Insider Advice: 30 Things To Do Before 30 Years Old

I’m 23 right now at the time I am writing this and when I was 21 I created a “30 in 30” bucket list. It’s been amazing so far, watching myself grow in huge ways and accomplish some of the most amazing things in life, just by having a “30 Things To Do Before 30” bucket list.

I mean, when we step out of college or enter adulthood in our 20s there is just so much opportunity in front of us. Our eyes glaze over with what the rest of our lives could look like.

If you’ve been following me for a bit then you know I am so passionate about our defining decade: our 20s. In fact, one of my favorite blog posts to write was my book review of Meg Jay’s “The Defining Decade.”

You see, your 20’s are not a time to squander away your years. They are not the time for you to try to find fulfillment in all the wrong things. Wasting away your 20s could actually be the worst mistake you could make in your entire life.

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WHY YOUR 20’S MATTER

At GoodPointGrandma, I believe that you set up your life for success in your 20s when you are intentional. It is all about using your 20s to set up the right habits so that the rest of your life can thrive.

It’s not just about trying to manage your money and maybe focusing a little bit on your spiritual life. Or maybe you implement some small changes to your health patterns, but they don’t really stick.

No, your 20’s are for crazy intentional, and focused action.

And for our culture today, that’s really hard to think about. I can guess that most of your co-workers are likely living in the present moment and feeding you bad advice.

They are saying do what you want to do and have fun now before you are old.

And no, I’m not saying you can’t have fun. In fact, this “30 Things To Do Before 30 Years Old” is going to be filled with a ton of fun!

But having a plan will be even more fun.

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Let me explain. Sometimes we avoid plans and structure in our lives because we just want freedom. We want to be able to do what we want when we want. And while that does sound ideal, the structure can actually make this even more of a reality.

For example, have you ever taken a class of some sort? Like a swim or dance class? You have an instructor and they have the plan to get you from the point of “unable to swim” to “swimming Rockstar.”

And without that plan, you would never be moving forward. You would never actually learn how to swim or it would take you twice as long.

Well, that’s exactly how I view my twenties. They are a class, where I am learning so much I need to know about basic adult life. So when I take the wise advice I hear, I can then turn around and begin setting up the right habits.

If I don’t have a plan or structure for my twenties, then I fail to make any positive life changes and see any sort of growth.

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That’s why on GoodPointGrandma, every blog post I write sticks to this mission and vision.

The mission is to help 20-somethings set up the right habits in their 20s & live a successful life.

The vision is to launch 1,000 women into their best life right of college and their early 20s through online training and resources.

The values are experiences over things; long-term over short-term; and others over self.

You see, you deserve a better future than this world tells you that you are going to have. You deserve a life that is filled with passion, experience, and pure joy.

It’s my hope to provide strategic resources to help 20-somethings set up their lives for success and be wise like a grandma.

Are you ready to set up the rest of your life for success by maximizing your 20s and crushing adulting hard-core? Ready to jump in and join our community? Just simply put your name and email below and I’ll take care of the rest!

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Now let’s take one of the first steps and set up that “30 Things To Before 30 Years Old” bucket list today!

HOW TO CREATE A “30 THINGS TO DO BEFORE 30” BUCKET LIST

There are so many different articles online about this topic, but I am going to give you my unique perspective and the exact steps I took to set up my fool-proof “30 Things To Do Before 30” bucket list.

First, I recommend categories when you set up this list. That was the first step I took.

I looked at the different areas of my life that I really wanted to see success in and began with those. The categories in my “30 Things To Do Before 30” include travel (#1-7), lifestyle (#8-14), finding my passion (#15-20), fun (#21-29), and lastly (#30).

These categories helped me really identify the things in life that I wanted to see happen by the time I was 30. Even though 30 seems so far away, one of the biggest fears I have is hitting a certain milestone year in my life and realizing that I have a lot of regrets.

Regret sucks and no one wants to hit 30 and think, “if only I had done this or that a little bit more.”

You can avoid regret by thinking through the categories that you want to have grown in or accomplished various tasks in. I usually think through my hobbies and priorities in life first and then go down to things I have just always wanted to do or see.

What lights you on fire? Once you answer that question, I know your priorities can follow very easily after that. In fact, you probably have a few different categories spinning around in your head right now!

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WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR “30 THINGS TO DO BEFORE 30” BUCKET LIST

Here is one of the biggest things that often gets missed when we think about setting up a “30 Things To Do Before 30” bucket list. And that is the fact of whether to include controllable versus uncontrollable things.

And I mean, really where is the line for some of them?

The best example I can think of is getting married or having a baby. While that may be a deep heart desire of yours, it could also be something that you will never be able to have as ultimately it is God’s hands.

However, you also have free will. You can decide to put yourself out there and meet new people and create several different connections with people that allow you to meet your future spouse. You could sign up for a dating app even, which makes it easier to meet someone than ever before.

Or you could stay couped up and isolate yourself, never really meet a lot of people, and never be intentional about pursuing others so that you can eventually get married or have a baby.

It’s a weird mix of some intentional action and most of it just completely out of your hand and left in God’s hands.

Related Post: What Are The Most Important Life Changes To Make After 20?

For me, I chose to not include these items on my “30 Things To Do Before 30 Years Old” bucket list. It just didn’t make sense for me to make these huge life goals that I wasn’t 100% sure I could accomplish.

Instead, I chose to focus on items that would be more tangible and easier to check off as I went.

In the back of my head, I keep those huge life options on my internal bucket list you could say. Yes, I want to buy a house one day, get married, have children, etc. but I also want to trust God a lot with those bigger ticket items.

Maybe for you, you want to include those somewhat uncontrollable items. Then I say go for it. This is your “30 Things To Do Before 30 Years Old” list and you make it however, you want to make it.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF “30 THINGS TO DO BEFORE 30”

In this next step, this is where I want to start thinking exactly about what gets you fired up. And I mean, from fun to heartbreaking cultural issues.

One thing that will light up my day no matter what is flowers. As crazy or super silly as that may sound to some of you, put some flowers in front of me and I will change moods completely. For some reason, they really spark joy inside of me.

What sparks joy for you?

I have been reading Spark Joy by Marie Kondo lately and it has completely changed how I look at so many things in this world. If something doesn’t bring you joy, then don’t include it on your “30 Things To Do Before 30” bucket list.

Once you know what gets you fired up it’s time to start word-vomiting it all on a piece of paper. Don’t worry about hitting the number 30 yet, we’ll get there.

First, just pour out your heart and soul, and passions without any constraint.

Did you do it?

Ok now, let’s move on to the last step.

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MATCHING PRIORITIES UP IN YOUR “30 THINGS TO DO BEFORE 30”

This step is critical to your success.

If you didn’t skim this post, and you read the whole first half where I explained my passion for using the defining decade of our 20s to set up our lives for success, that is exactly what we are going to do right here.

I want you to look at the word vomit you just created. I’m sure it’s beautiful.

Now, think about the biggest regrets you want to avoid when you hit 30. The best way to do this is to picture yourself at 30 years old and see what you like about it.

What career are you in? Are you a stay-at-home mom? Have you gained weight? Lost weight? Have you traveled? Have you turned your hobbies into a business?

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Have you taken care of yourself? What have you accomplished?

The cool thing is that hopefully, your word vomit overlaps with a lot of these questions that you are trying to answer.

If you want to get healthy or be in better shape, then hopefully at 30 you are toned and even healthier than you are today.

Now, take those crossroads and narrow it down to what you will actually do to accomplish those goals. For that health example, it could be running a marathon. That’s actually one of my goals under the “Fun” category.

Here are some more of my goals as well to give you examples:

-visit Australia/New Zealand

-visit Banff Canada

– own a puppy

– live debt-free

– volunteer regularly

– take piano lessons again

– help lead someone to Jesus

– write a book

– grow my blog into a business

– see the northern lights

– learn to snowboard

– learn a new language

– donate over $20k to charities

– take a cooking class

– become a Royal Crown Diamond in Young Living

And number 30 is….be me and understand myself better at the end of it.

Think big. Think long. And write down goals that will require hard work.

I love the quote “A degree of satisfaction is directly proportional to the degree of difficulty.” If you want to be satisfied when you hit 30 and look back at your 20s with pride, then do hard things in your 20s.

The hard things you do in your 20s will completely pay off in your 30s and beyond.

Have fun with it and included things you have always wanted to do as well.

If you think a planner would be helpful in putting your “30 Things To Before 30” bucket list into action (which I think it would be and is definitely something to consider!) then think about grabbing the Slay Your Goals Planner here.

It is a fabulous way to crush your goals, especially in your 20s! See more of why I recommend it in this blog post here.

I want to hear your “30 Things To Do Before 30 Years Old” goals below in the comments! Let’s cheer each other on!

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Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma

Hey there, I'm Kelsey! I'm so glad you are here. I'm a 20-something helping you live your most fulfilling life. I hope you'll join me in this old-fashioned & simple lifestyle!

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