You can turn your life around at 30. Your age shouldn’t matter if you really want to make a change in your life.
However, it’s difficult to change at a fundamental level anymore. Let me explain:
According to psychology professor Brian Little, your main personality traits started forming when you were as little as 6 months old and settled in your late 20s.
Even so, I’m happy to ensure you there are still things you can change about yourself. You can change your behavior, control your reactions, and even act against your nature if that suits you.
Let me guide you through a few life-changing steps that can get you closer to achieving everything you want.
1) Break your bad habits
Bad habits are holding you back from achieving what you want.
You have to admit it, your bad habit is probably time-consuming, costly, and ultimately, pointless.
It doesn’t really matter what you do. You could be a smoker, a drinker, a workaholic, or someone who plays video games for days.
What matters is that you stop. Alcohol, for example, clouds your mind, causing you to act indifferent towards others and yourself.
BestLife identifies this type of behavior as a self-destructive one. In other words, you are self-sabotaging.
In case you don’t have any of these bad habits, let me give you more examples. Being disorganized, as well as sitting too much are both considered bad for your mental and physical health.
2) Take care of your health
You will be healthier as soon as you stop your bad habits. However, this doesn’t mean it’s enough.
LifeHack and RealBusiness both agree that you need to take care of your health first. You need a healthier body and mind to have the needed strength to turn your life around.
Both sources suggest exercising. If you are a sedentary person, this step will be difficult to take. Even so, you can start small.
I used to play sports in my younger years because my parents made me. I never enjoyed playing them. When I became an adult and had the chance to make my own choices, I chose a sedentary life. Big mistake, I know! Time passed and I gained a lot of weight. That’s when I had to take action and I started with baby steps.
Sometimes it’s enough to just get out of the house and take a walk. Set more ambitious goals as you go. What’s important is for you to take action too!
Nutrition is also essential in maintaining a healthy body. Do yourself a favor and stop eating fried foods.
3) Switch careers if necessary
One of the top 3 reasons some people cannot turn their lives around is familiarity. So, ask yourself these questions:
Do you like what you do?
Would you change anything at work?
Are you where you thought you’d be?
Now, answer carefully and figure out whether you are professionally fulfilled or not.
In case you are still trying to climb the corporate ladder and haven’t made any progress lately, maybe it’s time to make a change.
According to Wharton Online, you don’t have to be afraid to change careers. You don’t have to go back to school and get a new degree. You can master a new skill with the help of various programs and certificates available online.
Can you turn your life around at 30, professionally speaking?
“You have the power to take control and pursue your goals. There are countless success stories of professionals changing careers in their 30s and beyond. Focus on your passion,” notes Wharton.
4) Make a plan to pay off your debt
Since you are not in your 20s anymore, you can’t blow off your debt as you used to. It’s time to take responsibility.
BestLife recommends hiring an expert and advises you to take paying off your debt seriously. An expert can help you by coming up with a detailed plan to manage your finances.
If you think you can’t afford a financial expert, you should think twice. Picture it as an investment in your future.
Being debt-free might not be a familiar concept to you. However, I assure you, the feeling of liberation is worth every penny!
Without debts stressing you out, you’ll be able to focus on other areas of your life. As a first step, you can use an app that keeps track of your spending.
5) Keep the right people close
Bad habits aren’t the only ones that you should exclude from your life. The same rule applies to toxic relationships.
To figure out which one of your friends and acquaintances shouldn’t be part of your life anymore, ask yourself these questions:
Are the people you spend time with bringing you down?
Are they supportive of your goals?
I once had a friend, who got really upset with me every time I told her my real opinion about something instead of what she wanted to hear. I felt like my thoughts were of little value to her. She didn’t appreciate me for my personality. She just wanted someone to support her on her terms.
This type of relationship was toxic to me. So, it had to end. It didn’t matter that we were trauma-bonded. That was a matter of the past.
You should treat a toxic relationship with a significant other in the same way. If you truly want to change your life for the better, you must learn to let go as well.
Keep asking yourself this question: What do I want? In this way, you make sure your needs and desires are always aligned. Knowing what you want is a good way to keep yourself motivated.
6) Create positive habits
You can replace a bad habit with a positive one. Here are a few examples of good habits to include in your life, according to Success:
Create a list of tasks every morning to prioritize the things that need to be done.
Exercise to clear your mind and enhance your focus abilities.
Eat healthy food to feel energetic and sharp, not processed foods that make you feel tired.
Meditate or rely on breathing exercises to keep yourself centered.
Get enough sleep for your needs to overcome the dangers of oversleeping and exhaustion.
However, you can think smaller or greater than that. The positive habits that you choose to include in your life should be based on your needs.
Do you drink too much coffee? Switch it up with tea!
Do you watch too much TV? Read a book instead!
Do you spend too much money on clothes? Challenge yourself to creatively combine the clothes you already have.
7) Redecorate your apartment
Can you turn your life around at 30? Yes, and I know a psychological trick that really works!
Don’t worry, you don’t need a large budget to redecorate your apartment. The main idea here is to change the way your living space looks like.
I am suggesting this step because it helps free your mind from unpleasant memories. Even if you are not moving to a new place, you can still make the old one feel like new.
This is a great opportunity to throw away unnecessary things that only clutter your space. You don’t need all that junk and you know it.
Move around the furniture to free up your mental and physical space. Don’t stop until you find the perfect angle and arrange everything in harmony.
Keeping a clean and tidy apartment contributes to the success of your other goals, too.
8) Learn the importance of boundaries
Career coach Pauline Harley can’t stress enough the importance of boundaries. She thinks they are essential in everyone’s life because they protect us from other people’s influence.
She talks about both professional and personal boundaries. According to her, “boundaries are about your relationship with yourself and your values. They maintain your emotional well-being and personal integrity.”
In other words, she encourages you to stop adjusting your boundaries so that they fit each relationship. Instead, think about what you can and cannot tolerate and act based on your principles.
You can make your life much easier if you don’t allow everyone you meet to make you reconsider your values.
9) Find ways to reward yourself
How can you turn your life around at 30? Reward yourself!
Just because you are not where you want to be in life, it doesn’t mean you have to punish yourself.
Treat yourself well and reward yourself for every small change you end up making. The reward system is well-known in the psychological world. I will explain why.
When you do something good and you reward yourself for it, you trick your brain into repeating that action. In psychological terms, a reward acts as a reinforcer. In this way, you can increase your chances of keeping up with your good habits.
Examples of rewards are things that you like, your guilty pleasures. For example, every time I accomplish a fitness goal, I treat myself to a fancy, non-alcoholic drink or exotic smoothie.
Or, for every little thing that I manage to fix in my house without paying anyone else to do it, I buy myself something nice.
Create your own, personalized rewards system. Try different things and observe which works best.
10) Give yourself pep talks
You are the only one who can change your life for the better.
You have the power to alter every little detail from your life in your favor.
You are an independent person who can achieve many things.
You are strong, smart, and confident.
You can create the life you want.
You know that all of the above is true. Even if you are not motivated enough to turn your life around at the moment, you will be.
Create your own motivational mantra and repeat it to yourself every time you need to hear it. Include some of your positive characteristics for self-love and positive affirmations about where you want to be.
11) Organize your time properly
This point is just as important as the previous ones, if not even more important. I’m saying this because your success could depend on how organized you are.
You could find yourself in two different situations:
You feel like you can’t do everything it takes to change certain aspects of your life because you don’t have enough time.
You feel like you have too much time on your hands, which you previously spent going about your bad habits. Even if having an afternoon off sounds dreamy, make sure you use it in your favor, not to sabotage yourself.
Both situations can be resolved if you start to prioritize effectively. Try to fill your days with important tasks, but don’t overlook your personal well-being either.
12) Keep track of your days in a diary
I know, I’m not too excited about this step either. However, experts say that writing in a diary is therapeutic and useful in the long run.
It’s like having a one-to-one with yourself at the end of every day. You get to write about your feelings, your accomplishments, your failures, and anything else you find important.
By doing so, you can pay attention to your progress. You can check to see if your mental and emotional states improve over time.
In addition, you won’t need to vent in front of a friend anymore. You can use your diary to let out all the bad feelings that you accumulate during the day.
Do you know that friend that constantly brings others down? Do your best not to be that person.
Final thoughts
Give yourself a second chance, or as many chances as you need.
Turning your life around isn’t an overnight process. So, if you really want your life to change, you have to be persistent. Consistency is one of the keywords to success.
I encourage you to start today! Procrastination counts as a bad habit too, you know!
