How to Enrich Your Life As You Enter Your 30s
Be that as it may, your 30s are a pivotal part of your life, where it’s expected that you solidify your career and settle down. That alone can be too daunting to think of, but things will eventually fall into place if you stay focused and grapple with this critical phase of your life. Here’s a roadmap to help you navigate your 30s:
1. Focus on developing skills
Your 20s may have provided you with ample time to hone specific skills, but things will need to go a little faster as you transition to your 30s. Stay up-to-date with what skills are relevant in today’s job market. Whether you are planning to stay in your company doesn’t matter. Given how quickly technology is changing the way we work, you will need to leverage what skills you have gained after you graduated from college.
Keep in mind that you will be competing with the earlier members of Generation Z who have just entered the job market. They may not be a threat to you, but their capacity to learn new things rapidly should push you to pick up the pace.
Your best course of action is to keep moving forward in terms of skills development. Take up online courses, obtain certificates, and bring your education to a higher level. Also, if you haven’t obtained a Master’s degree yet, now would be a good time to accomplish that milestone.
The key here is to keep learning and broaden your horizons. There is a lot more that you are capable of achieving if you invest time and effort in upskilling.
2. Build an investment portfolio
When it comes to financial management, starting earlier would be the better option, since you can’t predict how the economy will fare in a few years from now. The current health crisis is just one of many obstacles that can disrupt your financial future.
As you enter your 30s, investing your hard-earned money becomes an essential survival strategy. You can’t rely on putting all your cash in a savings account that devalues as inflation picks up. The most sensible option is to plant your money where it can grow and yield massive returns.
In recent years, we have seen more millennials becoming cryptocurrency and hedge fund investors overnight. This is because the members of this generation see the importance of going beyond traditional investment vehicles such as stocks, real estate, and mutual funds.
The number of investment options is growing, so you may want to build a diversified and high-yielding investment portfolio. You are in the real world now, so you will need to make your money work for you.
3. Set up shop
Investments are not your only option for attaining financial stability in your 30s. At your age, the prospect of building your own business becomes tangible.
Whether or not you have saved enough capital to finance a startup is irrelevant. If you have an idea for a business that has been brewing in your head since you were 21, you will always be in the best position to start a profitable venture.
All you need to do now is to gather potential partners and choose the best options for financing your business. Apart from cash loans (getcash.com) and small business grants, you can also reach out to angel investors and venture capitalists who want to see you succeed.
It’s never too late to start a stable business. As a matter of fact, being in your 30s provides you with enough leverage to build a potentially disruptive business concept.
4. Make the most of your time with your parents
It’s been years since you have left the nest. You are your own person, and you are ready to face the next chapter in your life. Even so, you have grown more mature in your relationship with your parents. You cease to look at them as providers. Now that you are older, you look at them as allies you share advice with.
It doesn’t matter if you are still living with them or if they are settling down in a Seattle respite care facility. Your parents can offer their wisdom and knowledge that you can use to further your own goals.
Each and every moment you spend with them is precious. If you have missed a number of Thanksgiving dinners during your teenage years, you can more than make up for it as you enter your 30s.
5. Be health-conscious
Your body has taken a toll with all the excessive partying and working you have experienced during your early 20s. As you enter your 30s, you should become more conscious of your health and well-being.
This is the part where the issue of longevity becomes real. Your body starts to feel the consequences of your previous lifestyle. In addition to that, you are also aging rapidly and becoming more vulnerable to disease.
The way you treat your body during your 30s will determine your overall health as you retire. Having realized that, you should regulate or eliminate any bad habits that are bogging you down.
Your 30s is still an ideal age range for quitting smoking, starting a consistent workout plan, and maintaining a proper body mass. Making healthy decisions at this point in your life will help you navigate the physical and mental challenges that await you in your 40s.
6. Nurture professional relationships
As you turn 30, the way you look at the workplace will start to change drastically. When you got started on your first job, you saw the workplace as a jungle where you have to prove yourself worthy of a promotion.
Now that you have gained enough experience and climbed the professional ladder, your focus is shifting from the need to compete towards the need to cooperate. Your 30s will be less about proving yourself and more about maintaining good business relationships and expanding your network.
Along with developing your skills, you will also need to build professional rapport in preparation for your retirement. You need to make connections, as it’s difficult to navigate the latter part of your life without anyone backing you up.
Don’t shy away from an opportunity to develop relationships with mentors, colleagues, and potential business partners. You wouldn’t know if any one of them will be there to support you even after you retire.
7. Take time to travel
At 30 years old, you are still young enough to experience new places and meet new people. This is the part of your life where you will need to see the world.
Things may seem uncertain at the moment, but the challenges you face today are more than enough reason to book a flight. Pick your dream destination and spend a week or two there. Perhaps you will want to stay there permanently. Whatever the case may be, opening yourself up to new environments will help you make the most of your 30s.
8. Invest in a house
Whether you plan on getting married or staying single, buying your own home is worth considering. While there are fewer home listings right compared to previous years, it’s still possible to find your ideal home within or outside your state.
Newly built homes are expected to flood the market in the months to come, so you won’t have to worry about affordability. You just need to align your specific goals to the process of finding a home. If you are planning to work from home permanently, consider moving from the big city to quiet neighborhoods.
If you are raising a family this year, you can look for homes in communities that are ideal for children to thrive in. Just be sure to save enough to afford a down payment and get pre-approved by a lender.
9. Nurture your mind
At the end of the day, it’s your mindset that helps you overcome the challenges you will be encountering in your 30s. You will need to stop dwelling on past failures and own up to every decision you make.
You will encounter obstacles along the way, but don’t let these discourage you. You may have already experienced multiple failures in your 20s, so what will keep you from recovering? If you can’t change the outcomes of certain decisions, try to change how you respond to them. Your success will depend immensely on how you treat yourself.
Try to achieve a good work-life balance by avoiding burnout, resting when you need to and giving yourself time to recover from failure. You will need peace of mind more than anything else as you embrace new challenges and opportunities.
Entering your 30s can bring mixed feelings. Despite this, nothing should stop you from accepting every opportunity that comes your way.
