There's a huge debate on whether or not your life should be all put together by the time you're a certain age. The age that most land on when suggesting the appropriate "I made it" stage is 30 years old! But how is this possible when most people at that age are still making career changes and figuring out this thing called life? The only way I can answer this is by letting you know my own steps to creating the life I wanted for myself before turning 30 and with some years to spare!
First things first, I had a life plan. Like most people, I made this plan in high school when were were forced to have a career day and start deciding on what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives. At this time, I was attending a private college-prep school and a majority of what they did was prepare us for life beyond grade school. Part of this was having live-in 'house parents' who encouraged us to make lists and to follow them, set goals and then plan out each goal with a play-by-plays on how to achieve that goal. With this type of encouragement, one of my goals was to get more education of course, but how would I pay for it? My mother taught me early on that credit is the one thing that gets you almost everything you want in life and if it gets ruined, it's hard to recover from. With that in mind, I was convinced that I didn't want to take out any student loans, so the most reasonable decision I landed on was joining the military. Their incentives were too hard to pass up on. A few short months after my high-school graduation and 18th birthday, I was a U.S. Army soldier getting paid to train and be all that I can be! It was great. The free health care and education assistance was all I could ask for and more. The real perks began after I landed my first official deployment at age 21. After serving that term, I was entitled to full benefits and began taking my college courses on the governments dime.
While receiving my education, I was able to slide into a government graded position with full retirement benefits, a union and additional health benefits while making $20/hr at entry level. Apparently these government positions are hard to come across since there are always government hiring freezes and limited available positions due to people retiring out of the positions versus quitting. Honey, I was 22 and blessed! No children, no responsibilities other than spoiling myself. All my money got invested in the constant upgrading of things and places I treated myself to. Then to make matters even better, I began a side hustle of modeling and creating a brand that would in turn make me even more money. My modeling gave my social media a huge boost and exposure. I wanted to turn this exposure into a cash cow! How can I get these thousands of people to spend money on something from me? With the creation of my brand 'Opulëncė by Sincerely Isyss', I made 100K in the first year of trying eCommerce retail. It was amazing! I was now 26yrs old making six figures, pushing a Benz, a phat savings account and living on the 29th floor of a prestigious condo in downtown Tampa. Life was lit.
At the prime of my life, I then met the love of my life... but that's another story to tell. Simply put, I made a plan and followed it best I could. Some of the details may be vague but I will break down the highlight steps I personally took one more time:
Made a goal list/plan
Refrained from having children
Looked for an alternative to taking out student loans for school
Pursued a higher education
Attained great a government job/position
Have more than one hustle
Put money aside
This isn't a fool proof plan, and it wont work for everyone. But this was MY plan and it worked out great for me. One must simply take control of their life and make decisions not based on what can happen right now but make them based on how well it will leave you in the future. You'll be so glad you made the sacrifices you've made. Long story short... YES... it is very possible to have your sh*t together before turning 30. And I know plenty who have done it WITH having kids! The only thing holding you back is procrastination and the lack of a plan. Get moving!