13 Life Lessons From Gwyneth Paltrow

It's pretty hard to remember a time when actresses and actors only did one thing: appearing in movies and focusing on their craft. That wasn't actually so long ago, but it sure feels like it because today, if you're in the public eye and you're super rich and famous, you have a bunch of things on the go at any given time. A bunch of actresses have gotten interested in health and food, and Gwyneth Paltrow is definitely leading the pack there. Whether you love her or absolutely loathe her, you definitely have an opinion about Gwyneth Paltrow. She's pretty much everywhere these days. She gets a ton of flak for the smoothies she drinks -- recently everyone started freaking out, claiming that her fave smoothie cost way too much money -- and for literally anything that she does or puts out into the world. But we can actually learn a lot from the actress, cookbook author and entrepreneur. Here are 13 life lessons from Gwyneth Paltrow.

13 You Should Try Something New

A million years ago, Gwyneth was only known for one thing: being an actress. Sure, she won an Oscar and she was really good, and she still acts to this day. But now she's definitely more well-known for her three cookbooks and her website, Goop.com. She proves to us that you can always try something new -- and you totally should. Who knows what could happen? You could be more successful than even in your wildest dreams.

12 Anyone Can Change Their Diet

We joke that gluten has become basically evil or the devil or something these days, and we mostly have Gwyneth to thank for that. She definitely showed the world that it's possible and even a good idea to go gluten-free. She shows that anyone can change their diet, whether you're an Oscar-winning actress or a regular person. Her second cookbook It's All Good has yummy gluten-free and vegan recipes and just one look at the beautiful book will totally inspire you and make you realize that anyone can make a change in their health for the better.

11 Being Healthy Is Fun

You have to admit that when Gwyneth makes a smoothie or Instagrams a food photo to the delight of her 2 million plus followers, you're excited about what she's sharing. She makes being healthy look fun and super cool, and that's a great lesson, especially as we get older. We're not teens anymore, after all, and we can't keep believing that a diet of pizza and potato chips and Diet Coke is going to sustain us. We need to focus on healthy, whole foods if we want to have energy and be productive at our jobs and just feel normal throughout our days.

10 Prove People Wrong

When Gwyneth first published her cookbook My Father's Daughter, it was pretty clear that a lot of people didn't actually believe that she could cook or that she knew anything at all about food. Of course, everyone was proven wrong because now she's got a foodie-centric website and three cookbooks to her name. She can definitely cook and you can tell by her recipes that she's got a creative, interesting approach. She likes to use fascinating, different ingredients and tweak normal ways of doing things.

9 Stay Classy

We all made fun of the whole "conscious uncoupling" thing but at the same time, you have to give Gwyneth props for such an elegant, sophisticated, polite and kind divorce. She doesn't hate her ex-husband Chris Martin. You may not be getting divorced anytime soon (hey, you might not even be married… or have a boyfriend… ) but you can learn from her attitude. Apply that to whatever's ending in your life, whether you're quitting your job to get a new one or you're moving to another city or you're breaking up with your jerk boyfriend but your heart is totally broken. Endings are okay and you don't have to fall apart. Just take Gwyneth's lead and stay classy.

8 Never Apologize For Your Good Fortune

The issue most people have with Gwyneth Paltrow is that she doesn't live on this planet because she's so wealthy and so privileged. That's true -- you can't argue with the amount of money that she has and the resources and opportunities that she's always had. But she proves that you don't need to say you're sorry just because you're lucky in life and have good fortune. We all have different lifestyles and were born into different kinds of financial and socioeconomic situations

7 Always Be A Good Friend

Gwyneth has a bunch of famous friends, obviously. But her most beloved BFF has got to be Jessica Seinfeld, who's also a foodie and author of three cookbooks (soon to be four). Jessica loves Gwyneth and is always saying on social media that Gwyneth is such an awesome friend. So there you go. Even wealthy, beautiful blonde actresses believe that friendship is super important and that you should be loyal to the girls in your life.

6 Follow Your Heart

If Gwyneth didn't dream of writing cookbooks and being part of the food world, she obviously wouldn't have started this healthy journey. She proves to us that you always have to follow your heart, no matter what doubts you might have, no matter what others are saying about you or telling you to do.

5 We Put Too Much Pressure On Ourselves

Gwyneth graced the cover of Self recently and her interview was really real and inspiring. Seriously, if you think she's a stuck-up actress, just read it. She talked a lot about work/life balance and how she can't believe how much pressure we females put on ourselves. She can totally inspire you to take a step back and remember to have fun and actually enjoy yourself instead of worrying about getting so much done every single day.

4 Just Be You

You know exactly what you're getting when you check out Gwyneth Paltrow's Instagram feed or open up one of her cookbooks or go onto Goop.com. She's chatty, she's putting out super beautiful content, and she truly loves food. Like really loves it. That's why she's gone back and forth between being totally gluten-free and dairy-free like for her second cookbook and then eating some gluten sometimes these days. She's always herself, and that's a great lesson, because that's something that is easier said than done sometimes.

3 Enjoy Your Life

If anyone had the right to cry every day, it would probably be her, because she's had to say goodbye to the father of her children and she's going through what's probably a super painful divorce. But she holds her head up high and doesn't pity herself, so no one else feels sorry for her either, and we think that's awesome. She enjoys her life even with the bad times, and we love that.

2 Being A Girl Boss Is Awesome

Gwyneth is often interviewed about her life as an entrepreneur thanks to her success with Goop.com and she tells us that being your own boss is super awesome. She's really passionate about having a career beyond just being an actress and she writes in her latest cookbook about being a regular working mom who needs healthy food and snacks throughout the day to keep her strength up so she can get stuff done. Sure, she's actually not a regular person, of course, but she can still relate to other working women, so we do think she's being genuine there.

1 The Haters Don't Matter

It's hard to think of a celeb who is more hated than Gwyneth -- and more beloved at the exact same time. Gwyneth proves that, like our girl Taylor Swift sings so confidentially, haters gonna hate, but you have to just keep being you. The haters don't matter at all because as long as you're doing what you want and what you're good at, there will be someone out there who will get it and like you. You can't please anyone, and you probably don't even want to.