The 30s are the new 20s! If you’re getting anxious about turning 30, here are 14 surprising but wonderful reasons why life is actually better at 30! Read the post to learn more!
Introduction
Turning 30 can feel like a mix of emotions.
You’re getting older.
You start to notice changes in your body.
You wonder if the best of your life has passed.
You feel nervous about the future.
This, plus a million more thoughts as you approach a new milestone and decade in your life. I get it. I’ve been there quite recently.
After going through it myself, I’ve learned that once you embrace the fact you’re turning 30, there is absolutely nothing to fear. It took me a while to process my emotions around this milestone birthday, but over time, I’ve come to learn that 30 is actually so much better than 20.
Here are the reasons why life only gets better at 30.
1. You know yourself on a much deeper level
After 30 years spent with yourself, at this point, you know yourself inside out. You’re clear on your likes and dislikes. You better understand how your body works, how your mind processes thoughts, what patterns you have, what routines work or don’t work for you. And so on.
More than this, you recognize you’ve been through a lot and have a collection of learnings to take with you for the rest of your life.
Whether you acknowledge it or not, you’re so much wiser after everything you’ve experienced.
Related: 30 lessons I’ve learned at 30
2. You’ve grown more into yourself
Every day, you’ve become more and more yourself. Uniquely, wonderfully, you. You’re firm in your values and beliefs and you work to implement that into your life.
You know the type of person you are and you’ve truly developed your personality. People easily recognize you for your unique characteristics.
All in all, as you embrace this, the more confidence you exude in your daily life!
3. You care more for your body
Gone are the days when you eat junk all day, take a few too many shots, and forget to wash off your makeup before bed.
Instead, you realize you’re getting older, and recognize the importance of caring for your body. After all, you’ve only got one and it’s up to you to take care of it and stay youthful (inside and out)!
Skincare and exercise become more important – but rather than seeing them as ‘tasks’ they are now part of your self-care routine. You know that by incorporating these into your life, you’re ultimately treating your body with love.
As you take care of your body, you also shift into appreciation and gratitude for what your body is doing for you. It has just gotten you through a pandemic! How wonderfully strong is your body – what more can your body get you through?
4. You have relevant career experience
You’ve been through the grind.
Finished school.
Took the low-paying internship.
Changed your mind and pivoted.
Pivoted again.
Found a role you finally liked.
Hustled like crazy.
Got burnt out.
Took a break.
Did it all over again.
And again.
Sound familiar? At least, this was my experience. But despite all the craziness we go through at the beginning of our career, it was all to teach us lessons around what kind of working life suits us best.
I hope that by 30, you’ve tried different things, gained experience in different work environments, and found a field you actually like.
If not, I hope you’ve at least gained some clarity in what you want in a job. Whether you’re still figuring that out or not, know it’s never too late to change your career.
In some ways, your professional life really just begins at 30.
5. You have a better grasp of your finances
After spending your teens and 20s working multiple jobs, scrimping on everything, and paying off student loans, you’ve gained some experience on how to handle money.
At 30, you’ve hopefully recognized your spending habits, learned how to save, and broke those bad financial habits. If your career path and hustle have served you well, you can likely also splurge a little more and treat yourself without guilt.
Finally, you know where to manage your money in order to build a life you adore. If not, turning 30 is a wake-up call to finally get your finances in order.
After all, you’ve got so many more milestones to look forward to, and you most definitely don’t want to be frugal with those!
6. You have relationship experience
Tinder. Blind dates. Socializing. One-night stands. All the dating experiences of our 20s were wild, weren’t they?
But they were not in vain, because all of it helped you know your worth in a relationship. All the non-committal boys who could never treat you right showed you to never settle for less. Finally, you know more of what you actually want in a relationship and when to immediately run.
At 30, hopefully, you’ve also learned how to be in a relationship. How to be a good partner, how to compromise, how to share a living space, and how to love.
You’ll enter your 30s with clarity on the type of relationship you deserve.
With that in mind, you have so many more exciting relationship milestones to look forward to in this decade – anniversaries, a proposal, a wedding or two, kids…all the good stuff (if you haven’t already experienced these)!
7. You have a clearer vision for your life
Remember being 20 and having absolutely no clue what you wanted out of life? While we may *still* not know exactly what we’re meant to do in our life, we probably have a much clearer picture than 10 years ago.
At this age, you know your goals and can probably envision your future in 10, 20, even 30 years. If not, it’s a perfect time to begin thinking about your vision for your life.
As you gain more clarity, you start to become more intentional with how you spend your days to ensure it also fits your bigger vision. Life is too short to waste on things (or people) that won’t matter in the long run.
8. You know what true friendship looks like
After a lifetime of friendships, from all different stages of your life, you’ve learned a thing or two about what a real friend looks like to you.
You know what kinds of people you enjoy being around. It’s clear what kinds of people make you a better person.
Over time, people have come and go, and you’ve understood the value of true friendship. Whether it’s the high school group of friends you see whenever you’re in your hometown, or the long-distance friend you catch up with once a year via Zoom call…each person has made a place in your heart.
You’ve chosen to nurture friendships that are important to you. At the same time, you’ve acknowledged that some people also fade, and you learn to let go.
Each season brings different people into your life, and you get to choose who to take with you into this new decade. It’s all part of the wonderful experience of life!
9. You know your priorities in life
Thinking back to your priorities in your early 20s, it was probably very different from what you find most important today. Now, you’re more clear on which areas of life are most important to you.
Things that previously took a backseat in your life are becoming more of a priority. You’ll find yourself choosing to spend more time with your family or perhaps intentionally learning new subjects in your spare time.
Topics like life insurance, building a healthy credit score, developing a skin and hair care routine are now more important than ever. As boring as that sounds, isn’t it so great to care for yourself and have a clear plan for your future?
10. You know what your boundaries are
Instead of bending to other people’s wishes, life at 30 means you’ve learned what boundaries you have.
It gets easier and more fulfilling to say “No.”
Whether it’s your personal life, or in relationships, or at work, you’ve experienced your boundaries getting crossed and recognize what you will no longer tolerate.
Your boundaries are clear and you won’t settle for putting your needs secondary to others. This keeps your mind, body, and happiness safe and healthy.
11. You value time more
Each year only seems to pass quicker and quicker, and thus time becomes a highly valuable and important resource. You learn to not waste it, as you simply cannot get it back.
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said,
“Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.”
With that in mind, you know how to put your time to good use and are more intentional with your schedule. This goes hand in hand with the boundaries you start to set.
To get to where you want to go, you treat your precious time with respect and only fill it with the things that matter most.
12. You learn to love yourself
Your 20s brought so many life lessons including heartache, challenges, and all kinds of different experiences.
After everything, you begin to realize that all you will ever have is yourself. You will always be stuck with you, now and in the future. Self-love becomes more important than ever before.
You learn to treat yourself with love. You watch the hurtful thoughts that may enter your mind and actively eliminate the self-doubt that holds you back.
You become friends with yourself and build the most important relationship of all – the one with yourself.
13. You take control of your life
If you’ve been waiting for someone to take control, you’ll keep waiting forever. Adulting is hard, I get it. But once you realize YOU are in charge and no one else, you can start to claim the life you desire.
Not happy with something? Only you can change it. Want a better life? It’s entirely up to you.
Once you understand that there’s no one to wait for, you also start to liberate yourself. This is your life, and you are in control. You can have absolutely anything you want. How exciting is that?
14. You stop living for others & start living for yourself
Last but not least, the best part about being 30 is you finally stop living for others and start living for yourself.
Exhale. Your lifetime of worrying about what others will think or say about you is over. Finally, you care less about others and choose to live life on your own terms.
You recognize everyone is on their own path and journey. Why waste our own time comparing ourselves to others or living in fear of judgment? It wasn’t and will never be worth it.
So start living your empowered life. Choose your own rules. Live the life you always dreamed of. If not now, then when?
Related: 30 lessons I’ve learned at 30
Conclusion
Doesn’t life at 30 sound amazing?
Fewer worries, more living. No more settling for less – in any part of our life. We’ve got our priorities in order and are living more authentically.
As you enter this new chapter in life, I hope you can embrace everything you’ve lived through until now.
That will only carry you into a more rewarding and fulfilling decade ahead! Good luck!
Turning 30? Which reason resonated most with you?
Leave a comment below!
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