‘What decision in your 30s had the biggest positive impact on your life?’ – 22 tips to set yourself up for the best possible future
If we’re honest with ourselves, our lives are largely a series of arbitrarily made choices which we cross our fingers will add up to a generally pleasant existence. But what if we’d been given some good advice at a younger age that had helped us be strategic rather than haphazard?
They’ve been chatting about this on the AskUK subreddit after user No-Bed3858 asked this:
‘What decision in your 30s had the biggest positive impact on your life?
‘I’m early 30s and it already feels very different from my 20s. More responsibility. Bigger decisions. Less room for messing around. For those a bit further ahead what decision in your 30s made the biggest positive difference long term? Career? Health? Relationships? Moving somewhere new?
‘Just curious what actually moved the needle for you.
An excellent question, and lots of people had some very wise thoughts to share, like these…
1.
‘Deciding that, no – I really did mean it all along – I don’t want to have children.’
–SameCollege4578
2.
‘Realising that I did, in fact, want children.’
–BalthazarOfTheOrions
3.
‘Hair transplant at 37, cost me about £3000 and every time I look at myself in the mirror I feel 10x better than I did prior, well worth it.’
–Jonny_Sidepin
4.
‘Stopped my heavy weed habit. Met a lovely girl, we’re now engaged, saved up a deposit and moved into our first home. Made some major career moves and am now getting paid double what I was when I met her.’
–pantyperverted
5.
‘I moved out of my very high paying job that I hated into a moderately-paying job that I enjoy. Yes, I do have less money. Less, it did mean my lifestyle was downgraded a bit. However, I am much happier for it.’
–knightsbridge-
6.
‘Having two kids. It rebalanced everything for me. They are the best thing.’
–Mysterious-One1055
7.
‘Stopped smoking at 35, started exercising more (nothing drastic, but something), ate better, etc. Genuinely feel younger and healthier in my early forties than I did at 34.’
–BobBobBobBobBobDave
8.
‘Splitting up with my then partner. At first I didn’t want to split up (we’d been together since we were teenagers) but after a while I realised I’d sold so much of my life for his dreams and got nothing in return. I’m a totally different person now and I learned to be so much more patient with my subsequent partners.’
–Skanedog
9.
‘For me it was finally getting down to my smallest weight since I was 16. I had struggled with my weight due to a genuine hormonal problem and with it at my biggest weight I was close to 21st.
‘I’m now 10st-ish, losing weight with a combination of dietary changes and exercise including swimming three times a week. It’s taken me a LONG time but I feel so good.’
–MatthiasGould592
10.
‘Getting on Mounjaro. Coming up to one year on it and it has completely transformed my health for the better. I struggled with eating disorders, malnutrition for many years, and then SSRI-related appetite increase, rebound hunger, and subsequent obesity, the combination of which all just completely fucked up my hunger signals.
At nearly 40, and after going through all that mess, Mounjaro has made me feel like the healthy normal person I used to be in my early 20s. I’m extremely lucky to have been one of the people who’ve had no side-effects.’
–nexxaly
11.
‘We decided that we weren’t going to have children, which then enabled us to buy a smaller house in an area where nobody cares about schools, so not only was it cheap but we were also able to overpay on the mortgage.
‘Mortgage paid off at 42. Headed for early retirement. Feels very liberating.’
–Party-Werewolf-4888
12.
‘Stop being negative, realise I’m doing well in life and being thankful and realise we do life at different pace to others.’
–WheresMyFlamingo