30 Before 30

I’m sure you’ve seen posts like this before – I know I have!
I used to roll my eyes at bucket lists, five year plans, ten year plans, and so on… I just thought that, seeing as life never really went to plan anyway, what was the point?!
But the more I’ve got into goal-setting over the past year, the more I have been thinking about where I want my life to be moving over the next few years. This has led me to reading quite a lot of blog posts that talk about a ’30 before 30′ list – simply, a list of thirty things you want to achieve or do before you hit that big 3-0. (I say ‘big’… I’m not sure that it is. But ask me again when I get there!)

I have really started to like the ideas of a 30 before 30 list, as a list of experiences, achievements and just general goals that I would like to achieve before I turn 30. For me, this has provided a good opportunity to sit down, reflect, and set goals. However, it has given me the same anxiety-inducing pressure that I have experienced before when trying to create a 5 or 10 year plan. My main inspiration for this post was a post written by the wonderful Zanna van Dijk, who as well as being the same age as me, is one of my favourite Youtubers/bloggers/fitness gurus. As I’m fast approaching 27, now seemed like a good time to take that inspiration and run with it.

So, without any further rambling, here are the thirty things I would like to do or achieve before my thirtieth birthday. Some are huge goals, some are tiny, niggling little wishes, but I would love to achieve them all…

1. Go camping. (Me and Mr W have a tent and we’re ready to go, we just haven’t gotten round it to yet. I have been camping before, but not for many years!)
2. Climb another mountain. (Earlier this year, we climbed Snowdon. It inspired me to keep hiking as much as possible.)
3. Own a brand new, high quality mattress. For all that beautiful, quality sleep.
4. Perform in a choir again. (This one should be ticked off pretty soon!)
5. Pay off my credit card.
6. Have a healthy savings account. (These two are both a little more serious… I haven’t been very financially secure or confident for most of my twenties, so it is important to me to enter my next decade of life with a bit more money behind me, just in case. On that note…)
7. Buy a house!
8. Start a family. (I’m broody as anything – but, following the last few goals, we want to be a bit more financially comfortable before we start having children.)
9. Visit Italy.
10. Travel solo for a long weekend. (Either on an organised retreat, or just taking myself away to read and write for a weekend in the countryside.)
11. Write a novel. (The ultimate dream!)
12. Go on a spa day with my Mum.
13. Go on a cookery course.
14. Make gnocchi from scratch.
15. Make an entire lasagna from scratch, including the pasta.
16. Clear all the unnecessary clutter from our house so we only own what’s needed.
17. Study some more. (I see myself doing some more formal study at some point in the future, most likely in Education and aspects of Child Psychology.)
18. Put more time and effort into my blog posts and accompanying photos, hopefully growing my audience more.
19. Eat at Dans le Noir in London. (A restaurant in London I’ve been dying to visit for years!)
20. Make some kind of income through this blog, through any channel, and any amount.
21. Have a solid, calming, morning routine in place.
22. Invite friends round for dinner.
23. Invite family round for dinner.
24. Finally finish the cross-stitch map of Westeros that I’ve been working on for five years…
25. Pay off my car!
26. Take my sister on holiday somewhere, just us two.
27. Find the perfect winter coat.
28. Run a marathon. (I’ve done a half marathon, and I’m going to do another this year. I think it’s about time I progressed on to the full marathon!)
29. Get the two matching tattoos I want. (One with Mr W, one with my sister.)
30. Secure some kind of extra responsibility at work.

 

There they are – my 30 before 30!

Are any of these the same as your goals? I would love to see some posts from you guys sharing your list as well.