At first, it was panic.

I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself and the pressure I was feeling before my birthday revolved around work. Being an entrepreneur I have set some pretty big goals for myself, to the point that after I hit the goal I don’t take a lot of time to celebrate, it’s just on to the next. I am constantly striving to hit that next milestone. Do you ever go to your to-do list for the day or week and mark one thing off and at the same time add three things? Hi! That’s me, constantly.

I will say, it’s gotten better this year. I’ve recognized this pattern with myself and have been able to get more manageable systems set in place. However, there is always this constant battle in my head of, “you know you haven’t hit that mark yet because you’re not working hard enough.”

So, what does that have to do with me turning 30? Well, 30 is a milestone year, and I had all of these expectations for myself of what needed to happen while I was in my 20’s. Because I see so many other young entrepreneurs crushing it, making more money, a larger impact, etc. So in my head, if that’s what they’re doing, I should be there too. And then, I read about other women whose hard work led to some amazing things in their 30’s and 40’s…

• Joanna Gaines was 35 when Fixer Upper first aired
• Vera Wang didn’t enter the fashion industry until she was 40
• Julia Child didn’t even start learning to cook until she was 37
• Martha Stewart was 35 when she started her catering business & 41 when she published her first book
• The first episode of I Love Lucy aired when Lucy was 40 years old
• Elizabeth Gilbert was 37 before she wrote Eat, Pray, Love
• Ree Drummond didn’t even start her blog until she was 37!

And these are just “famous” women that we hear about in the news! We’re not talking about the countless bloggers, engineers, CEOs, doctors, chefs, etc, that didn’t see their version of success until their 30’s.

And now…

Hey 30’s, bring it on! My 20’s were just me laying the foundation for what I want to accomplish. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself when I start to get frustrated.

Here are some things that I’m pretty damn proud of myself for accomplishing before I turned 30:

• Becoming a senior graphic designer
• Learning how to be a great marketing strategist
• Growing a business and keeping it running for over 5 years
• Along with that, running 5 successful conferences
• Owning a home, selling a home, and then purchasing a second home
• Traveling around the country for an entire year in a travel trailer (wayyy outside my comfort zone!) 
• Starting a weekly podcast that’s almost 1 year old
• Finishing a Sprint Triathlon
• Traveling to Mexico & Canada

I’ll have a 31 before 31 list headed to the blog soon, a list of 31 things I’d like to do before I turn 31. On that list are going to be some challenges for myself and some things to help me focus on what’s important. Life is too short to worry about things you didn’t do or didn’t say, to worry about the future, to not say no when you need to, or to not say yes when the time is right. So, here’s to taking chances, to dreaming big, to chasing what I want, and to making it happen in my 30’s.

I would love to know, did a birthday ever cause you to stop and re-evaluate?