Turning 30 is a big deal.
It’s one of those milestone ages that tells us it’s time we stop mucking about and finally become grown-ups.
Here are 15 useful skills you should have learned how to rock over the first 30 years you’ve spent roaming this planet…
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1. How to Tip Properly
If you still struggle to figure out what the appropriate tip should be at a restaurant or in a cab, it’s time to do some reading – and download one of those tipping apps. It’s no longer acceptable to leave a crummy tip once you’re in your 30s. You should know better.
2. Eat Alone in Public
This is one of those things that sets terror in our hearts when we’re in our 20s. To be seen dining alone feels like we’ve wrote I’M A LOSER across our forehead with a Sharpie. The nice thing about getting older is no longer giving a damn what other people think (and the fact is, no stranger is thinking about you enough to think you’re a loser for eating alone). You should also be comfortable in your skin enough to go to a party alone.
3. Pay Bills on Time
If you’re not in the habit of setting up automatic payments for your phone, internet, and any other bill, now is the time to put that into practice. Remember, late payments affect your credit score – don’t let it happen. Set it and forget it is the way to go.
4. Introduce Yourself
By now, you should have your elevator pitch down to a science that can spout off with confidence to that stranger you met at the coffee shop.
5. Cure a Hangover
You’ve learned exactly what works for your system, along with what not to do. Hopefully you’ve stopped hurting your already weakened liver by popping Tylenol on an empty stomach after that long night at the bar.
6. Change a Tire and the Oil in Your Car
The day will come when you will end up stuck with a flat in the middle of the night, with no one around for miles. If you can’t do the basic things required to travel in a vehicle safely, you probably shouldn’t be driving.
7. Buy Embarrassing Things Without Blushing
The days of feeling awkward when buying condoms and tampons should be over by 30. The kid at the checkout counter doesn’t care that you have an active sex life.
8. Say ‘No’
This can be a hard one, but if you still find yourself saying ‘yes’ when you really want to say ‘no’, now’s the time to kick that dirty habit to the curb. Life is short; you should not spend another second doing something you really don’t want to do just because you feel obligated to. Having a backbone is important.
9. Take Care of Your Mental Health
Whether it’s a monthly self-care day, daily yoga and meditation, or weekly trips to the therapist, you should know how to take care of your mind so that it doesn’t go into breakdown mode when you need it most.
10. Take Care of Your Physical Health
You should have some sort of routine down by now that works for your particular body and energy levels. Your body starts to lose strength, flexibility and the ability to quickly heal once in your 30s, so it’s important to start taking excellent care of it if you want to age gracefully.
11. Negotiate Your Salary
Your 20s were filled with opportunities to climb the ladder and ask for more, so you can sit back and approach salary negotiations with ease now that you’ve mastered it.
12. Set the Table
You may still be eating dinner on your couch when you’re not at a restaurant, but part of being a certified grown-up means you know that the forks are always left while the knife and spoon sit right.
13. Cook Something Tasty
No one is saying you should be a master chef or even know how to cook as well as your mom did when she was 30, but by now you should probably have at least one signature dish you’d be proud to serve your friends or a hot date.
14. Give a Firm Handshake
Few things in life are sadder than a flimsy handshake. There’s no denying how important a solid handshake is in making a strong a first impression to that new network contact.
15. Break Up with Decency
If you’re in your 30s and still going the coward route of breaking up over text or the phone, you are not fit to be dating other humans in the first place. By now you should be grown up enough to do it in person, and know how to keep it as civil and fair as possible.
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