12 Courageous Things Every Person Should Do Before Turning 30

If you think your time is running out and life is moving faster than you can keep up with, you’re not delusional, you’re perceptive.

Time is moving faster and you are starting to lose the race. Before you realize it, you will wake up and be 30, looking back on things you wish you had accomplished, or at least attempted, in your twenties, when the world seemed a little less serious, you had much less to lose and many more excuses.

Since we have no evidentiary proof of exactly what happens after we turn cold and blue, we can only assume that we’re only here once and there are no refunds. The world is what you make it and those who take risks are usually the ones who make it worthwhile.

They understand that now is not the time to be taking precautions. Your youth, unscathed looks and energy will not be around forever and time will just be laughing at you at the end, making sure you know that it won.

Because we don’t look back on our lives, especially our early youth, thinking about all the things we didn’t attempt or the rules we didn’t break.

We think back to the time we surprised ourselves, our best moments of courage and spontaneity. We think back to the happy accidents and the moments of fate that only presented themselves when we were being bold. We think back to the risks we took and the cautions we threw to the wind.

So do yourself a favor and stop being afraid. Be the bold adventurer you always saw for yourself in your twenties and make sure you accomplish these simple courageous acts by the time you hit 30 and your life will be full of more insight and a lot fewer regrets.

Travel Alone

You haven’t truly lived until you’ve melted into another country and forgotten your own name. Only in traveling alone can you find the fear and exhilaration that will make for a trip you will never forget.

Only when you’re completely unattached to anything around you, reminding you of home or your previous life, can you lose that sense of being foreign and adapt to your surroundings as a true explorer.

Dinner For One

Just once you need to be that lone soul sitting at a restaurant with a book or blank stare. Try it once so you can know exactly how that person feels next time you see him or her -- it's usually contentment and peace. Who knows, you may find out it’s not as sad and depressing as you always assumed.

Make Friends With An Enemy

The best friends you make are usually the people you’ve hated first. There’s something about knowing people for all their flaws and evil sides before knowing them for their good.

Once you’ve seen them as the enemy, there’s really nowhere else to go except friendship. So give up your feud with someone, if for only a few minutes, and see if you can turn that hatred into love.

Tell Someone “No” Without Giving A Reason

Saying “no” is a very liberating moment. Once you’ve learned to say “no” to someone without giving an apology or long list of reasons, but because you don’t want to and this is your life, there will be a sense of liberation that will follow you the rest of your life. It will also demand respect as people learn you don’t give in because you can’t think of a good excuse.

Get Lost Without Your Phone

Leaving for unknown land without an iPhone is as daunting as leaving for Coachella without drugs. It doesn’t feel right and you know you’re gonna have to chat up a lot of strangers.

However, it's never good to become attached to something and knowing you can do without your phone will bring you a tremendous sense of independence. So take an adventure and leave the phone behind. Maybe you’ll stumble across a new place or meet a handsome stranger while asking for directions.

Go On A Date With Someone Who’s Not Your Type

It’s important to be open and try new people as much as you try new foods. You may think you don’t like their glasses, their haircut or their name, but give them a chance.

The worst that happens is you spent a night out when you could have been watching “Game Of Thrones” and you will enter into your 30s knowing that much more about people and blind dates.

Make Something Then Try To Sell It

There is nothing more worthwhile in this world than creating something that will last past your death. Adding something to the world that is uniquely yours, no matter how important or well done, is something that will bring comfort and joy to your sometimes trivial existence.

Selling that something is a feat of its own, but sold or not, it’s important to never lose your ability to be creative.

Visit Relatives You’ve Never Met

We all have those relatives we’ve never seen. Maybe it’s those third cousins in Florence or the half sister no one talks to anymore.

Now is the time to reconnect with family. Open up closed doors, start connecting some branches and create the large family you always wanted.

Ask Someone Out Who’s ‘Out Of Your League’

Ask someone out and he or she may just turn you down. Ask someone out and he or she may also say yes. You’ll never know until you try swallowing your pride -- and accepting the outcome is something every young cocky 20-something must experience.

Give Your Lunch Money To Someone Else

Giving up $10 is hard, but giving it away is another thing. In that moment of losing $10, you will gain a hefty amount of gratitude that may just fill you up enough to last through lunch. Even if you never do it again, experience the rush of self-sacrifice for the benefit of another.

Move To A New City

Everyone needs to be the new guy at least once. Even if it's only for six months, a year or just a semester, get out of town to discover another one. Establish yourself somewhere that isn't home and learn to become a citizen of another city.

Learn new city streets and find new coffee shops. Discover short cuts, local spots and hidden alcoves in a city that's now just yours for the moment.

Fall In Love

Fall in love with as many things as possible. Have affairs all over town and romanticize as much as you can. Become obsessed with dead poets and dying trees.

Kiss the grass you're lying in and fall madly in love with the buildings with the copper roofs. Fall in love with people, let them know you love them and expect nothing in return. Fall in love with life and you will never be alone again.

Photo Credit: Sarah Vuona