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Last Updated on October 27, 2020 by Yovana

As I turn 29 this year on September 1st, I am feeling the need to reflect and give gratitude to everything that has gotten me this far. With that, I put together 29 life and money lessons learned in 29 years.

I honestly never thought I would get this far. But most of us never really think that far ahead in the future when we are kids. 29 is big for me, it is basically 30 but not quite (thank goodness).

As we all grow older, our wisdom strengthens. I always kick myself when I realize something later on that I may have not gotten right. That is how life works, we make mistakes and we learn from them. I am giving you the opportunity to learn from my own mistakes and use these 29 life and money lessons to help you in your own life journey.

Enjoy and shout out to my fellow Virgos!

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29 Life and Money Lessons Learned in 29 Years

1. Live in the moment. It is hard to live in the moment when our minds are consumed by either the past or the future. Especially these days with how much influence social media has over our every daily lives. Resist these habits and try as much as possible to live in the ‘now’.

2. Keep an open mind. Your world will open up in more ways than you could ever imagine if you are open minded. If your mind is closed it will be very difficult for you to embrace change and thrive in your life.

3. Step outside your comfort zone. When you step outside your comfort zone you instantly learn new things and expand your mind. Whether that be new ways of seeing things or doing things, it is an essential part of life to step out of your comfort zone and grow.

4. Practice gratitude. Be grateful for not only your positive experiences but for your negative experiences as well. Without either, you wouldn’t be who you are right now. And you are too beautiful to not be thankful for it!

5. Always trust your gut feeling. That is your intuition. Trust it. I have found that anytime I have gone against my gut feeling, the consequences soon followed.

6. It’s all about the good vibes. Positive thoughts attract positive experiences. If you are always negative, you will only attract negative experiences. It is common sense really; if you have a good outlook on life, your life will be enjoyable and if you don’t it won’t.

7. There is no such thing as normal. Normal means nothing to me but a generic term for what society thinks is acceptable. Being weird is fun. Embrace your uniqueness, go against society and get weird!

8. We can’t control what happens to us but we can control how we react to it. This is something I struggle with on a daily basis and am constantly working on. All of us get angry from time to time. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I want to cry or lash out and I have to put myself in check when I start having those thoughts. Sh** happens. Recognize it, deal with it if need be, and then let it go and move on.

9. Let go of the past. You can’t change what happened in the past and clutching on to it will hold you back. Let go of the past and work on the present so you can thrive in the future.

10. Unleash your creativity. I have come to this weird realization lately that creativity is the true meaning of life. I can’t speak for everyone but I have seen a similar theme throughout my own life and the role creativity has played in it. My creativity has been a way to express my self and my truth, and let the universe flow through me freely and beautifully.

11. Slow down. We can easily get caught up in everything that is going on in our lives and the world. Practicing mindfulness helps us to slow down and put things in perspective.

12.  Get out of your head. Parts of the human brain can sometimes act like a prison. If you are always locked inside your head and your own ideas, you are going to start to close up your mind and negativity may take over. Constantly holding on to what you think life should be and how people should act will only make you miserable and lonely. Get out of your head. What I mean by that is do something to take your mind off of everything else. Go for a run, meditate, or spend time with others discussing compelling ideas and you will free yourself.

13. Travel more. When you travel, it gives you the opportunity to check off almost every lesson on this list. It opens your eyes and makes you appreciate more. Traveling is something I have always been obsessed with. I will have to thank my grandparents for that. When I was a child they would take me on a month long road trip in their RV every summer. I have been to 5 different countries and 48 states in the United States.

Related posts: 31 Ways To Save Money When You Travel

14. Keep learning. Take a new class, learn a new language, go to a cultural ceremony, build a dog house, or do whatever you can to exercise your mind. Never stop learning. Read every day and always try to learn new skills. Knowledge is power.

15. Get rid of what that no longer serve you. This goes for both things and people. If there are things that clutter your space that you don’t use or need, pitch them. If there are toxic people in your life that only bring you down, ditch them.

16. Sweat at least once a day. One of the best things I have done for myself is start back up running 5-6 times a week about 3 year ago. On average, I run 25 miles a week. Running is a way for me to get out excess energy, frustrations and clear my mind. There are many ways you can find ways to sweat once a day whether it be dancing, biking, hiking, yoga, and even cleaning. Find something you enjoy and do it!

17. Recognize the power of a budget. A budget will one of the best things you do for your finances. It will help you to keep track of what your are making and spending every month so you can put what is left over into savings and become financially stable. Read How To Create A Budget When You Are Horrible With Money if you don’t already know how to create a budget.

18. If you haven’t started saving money, do so now. 65% of Americans have no money saved or have very little saved. If you apart of this 65%, what are you doing!? Start out small and maybe designate your savings account as an emergency fund so you are least likely to spend it once reaching a size-able amount. Once you have money saved you will also have a peace of mind about any emergencies that could arise plus some for a large investment or international trip. Oh and the earlier you start saving for retirement, the better.

19. Never buy what you can’t afford. Good thing I didn’t have any credit cards in high school because I was already an irresponsible spender. However, my bad spending habits taught me a lesson about self control. Because of that, I never had a lot of debt besides my student loans.

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20. Stop over sharing. I have probably been guilty on a few occasions for over sharing. This is probably because of my anxiety induced need to keep talking. You don’t want to go blabbing your life story to the wrong person because not everyone has the best intentions.

21. Fear is not real, but danger is. One of my biggest fears use to be wasps, hornets, and anything that buzzed. I am still scared off them but nowhere near how I use to be (and I was bad…like sprint a couple blocks because I saw one bad). This fear was all in my head and once I realized that, I am able to be totally fine around them 90% of the time. Although, for people with allergies to these sort of stings, this fear is a real danger to them.

22. Money can’t buy happiness but it sure can make life easier. I have never tried to make money for the sole purpose of being happy. Life doesn’t work that way. Happiness, by definition, is a mental or emotional state of well being. You either are or you aren’t and no amount of money in the world can change that. However, money can help you in the comforts of life and make things a whole lot easier on your mental and emotional state of well being.

23. But it’s just money. Money is a man made idea of having a way to pay for goods and services. Take those goods and services away, and the idea of money goes with them. If the zombie apocalypse started tomorrow, there wouldn’t be much need for money. Money is not something to lose your life over. Instead of spending your whole like making money, try making experiences too.

24. Let go of attachments. Your attachment to people, places, things, and experiences can hold you down spiritually and emotionally. You can destroy your well being and ability for growth if all you are thinking about is the fight you had with your significant other last week, the job you didn’t get or the shoes you really want from Target. Forget about all that and turn inwards. It is hard to let go but meditation can help.

25. You aren’t always right. I use to think I knew everything in my early 20’s. I didn’t and there are times where I still think i know (most) everything. Then I learn of a new idea, hear a new story, or go through a new struggle and realize I am constantly learning new things. Someone’s ‘right’ might be another person’s ‘wrong’. Therefore no one can always be right.

26. Nothing lasts forever. Everything lives and everything dies. Life is an ever-changing cycle.

27. Nothing is as it seems or appears. You’ve heard it before but this one is important. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. You might see an unhappy family making a scene at the grocery store but what you don’t know is maybe that family had a death earlier in the week or even worse. You never know what is going on in other people’s lives. It doesn’t hurt to be kind.

28. The Egyptians were right, cats really are gods. This post is starting to sound a little too deep. Let’s lighten it up with some fur babies. If you didn’t catch this in any of my previous posts, my wife and I have 5 cats. They are my pride and joys. Their purrs are scientifically proven to have calming effects and they have trained humans to clean their bathrooms daily.

29. Go with the flow and let the universe work for you and through you. The universe is within you, me, and everyone in it. It works through us, for us.

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What are some life and money lessons you have learned?