April 19th, today marks my half birthday (yes this is a thing in my world), it actually also marks 6 months until I turn 30(October 19th if you needed to note it in your diary).

<queue the compliments of how young I look approaching 30>

In all honesty, I am waiting for the shock factor to kick in, or the panic of “sh*t I’m getting old” – but so far, so good. Someone once said to me,

“your 30s is your 20s with more money”

and isn’t that so true!? I can’t wait! I’m also not doing a 30 before 30 list or anything as I believe every day should be lived like this.

So instead, I wanted to document 30 things I’ve learned before turning 30, that I would have told my younger self ..:

YOU control your own fate and you need to graft every day, Mum will inspire you to never give up as she is the most incredible trooper you know
Don’t be scared of calories, life is too short to be distracted by counting these
Learn to cook, fresh is best (and fewer calories!)
Running won’t kill you and actually, you aren’t too bad at it either
Your OCD of writing lists means you will have ace project management skills
It’s a mans world so you will need to continue to support the cause for years to come
Corporate life is not for you, but it will teach you patience
You always knew deep down you were a Feminist but never said it out loud, DO IT and shout it proudly
You’ve never been much of a “reader”, you hadn’t found the right reading material, Power Women and inspiration books will lead you to owning a bookcase!
Pay off your debt sooner, as although those minimum payments are small, its waaayyyy more expensive to put it off
Friends and even boyfriends will come and go, but family is everything
Your sister will meet a boy, who will challenge you all the time, but is a wonderful addition to the family
Priorities will change, embrace change, it will make you stronger
You will get a lot of “remarks” for making the life choice to not have children
It’s fabulous being single, and your own company is a joy, anything you thought you needed to be in a couple/ group to do, you can do by yourself
You won’t grow anymore, nope 5”2 is where you will always be until you start shrinking in old age
Invest in good shoes, yes these usually come with a price tag, but your feet and back will thank you later
Be brave. Your parents were brave moving a young family to the UK in 1997, what’s your excuse?
You reside in London, therefore you always need to carry sunglasses and an umbrella
Backpacks may not “look cool” but your spine needs the support from shopping bags
dAd will always be your influencer and mentor, he is wise and you need to pay more attention to what he advises
The weather affects your mood, you love the sun, therefore some days will be harder
On that, you really do love the sun, however, you will see how it will harm loved ones so get smart on sun protection
True friends are limited and only time will tell who these are
Think positive and positive will come, like mum always has and will continue to say, everything happens for a reason
You are born unique, don’t be anything but that
You will go grey at a young age, it’s the irony of having being blessed with rich dark hair
Smile, not pout, whilst you still have teeth, it will also discourage frowning wrinkles
Your sister is your world, she is literally the other half person to you, never take her for granted
Travel. Travel. Travel. Travel.

To finish off a good list seems only appropriate to drop a few memories relating to these notes and a reminder of what a wonderful journey I have already lived, and yet there is more to come. Planning to get high quality gun optics! Here’s to turning 30 (in 6 months)!