Lady GaGa wishes she hadn't been "so hard" on herself in her early days of fame.

The 38-year-old pop star - whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta - attained massive success in the late 2000s with tracks such as 'Poker Face' and 'Bad Romance' but was perhaps too strict with herself and now thinks that the "most valuable" thing anyone can do for themselves is find their inner-peace.

Speaking on the 'Smallzy's Surgery' podcast, she said: "You know, I probably would have told myself not to be so hard on myself sometimes but I would have just reminded myself what I would remind any younger which is just to be myself because all that matters is that you're yourself. Then, you can go to bed and just wake up in the morning.

"And also, to find the softness in it all because I feel like having peace in anyone's life is the most valuable thing that we can have."

The 'Telephone' hitmaker has also carved out a successful career on screen in recent years, but as she stars alongside Joaquin Phoenix in 'Joker: Folie à Deux', admitted that she is looking forward to playing her new music for her fans.

She said: "All I can tell you is that I've just been feeling so creative, and really connected to music and I'v been working on so much music. I'm really excited to play it for the fans.

"But every time I play a character, or create a character, it has an absolute influence on all aspects of my output and this character just gave me so much because she can not be pinned down. I would say 100 percent playing Lee was something that stayed me through a lot."