30 Life Lessons learned in my first 30 years

Today I turned 30. I want to share 30 life lessons that I picked up along the way during the last 30 years.

Health

1. Manage your energy levels wisely and purposefully

Activities that require large amounts of energy at the moment give back energy over time and tend to increase your overall energy levels. Examples are exercising, craftsmanship or having a deep conversation with a friend. On the contrary, activities that don’t require energy in the moment leech on future energy and deplete overall energy resources. Examples are watching TV, video gaming and indulging in unhealthy food.

2. Take care of your mind

Get negativity, trapped thoughts and chaos out of your head. Meditate, journal and create calm and order amidst the daily chaos.

3. Move your body

Find a type of exercise you enjoy and practice it regularly. Your body is a well-oiled machine when you are young. Keep it that way; exercising is applying the oil. Don’t forget your heart - get your cardio!

4. Fuel your body

Learn the basics of a healthy diet: natural foods, lots of veggies, some fruits, slow carbs, and high protein. Apply them but have your favourites regularly.

5. Drink little to no alcohol

Alcohol harms your brain, body and energy. Your willpower gets depleted, and you’re likely to fall for bad choices and habits. Never use alcohol to compensate for anything (like building up the courage to talk to someone).

6. Learn how to deal with pain

Actively deal with negative emotions and tragedies. Otherwise, they will eat you over time from the inside out. Don’t fall into the trap of self-medication. A very high long-term price is paid for the short-term remedy.

7. Build strong and healthy habits

Small daily rituals have the most significant effect on your life, not major events. Make sure your daily routines help you become the person you want to be. Build habits by starting small and staying consistent, combining new habits with existing ones and rewarding yourself.

8. Make an effort to break and unlearn unhealthy habits

The dose makes the poison. Indulging damaging behaviour once won’t tip the scales. Doing it regularly will. Your bad habits are the key obstacle keeping you from becoming the best version of yourself and achieving your dreams.

Finance

9. Think twice before making any purchase

Never buy anything just because you feel like it. If you want something, let it sit for 24h or, better, one week and then look at it again. Still a good decision to buy it? Yes? Then do it. Otherwise, abandon it - you don’t need it anyway.

10. Value experiences over things

Your material possessions quickly devalue as you get used to them, or they degenerate. Memorable experiences stay with you forever, form stronger bonds with the people involved and will make you look back on them with a smile on your face.

11. Beware of the Hedonistic Treadmill

You quickly adapt to a higher standard in any area of your life, and the value it once brought you quickly vanishes. Avoid lifestyle creep and be mindful of your actual needs.

12. Build a cash cushion

A cash cushion is readily available and only used to cover expenses in times of emergency. Having this financial safety net will give you unprecedented peace of mind and allow you to pursue things you previously deemed impossible.

13. The first step to building wealth is controlling your spending

Controlling your spending will not make you wealthy. But without it, you can never be wealthy, as your hard-earned money always slips through your fingers. Learn to control your spending now, as it gets harder the more you have.

14. Invest in yourself

Investing in yourself always yields the best ROI. Invest in yourself to develop your skills and character.

Relationships

15. Relationships: Prioritize quality over quantity

when the going gets tough, three true friends are worth more than thirty acquaintances. Deep friendships are like plants - they want to be watered and exposed to the sun regularly and need nutritious soil to flourish.

16. Forgive quickly

Social Interactions are fueled by emotions. Words come out wrong, actions are perceived the wrong way, and people get hurt. Forgive your loved ones, friends and partners. They didn’t mean to hurt you, and your grudge will destroy more than their accident ever could.

17. Overcommunicate

Things that are obvious to you are unclear to others. This is especially true for plans and decisions you make. Involve your partner, friend and co-founder. Inform them rather too much than too little. Communicate early.

18. Spend time with your loved ones

Time is the most valuable resource in existence. Spend your time with your loved ones and make an effort to be with them. They give you more than you now realize and are not around forever.

19. Build relationships by giving first

Give what you desire from a relationship. Want respect? Treat the other person with respect first. Want a true friend? Be vulnerable and open up first. Want a reliable and loyal partner? Be reliable and loyal yourself first.

Growth

20. Get out of your comfort zone regularly

All growth happens outside of your comfort zone. The person you want to be is built outside of your comfort zone. Also: your comfort zone slowly shrinks if you never leave it, and situations you previously handled comfortably now are challenging.

21. Take calculated risks

Risk and reward are directly correlated. Leaping forward requires taking risks. Make sure you know the risk and do your due diligence. But then also take the leap and reap the rewards.

22. Take every chance to live in a different culture

Immersing yourself in a different culture will put your personal development on steroids. Everything you believed to be true gets challenged, and unique ways expose themselves. Inspiration and growth are inevitable.

23. Take action - Be proactive

If you want something, make sure you get it. Take the first step - start the project, talk to that stranger and contact that old friend you had a fight with. Always err on the side of taking action.

24. Failure and rejection are your teachers

Acknowledge that failure and rejection are not the worst. They always teach you valuable lessons and bring you forward. Embrace your failures and own up to your mistakes. Don‘t find excuses. In the long run, not having tried and regretting it is much worse than failure. Later you‘ll tell yourself: „You should have taken that leap of faith and talked to that stranger.“ So do it.

25. Get to know yourself

Understand who you are (emotions), what’s important to you (values) and who you want to become (dreams) - let this knowledge be your north star in guiding your decisions. Your values are truly put to the test when no one is looking.

26. Other’s opinions don’t matter

The opinions of others don’t matter. Only if the people are truly important to you, consider their opinion. For every stranger judging you for doing something, you will find two others impressed or supporting you. When in doubt, ask your closest allies.

Work

27. Do hard things

Do the hard things as they yield the best rewards. Put in the work, don’t take the easy/comfortable route. Hard work works on you more than you on it (via Alex Hormozi)

28. Have a life off-screen

As a knowledge worker, find an off-screen hobby to balance your screen time. Your mind and eyes need breaks from staring into gleaming rectangles. Read, draw, cook or take walks in nature.

29. Everything is negotiable, and every interaction can be a negotiation

Negotiation happens all the time, and everything is negotiable. Learn this early and use it when it matters. Don’t overdo it and stay friendly - negotiation is not a fight; it’s about making the cake larger for all parties.

30. Understand the Pareto principle (80/20 Rule)

Understand that a large portion of the output is often based on a small fraction of the input. Know when you need a 100% solution and when 80% (for 20% of the work) is just fine.

31. Don‘t follow all rules blindly

Rules are necessary but don‘t follow them Blindly without making up your mind.

Congrats if you made it this far. I‘m super curious about what you think about the lessons - let me know on twitter!