As 30 looms around the corner, I started thinking about my goals and achievements. They say it’s a good habit to have short term goals but also to have long term goals. I’ve always put off my “what to do before 30” goals since it seemed so far away. But it creeps up on you. Suddenly, it’s in front of you.
My life’s goals have been very vain and silly, typical of a young child. Love, family, career were all part of my plan but it never goes the way one plans. In fact, it should never go as planned because I find surprises are as much of a delight. Success and mishaps are lessons to be learned. And never make the same mistakes twice.
Life is beautiful. Life is hard. And life is an adventure with friends, families, and all the crazy people in your life that makes life worth living.
Therefore, I decided to compile a list of 30 things to do before 30, which I think is very important as an independent and sound woman in today’s world.
- Be comfortable in your own skin. All the make up and plastic surgery doesn’t make you satisfied until you are happy with yourself.
- Find a diet and exercise plan that will keep you healthy and happy and stick to it. There is currently a study that shows your DNA for disease are shaped by your habits and can be transferred to generations, thus it’s important that your genes are healthy.
- Have a cleaning regiment for your face and body. First impressions are important and presenting yourself as a clean person makes you look “efficient”.
- Keep your place tidy. Feng shui isn’t just for decoration but cleanliness in surrounding is cleanliness in mind and spirit.
- Laugh at your own mistakes. Humans are not perfect therefore our creation can never be perfect.
- Live alone for a time being. Loneliness is not something to be ashamed about.
- Live with a lover. You’ll find out habits you can tolerate and others you cannot abide by.
- Love someone truly, madly, deeply even if it means wearing your heart on your sleeves. It’ll teach you how to lose control.
- Have your heart broken, not just a lover but losing someone dear for it will show you the resiliency in your own spirit.
- Travel outside the state to a country you don’t know the language. It’ll teach you that you aren’t the center of the world, after all.
- Make last minute travel plans that you don’t even have hotel rooms set. The surprise and delight is about getting lost and finding one’s way back.
- Be on track towards a career you wanted and dreamed of your whole life.
- Pay or be on your way to getting rid of those credit card debts.
- Make it a habit to check your account daily. Those fraud bills shouldn’t be alerted just by your bank.
- Have a rainy day money saved up. Maybe you’ll never need it and it could be invested on owning something but chances are, in this economy, better safe than sorry.
- Have a retirement money set aside. It may be little but at least it’s something.
- Own one piece of real gold, silver, or gemstone. If the economy collapses, you can’t trade in paper but you can trade in valuable items.
- Learn to say no if you’re a “yes” person or learn to say yes if you’re a “no” person (I’d recommend watching Jim Carrey’s Yes Man if you want some inspiration).
- Face your fear. You might never get over it but at least you stood up to it.
- Party until the sun comes up. The world doesn’t stop for you.
- Drink until you vomit. The friends who hold your hair while your head is in the toilet is probably gonna stick around.
- Learn about your ancestry. Learning from your past can shape your future, whether its family disease, honor, or reputation. Have stories to tell to future children.
- Learn to plant and grow something. We were once hunter and gatherers. Nurturing something will teach you the meaning patience.
- Learn to cook. Stir fry at home is always cheaper and less calories than eating out.
- Learn to sew. A button broken can be sewn on without having to throw away an entire garment. It’s wasteful in a world where we will probably use up all its natural resources. After all, this is our only planet…for now.
- Sit in the rain. The Earth would be like Mars otherwise and we wouldn’t exist if not for water.
- Stargaze. We are made of star stuff, said Carl Sagan and we should look at it and admire the celestial sky where we came from.
- Swim in an ocean. People used to travel far and wide just to find body of water. You’ll be amazed to see the vast horizon. The world looks like it falls off at the end of the sky.
- Watch the sun set—like really sit down and watch the sun as it sinks and the moon rises. It’ll remind you that life goes on.
- Meditate. Sometimes your soul just needs a break.