There’s getting older (inevitable), and actually growing up (…evitable). Supposedly the idea is to do the two in unison, but life is sort of like assembling Scandinavian furniture with no instructions—some people get along just fine while others are left lying there sort of sweaty, staring up at the ceiling from the floor of their living room. Miranda Kerr is the first kind of person: supermodel, mom, businesswoman, self-help author, and most recently, star of 7 For All Mankind's fall campaign. For everyone on the other end of the spectrum, her seven tips on successfully entering the adult world:

1. PLAN EVERY LITTLE THING
   
   “This is interesting because I've never thought of myself as an ‘adult'—I think of myself as a mom and a businesswoman. I have a free spirit, but I’ve realized since I had my son that I have to be organized. We’re living such fast-paced lives that if I don’t plan and prioritize even just an hour between jobs to be with my son and paint and draw or go to the park, it doesn’t get done. I even schedule calls to my grandma because otherwise time just goes by. Put all of those little things into your calendar and that way you don’t have to stress about it. You get an alert on your phone that says ‘Call mom!’ and it will just take five minutes to make her happy and to make yourself feel connected.

2. SAY ‘THANK YOU’
   
   I like to pray and I like to meditate. Doing just three minutes of prayer and a minimum of five minutes meditation twice a day sets the tone—like an arrow so that you’re hitting your target. When I pray I always thank Mother Nature for all the beauty in the world; it’s about having an attitude of gratitude. And then I pray to Christ to say, 'Thank you for this day and my family and my health,' and now that I'm older I’ve added, ‘Please illuminate me. Please open my heart chakra. Open my aperture and uplift my consciousness so that I can be the best version of myself.’

3. EMBRACE FORGIVENESS
   
   The power of forgiveness is very important as well. We’re all humans and we all make mistakes—even little things like looking at someone the wrong way, or snapping at someone. But forgiving yourself and asking for forgiveness from the person creates an energy shift. It’s another thing I pray for—‘Please forgive me if I have said anything to anyone that has hurt someone. Please allow them to forgive me and allow me to forgive myself.’ Even those that we find challenging to be around are sometimes the people that need the prayers the most. If you’ve had an intense conversation with someone, a good thing to do would be to say to them, ‘I forgive you, and please forgive me.’ We all say things sometimes to hurt people, so it’s important to forgive and have peace with others and forgive and be at peace with yourself.

4. HEALTH IS WEALTH
   
   I always pack my shake and my lunch to get ready for work because you never know what you’re going to get when you’re on a photo shoot, or anywhere for that matter. Health is wealth, so be organized. I’ve got my shake with me now—it smells so bad. It has all of my vitamins in there, which I like better than just taking them separately. I mix up açaí powder, real cacao, maca powder, chia seeds, goji berries, as well as all the vitamins, and down it goes...

5. …BUT SET BUDGETS
   
   I’m learning about business and money management. I have a budget, even for flowers, because I love flowers and sometimes I spend too much money on them. Looking at my expenses, I was like, ‘Wow, obviously I’m spending way too much money on flowers and massages and acupuncture. I need to cut back.’ Now I have personal care budget, and one for clothing, things like that. I’m a perfectionist and I like to have my nails done, but sometimes I will do them myself instead. It’s about discipline—you have to be on top of things like that.

6. CHOOSE YOUR EMOTIONS
   
   David Hawkins was a philosopher that developed a map of the levels of human consciousness called the Scale of Consciousness. At the bottom he has ‘guilt,’ which has a vibration of around 30, meaning it’s the worst kind of feeling. Apathy, grief, fear, and even desire, anger, and pride are below the level of integrity. Above that—and this is where people become better versions of themselves—you’ve got courage, neutrality, willingness, acceptance, reason, love, which is at 500, joy, and then peace and enlightenment. In his book, Power vs. Force, he talks about disease, which is dis-ease—not being comfortable—and happens in the lower states of mind. Being human you can’t escape these emotions, but what he says is when you feel anger or guilt or fear or whatnot, let yourself ride that emotion, not dwell in it. Ride it, feel it out, and then choose something else—because you have a choice.

People don’t even realize the power the mind has over the body in the way you perceive things. Change your thoughts, change your reality. Words are powerful—every thought and every word we think has an effect on the body. So you can be like, ‘Ugh, I can’t believe it’s raining outside,’ or you can be like, ‘We really needed that rain, it’s going to be so much clearer and brighter tomorrow.’ It’s not about being delusional, but just changing your perspective and understanding that there is a positive and a negative to every situation. I do this thing—jumping for joy. I want to start a ‘jumping for joy’ movement. If you're in a bad mood all you do is just jump up and down and think of everything you’re grateful for.

1. BE A KID
   I love having fun. I love to dance and having people over for dinner. I’m quite a larrikin [laughs]—that’s someone who’s always cracking jokes and being silly. People don’t necessarily always see that side of me, but I’m a little bit of a jokester. My son is the same, he’s so full of joy. Having a child kind of brings you back to experiencing life with a childlike view, like, ‘Oh wow, this is new and exciting!’ The wonderment and the enthusiasm that they have for life is something that inspires me everyday. Anyway, back to being an adult…”
   

—as told to ITG

Miranda Kerr, wearing 7 For All Mankind FW14, photographed by Tom Newton in New York. See her in action in 7 For All Mankind’s fall campaign film.