“The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.”

– Hervey Allen

No doubt reaching the 30s is a life change, moving from a life of rebellion and discovery to a more prudent stage and wise decisions. During your twenties, you hardly try to succeed, develop yourself, and reach your goals but there are other things that you should give great importance to and keep in your mind before you reach your 30s. The things that you have been challenging and exercising in your 20s help you avoid pitfalls and teach you life lessons that help you make good decisions about your future.

Here are the most important life lessons to learn from life that you shouldn’t miss before you reach your 30s.

25 important life lessons

1. Be yourself but always your best self

As a grown-up person, it’s important to be yourself you should be the best version of yourself and nobody else. Don’t be tangled in social anxiety just create your own path and walk on it, you aren’t obliged to follow other people’s lives, because you aren’t expected to be perfect (remember no one’s perfect). Be honest, and creative, appreciate who you are, and most of all love yourself and say the things you mean to say.

2. Be sincere

Express yourself and your opinions with truthfulness and sincerity because being sincere towards yourself and your society will enable you to feel at ease, honest and loyal. Sincerity makes a person always have positive interpersonal relationships and desirable characteristic instinct that allows the person to be welcomed everywhere because of his honest soul and mind.

3. Confidence

Being confident is believing in yourself your skills and your talents. Confidence is also trusting yourself and your abilities. Self-confidence has a great impact on a person’s life because it develops better self-esteem, increases self-motivation, and helps a person feel secure and at ease.

4. Be self-reliant

Merriam-Webster defines self-reliance simply as ‘reliance on one’s own efforts and abilities.

Self-reliance is learning how to rely on yourself and being independent in making your own life decisions. Being self-reliant is also important to developing self-acceptance and self-compassion that leads you to love yourself and appreciate your own efforts.

5. Don’t worry be happy

Nowadays, maintaining one’s personal happiness is something that’s become hard because we’re living in a time that’s full of problems and negative influence that affects one’s personality. It may be difficult and challenging to maintain happiness, but with determination and will you can preserve happiness in your life.

Your happiness is in your hands which means nobody is going to make you happy unless you create your own happiness by doing the things you love, thinking positively, ignoring negative news, and most of all living your good moments with the precious ones.

6. Learn from mistakes

All people commit mistakes but turning your mistakes into life lessons is the most correct thing you can ever do.

Learning from your mistakes means that you have to accept, admit and analyze them in order to reach your goals and what you aspire to.

7. Don’t be harsh

Don’t be hard and put pressure on yourself because nothing is worth your nervosity and grief.

Most of all, don’t underestimate your abilities, accept yourself for who you are, and surround yourself with positive successful people who inspire you.

8. Unfollow negative people

One of the things that you should do before reaching your 30s is to unfollow toxic negative people who keep on stuffing your mind with overdosed news and negative thoughts just to let you down.

9. Take your distance from social media

Wasting your time all day doing nothing just scrolling your social media Facebook, Instagram, and so on for new updates is unnecessary and a waste of time. Instead, limit your time using social media and stop endless scrolling because, at the end of the day, you end up doing nothing and you will blame yourself for being unproductive.

10. Learn to negotiate

Training your skills and tactics in negotiating for job interviews, pay raises, buying and selling products, and a lot more is fundamental to helping you to be a successful person and avoid life conflicts.

11. Embrace yourself

One of the the most important life lessons that you should learn is to be yourself and the best version of yourself, that is to say, build your self-esteem and confidence, and not worry about what people say about you.

Remember you don’t live to please everyone because you’ll end up lonely and sad.

12. Learn to cook

Cooking is an important life skill that teaches you self-dependence and helps you attain mental and physical health. You’ll also learn how to budget your money and express your creativity through different world cultures and tastes.

13. Be passionate

Collins dictionary defines the word passionate as”A passionate person has very strong feelings about something or a strong belief in something”.

Passionate people devote their full time and energy to doing the things they love and care about. They are also creative healthy obsessed people who think positively about the future.

14. Value yourself

“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”

-Shannon L. Alder

Loving and valuing yourself may seem like a sign of arrogance, selfishness, and overconfidence, but in fact, valuing yourself means that you respect yourself and deserve to be treated with respect and love by others. Self-value also means that you believe in and thank yourself for the efforts that you make every day.

15. Appreciate what you have

Learning gratitude, gratefulness, and appreciation are important life lessons. You need to thank God for all that you have such as health, parents, friends, love, and comfort. Don’t compare your life to people who expose their lives on social media which seems a glamorous perfect life, because, in fact, it’s the total opposite because it’s going to lead you to depression and low self-esteem.

16. Stay on budget

Budgeting your money before reaching your 30s is an important life financial lesson to learn because it’s going to ensure and teach you how to stay secure for your long-term goals.

When you’re budgeting you’re also saving money for life unexpected emergencies, for a new car or home.

17. Be realistic

Being a measured realist in life and objective is another life lesson that you should learn in order to survive and see things clearly as they are.

18. Learn how to apologize

Admitting that you’re wrong is a sign of a good-hearted person who’s ready to apologize and turn the page from previous mistakes.

19. Accept your failure

Embrace your failure and cope with it. It’s fine if you feel bad about yourself because you’re going to learn great lessons from your mistakes. Keep on moving challenge yourself and work hard in order to succeed the next time.

20. Don’t trust anyone

“Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.” – Maria V. Snyder.

Trust is necessary for solid faithful relationships but you can’t trust anyone that you meet and you put your faith in them. Apart from your family, they are the only ones who can be trusted.

21. Respect people’s choice

One of the important life lessons to learn in life is to respect people’s choices which is a great step that allows you to tell people that you respect them because their opinions and choices are their responsibility. Moreover, not all people share the same views, visions, beliefs, and thoughts; everyone looks at the world from different perspectives.

22. Find your passion

Get out of your comfort zone and pursue your true passion in life from ideas, thoughts, hobbies, and projects that make you feel motivated and passionate.

23. Spend less and invest your money

One principle in life that you should keep in mind is to spend less money wisely on essential things and stop impulse buying random things. Save your money to fulfil your objectives and needs because you never know what could happen in life.

24. Eat healthier

Adopting a healthy diet is essential and has many benefits to protect your body from various diseases because health is a valuable treasure. Replace your food that contains sugar, salt, and trans fats with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

25. Take care of your skin

Taking care of your skin is important because as we age our skin cells change and start to lose elasticity; try to adopt a healthy skincare routine and try to avoid wearing too much makeup.