30 Life Lessons in 30 Years

08/04/2022

On the 5th of April 1992, in Ogden, Utah, I Gabrielle Anne Albon (then Banner), was born into this world and this week I’m celebrating 30 years on this planet.

In some ways I feel my age but for the most part, I still feel like my 21 year old self. As the old saying goes, age is but a number! Now, as I have done many times on this blog on my birthday I thought I’d put together a list (of course) of 30 life lessons for you that I hope will both amuse and act as a guide for anyone in their twenties fast approaching the big three-oh.

Quality over quantity – this goes for pretty much everything in life whether that be friends or the clothing you have hanging in your wardrobe. Buy cheap shit and it won’t last (take out the buy of that sentence and swap in “accept” for it to apply to friends)
Writing can be extremely therapeutic for getting through the tough shit in life. You don’t have to do as I do and share it all on the internet (believe it or not, there are some things I don’t share!) but getting things off of your mind by writing it down either on paper or just in your notes app on your phone is a great release
Not everyone is going to like you and that’s okay! Don’t force things that aren’t there and sometimes it’s best to accept things as they are
And following on from the above – you can’t make other people like each other! I’ve spent far too much of my life attempting to mend the relationships of other people before admitting to myself that yes, not everyone will like me, but also not everyone is going to get along
There are certain things best left to the professionals, no matter how much of a DIY queen/king you think you might be; hair being the main one that comes to mind after a recent post of mine
Your sense of self is ever-evolving and you’re not going to be the exact carbon copy of your 18 year old self. Yes, there are certain personality traits that will remain the same, but you can bet your bottom dollar a 30 year old Gaby won’t get scammed £300 by someone that calls and claims you’ll have a great website which turned out to be utter shit. Yes Aaron, you were right all along and I did get conned – but look at what I ended up building!
Sometimes blokes have the best advice – Aaron is the no-nonsense kind of person who will say it as it is. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to appreciate that but at 15, I didn’t want to hear some of his brutal honesty and over the years I’ve grown to appreciate this and apply it in some areas of my life
You’ll know love when no matter when it comes along. I was fortunate enough to have found it very young and am forever grateful that I’ve had so many years of life with my best friend and now husband
Don’t kid yourself, if something seems too good to be true, for the most part it is
You can admit to being wrong about something and that’s okay. At 27, I left the comfort of a steady job to take a leap and leave for a job as ASOS only to find out I loved the company but hated the job itself. I left without a plan (very unlike me) and after a few months of temping, found myself working as a property manager which I bloody love!
Try not to say things to make things unnecessarily awkward, that being said, sometimes awkward things do need to be said
Drinking that much Diet Coke will impact your sleep and cutting down will help you drift off when you hit the hay. I spent years guzzling so much of the stuff and when it came to go to bed, I couldn’t fall asleep for what felt like hours. After a health scare I decided to cut back to one can a day (I could have easily done about 6 back then – which wasn’t even a max for me) and found that I was drifting off to wonderland so much quicker
On the topic of sleep – find a calming song to sing in your head to stop your mind racing with the billion things you need to do or imagining how a conversation might go. Honestly, since I started doing this I fall asleep so much quicker than I ever used to!
Research the hotels you’re planning on staying at as much as possible. We once jetted off to Turkey to stay at a hotel that had recently changed its name and had we done our digging beforehand, we wouldn’t have ended up in a hell hole for the week. We sucked it up for the time we were there and still laugh to this day about how terrible it really was, so at least we have some funny memories 😉
There are many things you can do to grow your hair and I’ve already done a post to confirm what works and what’s a hoax here
No matter what anyone else tells you, fast fashion is awful to human life and the environment so make sure to continue spreading that message to everyone!
Wearing make up doesn’t cause acne no matter what people might tell you
There is no real reason for you not to wear second hand bikinis
Doing a Myers Briggs personality test (try 16personalities) can give you a great idea of who you are – I’ve always felt slightly out of place despite what’s reflected to others on the outside and for years I never understood why. I eventually stumbled upon the test through work as some companies like you to try them so they know how best to manage you and I felt so much better. I’m an INFJ (or The Advocate) which basically means that I’m an introvert that gives off extrovert vibes. It’s the rarest of them all and basically means I find it hard to properly connect with people. I recommend everyone try it!
Sometimes life is much easier if you take the high road – holding a grudge over stupid shit can lead to wasted time with the people you love, but knowing when it’s time to call it quits is also key
No matter what anyone says, you can never have enough handbags
Buying a house is stressful shit – be prepared
Planning a wedding doesn’t have to be as stressful as people make it out to be, provided you give yourself enough time to do it all
Do not compare your life to others – everyone has their own journey and your life isn’t always going to follow the path you initially planned
You know your body better than anyone else, so if you’re not 100% convinced by what a doctor is telling you, get that second opinion because it could end up changing your life
Don’t take it to heart that you may not have achieved absolutely everything you hoped for by a certain age. In order to prepare this post I’ve been reading back on my old blog posts and found one I wrote at 27, outlining 30 things I’d like to do before 30. I’ve done a hell of a lot, but still have some way to go and quite frankly, I don’t know why some things are on the list (I no longer have any interest in going skiing 🤣)
Making TikTok’s is a great way to kill time but that app will take so many hours of your day away – limit yourself!
Never go to bed angry with your partner – it’s a rule I’ve lived by for my entire relationship with Aaron and think our almost 15 years together shows there’s some logic in that
Pandemics make the world insane and you don’t need to panic buy pasta because it’s likely you’ve been hoarding it for years
And finally… put your phone down sometimes! We spend far too much time glued to devices (me included) instead of having conversations in real life and living in the moment. Since I stopped checking and posting on Instagram, I’ve been so much happier and couldn’t imagine getting dragged back into it again!

And there you have it! 30 life lessons from your 30-year old blogger. I’ve got the rest of this week off so am going to try to get some content created that I can share over the coming weeks and will strive to be more proactive in posting on this blog! In the meantime, I’ve put together 30 photos in celebration of my life below – from as far back as I can find to today.