Most of us, especially the millennials, deal with society’s pressure to be a certain something by a specific age. That could be a car-owner at 21, a homeowner at 25, or the most popular one: married before 30.
As children, we thought achieving those things will be easy. After all, adults have their lives put together, have jobs, and are independent. But now that millennials are reaching their 30s and the older Gen Zs are graduating from college, the things they’ve fantasized about achieving at a specific age became harder to reach than they thought, if not downright unattainable.
Thankfully, today’s society is becoming more open-minded to the realities of adulthood. But many of us are still feeling inferior compared to the older generations, who had achieved so much when they were at our ages. Typical baby boomers became parents before 25, and many Generation X-ers had founded their startups before 30. As such, they became successful at a relatively young age, while millennials and Gen Z-ers are usually living from paycheck to paycheck, barely last in serious relationships, and struggle to complete their goals.
So will it be too late for us to succeed if we don’t accomplish major undertakings now?
Age is Just a Number
We need to ingrain in our minds that age is just a number for success. However, with iconic personalities in history like Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Marie Curie, who were all successful before age 30, we built a standard that our 30th year is the “deadline” all our goals.
This mindset, in fact, turned out to come from early scientific research. For years, scientists then who studied achievements noted that people’s most significant work came earlier in life rather than later. After all, younger people tend to be more devoted to their projects than older people, and youths generally attract more support, mentors, and prestigious opportunities.
But more recent studies contradict that old research now. According to a big-data analysis of scientific careers, success had nothing to with age or early stardom. Rather, it is a result of combined personality, persistence, and sheer luck, as well as brilliance, that leads to massive success, regardless of age.
Therefore, nobody should fear being left behind when their peers have already achieved great things. Just because your high school friend has already bought a house doesn’t mean that you’re less successful. Besides, success isn’t measured by the amount or value of your material possessions. A person can live in a simple cabin and call themselves accomplished or fulfilled. On the contrary, someone can live in a mansion and have a hundred more goals yet to be completed. So don’t worry about being 30 years old (or above) and owning a home for the first time. A good mortgage company won’t use your age to determine if you’re capable of repaying the loan anyway.
What You Actually Need to Achieve Before Turning Thirty
Accomplishments are still important, and at some point, all of us need to accomplish certain things to live independently and happily. But these achievements have nothing to do with material possessions, investments, careers, and such.
Instead, they’re basic life skills and particular experiences that are best enjoyed when we are younger. After turning thirty, we can still accomplish them because it’s never too late to discover and learn them.
1. Learning how to cook. Making a home-cooked meal is rewarding, cost-efficient, and can stir delight. It’s a fun hobby that helps you become healthier and more creative.
2. Start a workout routine. With so many of us living a sedentary lifestyle, our health became compromised. If you’re now working from home like many others, try to squeeze in quick workouts between hours. Exercise for at least ten minutes every day until you become well-conditioned enough to increase the duration gradually.
3. Save money. This is easier said than done to many, but you don’t have to save thousands of bucks every month right away if it isn’t a realistic goal for you yet. Every penny or dime you’ll save will count, so keep whatever you can. Start opening an emergency and retirement savings accounts to keep yourself motivated.
4. Read more books. Reading boosts your imagination, improves your communication skills, expands your vocabulary, and keeps your brains sharp. Try to create a reading goal or completing a reading challenge every month.
5. Stop your vices. Smoking, drinking, and other harmful vices to your health need to be stopped while you’re still young. They only exhaust your savings and ruin your health.
When you think about life, you’ll realize that these five accomplishments are more vital than anything else. When you’re healthy, happy, and financially stable, you can pretty much do anything and live securely and comfortably for the rest of your life. And that’s a type of success no amount of money or properties can match.
