13 Fundamental Life Lessons I Learned in My 30s

Next month, it will be 2021 and I will be 36. As I look back at my life and all the things I have done, I have regretted some of my actions, I’m proud of what I pursued, and I have learned some valuable life lessons that I’m going to share with you here.

Time flies. Time waits for no one.

And as every day, week, month, and year passing by, we get older. No one can escape from the fact that time is passing us by each second and we are growing older each day.

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.

Michael Altshuler

I love the quote above. Yes, time flies, but you’re the pilot and you’re in charge of your life.

You get to choose how you want to live and how you want to go through each day.

And your choices of what you choose to do today will affect what you get in the future.

Therefore, I want to take this chance to share with you the 13 fundamental life lessons I have learned in my 30s…

1. You Are Your Best Investment

You can invest in stocks, real estate, or even bitcoins, but the best investment of all is to invest in yourself.

I’m not talking just referring to reading books and attending seminars or learning from courses, but I’m referring to investing in yourself as a whole.

Yes, read books and go through courses. At the same time, treat yourself better. Go for a massage, take time off, go to the gym and workout, watch a nice movie, have a date night, get enough sleep, etc.

When you invest in yourself and treat yourself better, you are gaining self-confidence and improves your overall wellbeing.

It makes you a better person because you love yourself and you are enjoying your life.

2. It’s Not About Time, It’s About Priority

People often get it wrong to think that they don’t have enough time for things that they want in life.

That’s wrong because it is not about having not enough time, but instead, it is about your priority.

When you say that you don’t have time to read a book, it means that reading isn’t your priority.

If something is important enough to you, you will find time to do it.

The next time you say that you don’t have time to work on your goals, to read a good book, to cook for people you love, or to exercise to maintain your health, think again.

Is it true that you don’t have time? Or is it those things are just not your priority?

All of us have 24 hours a day. It is not about getting enough time, it is about knowing your priority and doing what’s important to you.

3. Acquire Knowledge and Experience, Not Stuff

The more I read and learn, the more I understand that it is not about acquiring stuff. Yes, I want to have a better car. And yes, I want to buy a bigger house for my family.

But let me tell you this, I don’t pursue those goals for the sake of acquiring more luxury materials into my life.

Instead, I look at my goals as a way to improve my lifestyle and give people I love a better-quality life.

You don’t want to acquire stuff, you want to acquire knowledge and experience. The more you know, the more places you can go.

This is why I commit to reading every day and I’m joining courses to improve my skills and knowledge.

More importantly, I pursue experiences. That means you must apply what you have learned. You can’t just become better through reading a textbook.

You need to gain experience. And to gain experience, you have to act and make progress.

And that’s how you grow as a person. And that’s how you learn to improve yourself and become better every day.

4. You’ll Never Know How Life’s Going to Turn Out

You don’t have a crystal ball and you can’t predict the future. Hence, you will never know how your life is going to turn out.

But that’s the best part. Because things are unpredictable, it makes life fun and adventurous.

After I graduated from university, I thought I’m going to become a real estate negotiator and real estate is going to be my field of expertise.

Little did I know that a couple of years ago, I decided to let go of being a real estate agent and become an internet marketer. And today, I’m a full-time internet marketer.

The key is to have faith and believe in the future you want.

Yes, you can’t predict the future and you won’t know how your life is going to turn out, but that’s the fun part, isn’t it?

This is why I’m always optimistic about my future. I have hopes and am always looking to create and live a better life.

5. Everything is Happening at Its Perfect Timing

You can’t force things. Just like if you plant an acorn seed, you can’t force it to grow into a tree within days. Everything takes time and it is happening at its perfect timing.

If you are building a business, just focus on making progress. You can’t force things to come to you.

I learned a lot from John Assaraf, the best-selling author of Having It All. John was the one who introduced me to the Law of Gestation. He said that everything is happening at its perfect timeline.

Think about the wind, the waves, the season change, nature, etc., everything is happening in its perfect moment.

A dog has a gestation period of about 9 weeks, from conception to birth. A human has a gestation period of about 40 weeks. And if you plant carrot seeds, it will take about 50 to 60 days for the seeds to grow into mature carrots.

As you can see, everything has a gestation period. The same goes for your business, the success you want, and the financial freedom you are looking for.

So, be patient and understand that you can’t force things or results to happen.

Just focus on making progress and let time works its magic.

6. Count Your Blessings

No matter where you are in life, you are not going to be happy and you will never be wealthy if you don’t appreciate what you have.

You must learn to count your blessings and be grateful for the things that you have.

Want to know what’s the secret to wealth? Gratitude.

When you are grateful that you have $1,000 in the bank, you are wealthy.

But if you are not grateful, even if you have $1 million in the bank, you will not feel enough. You will feel that you are poor because you don’t appreciate what you have.

Remember, count your blessings, and be grateful for what you have now.

7. Take Care of Your Health

If you are in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, you will think that you are healthy, and you don’t have to take good care of your health.

That is so wrong. You have to understand that whether you are healthy in your 60s, depends on what you do in your 30s.

Meaning, you need to take care of your health right now so that when you get old, you will have a good and healthy body.

Early this year, my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. His movement becomes slow and clumsy. It makes me think about my health and that I need to take care of my wellbeing from now on.

Take good care of your health. Eat fewer junk foods and take in more nutritious foods. Exercise and make sure you get enough sleep that your body requires.

8. Pursue Your Goals

It’s sad to see that people plan for their weekends and outings, but they don’t spend even a minute to plan for their goals and the future they want.

Set goals and pursue them. Without goals, you are going to live an unintentional life. You will become reactive and respond to whatever comes to you.

But if you have a goal and you know what you need to do, you become proactive and make things happen.

Goals and planning are important keys to living a successful life.

You may fail at your goals and things may not happen according to your plan, but that’s the reason why you want to pursue your goals and make plans.

As Stephen Covey said, “Wars are won in the general’s tent.”

When you plan, you are bringing the future you want to the present so that you can do something about it now.

9. Let Go of Your Ego

One of the biggest things that hold most people back, including you and I, is our ego.

We think too much, and we care too much about how others think about us.

When we publish a video on YouTube, we care how others will look at us. When we publish a post on Facebook, we look at how many ‘likes’ and comments we’re going to get.

Our ego gets in our way because we overthink about how others will think about us.

Learn this 20-40-60 Rule:

When you are 20, you care about what everybody thinks of you. When you are 40, you don’t care about what people think of you, and when you are 60, you realize that no one cares about you.

So, stop overthinking. Don’t let your thinking stops you from living your best life.

Let go of your ego and do what you think is right.

10. Save and Invest Now

Time is not going to stop and wait for you. Time waits for no one. Thus, start to save and invest as early as possible.

Do you know when is the best time to plant a tree? It was 20 years ago. And the second-best time to plant a tree is now.

So, don’t wait, start your savings and invest now. And let time compound and be on your side, not against you.

Commit to save and invest a portion of your income. If you don’t do it now, you will regret that you didn’t start 10 years later.

11. Focus on One Thing at a Time

I have so many big dreams, goals, and projects I want to pursue.

I want to invest in real estate and earn passive income from it. I want to build successful blogs that grow my online presence. I want to become a successful internet marketer that people look up to.

The problem is that I can’t all of that simultaneously, but I can focus on one thing at a time.

You see, when you try to do everything all together, you will get overwhelmed and fail at all of them.

But when you focus on doing just one thing at a time, you are concentrating your effort, time, and energy on just one project/goal.

That’s when the magic will happen. That’s when you will start making real progress and getting real success.

Choose one goal or a project and work on it relentlessly.

Don’t pursue 100 goals or start 10 projects at the same time. Focus on pursuing just one until you succeed before you start another one.

That’s how success is created. And this is one of the biggest life lessons I have learned in my 30s.

12. It is Okay to Take Risk

Yes, it is definitely okay to take risks. If you want to start an online business or build a blog or sell biscuits online, you can do that.

Don’t worry about the risks because everything has a risk. What if you fail? Just take it as a lesson and experience.

I’m learning from life and taking it as a lesson to learn from it too. That’s why I’m writing this article and share my lessons with you.

If you want to invest in your business but you worry that you are going to fail and lose all your investment, just consider the worst-case scenario.

What’s the worst that could happen? Well, you may lose your investment and time that you have put in. That’s the worst?

Often time, you will find that failure isn’t as bad as you imagine.

It is fine to take risks. And if you at your 30s and you have not taken any risk before, that’s the biggest risk of all.

13. Enjoy the Journey

Life’s a journey. Whether you like it or not, enjoy it.

Just like the weather. Sometimes it rains, sometimes there are rainbows, sometimes there are thunderstorms. And it’s okay.

Because things are going to pass. What you want to do is to enjoy every moment of it.

You may be where you are or maybe not, but you can’t change the past. What you can do is focus on the future and start creating the life you want at the present moment.

Always remember this: You should never regret anything in life. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoy reading this article. Most importantly, I hope you learned something useful and insightful to your life.

Living a successful life often begins with your mind. And you can learn how to change your mind using brain science to win the game of life. Here’s a free training to rewire your mind to get what you want in life.

So, what have you learned from your life?