Here’s my old “Before 30” list:
- Become a published author
- Visit every continent
- Buy a house
- Married
- Baby plans
- Read 100 more books
- Making £30,000+ a year (make my salary match my age for once!)
- Go to Asia
- Graduate
- Study a language
- Have my own car
- Earn a living being creative
- Volunteer with animals
- Become a routine yogi
- Know a poem off by heart
- Grow and perfect a curly hair routine
Here’s my healthier and fairer “Before 30” list:
- Write vigorously and passionately so I can take steps towards publishing my books
- Travel as far and as frequently as I can (Japan, Turkey, Greece, Cape Town, Cambodia…)
- Save money to spend on bigger things later (like house, car, travel)
- Be happily, gratefully, and wonderfully in love with my fiancé (experiencing new things and learning about each other every day)
- Make more money so I can do the things I want to do and support my family
- Make a house feel like our home
- Get out more (be active, go outside, eat out, live!)
- Be more social
- Find amazing books that I love
- Discover a long list of recipes and meals I enjoy making and eating
- Learn healthier meal choices
- Feel good in my body and what it can do for me
- Be in nature are much as I can
- Discover and own my personal style
- Ask for what I want and need
- More confident in my choices, opinions, and beliefs
- Know and love myself more
- Feel creatively free and playful
- Feel more confident about when/why/how to step into motherhood
- Be less afraid of my own shadow and do the things I want to do
- Continue being a student of life
- Nurture my natural hair and enjoy it
Sure, these things aren’t as quantifiable. It’s not simply a tick off situation. But that’s nicer. They’re wholesome. They’re still super important and act as intentions and focuses for a lifestyle rather than some goal to tick off and forget about due to passing some arbitrary stage/age in life.
Let’s be real, in the West we have made turning 30 into this massive ugly thing. It’s not. I’m sure anyone over 30 will tell you that life is still good. Perhaps better because you’re not fretting so much about your youth and doing everything you can. I think our 20s are actually quite horrible, as we find our feet. Maybe our 30s are when we ground down and know who we are. I for one am excited about that! Whether I “achieve” these things or not, working towards them will bring me a lot of joy up to and into my 30s.
Sincerely,
S. xx
S. R. Crawford 