and I just feel like I was able to express myself on a different level.
Ah!
Ah!
Chicken!
I've always been a really carefree spirit. I've always wanted to just have fun. And so I feel like I just love to express myself and to be emotional. And I feel like on camera and stuff like that, I feel like that's what I do, and I was born with wanting to do this. I guess the only thing is when I was younger, you know, having to deal with, "Why don't people like me?" You know, I didn't do anything to them. That would have been the struggle, I guess, if anything. But that is just how it is, and there's nothing you can do about it. So I always just focus on the positive side, and the positive side is a very large side. I'm really focused. I'm here. I'm in Hollywood because I have a job. I'm a songwriter. I'm a singer. I'm a performer. I spend the majority of my time on the road touring. And you know, it's something that was my dream. I worked really hard for it. So, you know, I'm just— I'm really dedicated to my career and also expanding into other things like Abby Dawn. Yeah, I had a passion for music and my music career has blown up and it's done really well. And now I have like great opportunities. I'm in a really great situation. I'm very thankful. And I want to do other things too, you know. I'm looking for a lead role in a movie and that'll be, you know, that'll be a challenge, which is what I like. And I want to do other things, you know, clothing line that's like very me, like my style, and like do other things and create. Like I just I want to do a million things. I think, like, for me, I'm a young, free spirit, and, like, I work hard, but I also like to not take things too seriously. And really, like, coming back to the song, it's just about, like, you know, it doesn't matter what age you are, and, you know, it's all about— it's your state of mind. So I think, you know, a lot of times it's an approach. It's one thing. And yeah, I think it's positive. I always tweet my fans and ask them, "Hey, like, what song do you guys like on the record?" and "How do you feel about these two songs being single?" and I get to read their feedback and be connected with the fans through Twitter and it's really cool because I can have that personal relationship and we can kind of communicate that way and it's nice for me. I just think it's really important to listen to yourself and to be yourself and believe in yourself and whatever it is that— anything that you're trying to do. Absolutely, that applies to life. In general, you got to be happy. Life's short.
Good advice from Avril Lavigne.
I have to make music for myself, and I have to go with— in the direction that I'm feeling and that I want, because I, you know, I can't do something that I don't want to do and then not be happy. It's all about being happy, and that's always been my message to my fans, is just be who you are, know who you are, and go after it.
I like things that you do, oh. But when you walk away, I count the steps that you take. And do you see how much I need you right now? When you're gone, the pieces of my heart are missing you. When you're gone, the face I came to know Is listen to the way you're gone, the words I need to hear. So always get me through the day and make it okay. And I miss you. We were made for each other, not here forever. And I know we were. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Luca on my team, who's in the comments a lot and does some of the research of the videos, asked me to. She's his favorite singer, so this one's for you, Luca. If there's someone you'd like to vote on for the next top 10, check out the link in the description and go and have your say. Finally, I want to give a quick shout out to Kemo Tadaho. Thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and taking that amazing picture with the book at the Eiffel Tower. I should have done that when I went to Paris. Anyway, thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon.
Well, I think because I was so popular when I came out, there was a lot of people who were like, "Oh, she's fake," and "She's not real," and And that to me was weird because I felt like, "Pfft, I am the one who's real." If anyone would have told me how to be, they would have said, "Dress nicer, talk better, like don't swear, like be—" You know what I mean? They would have turned me into someone nicer, like, I don't know, a Hilary Duff or something. I think— I'm not dissing her in any way, but someone more like that, I think. And I was just very myself and different from everyone, and so to hear people say that I was fake, I was like, "Pfft, no I'm not. I'm like the most real thing ever. I'm like myself." I've grown in many ways on my new album, Goodbye Lullaby. I wrote half of the record by myself, I produced 2 songs, I played more instruments on it, and whereas I typically usually just like co-write all my music, this time I pushed myself, I produced, and And this is also my 4th world tour, so I feel that with every album and with every tour, I'm constantly learning more through my experiences. [MUSIC]
