This was a post I wrote on my personal Facebook page the day after my 30th birthday, but a lot of people seemed to like it so I wanted to share it with you here as well.
Let’s get right into it!
I want to thank you all so much for the birthday love yesterday, you’re a bunch of rock stars.
30 is a milestone year and I’ve been lucky enough to do some cool things and be surrounded by some amazing and supportive people in my life.
I want to take the challenge of writing out 30 things I’ve learned before 30 in less than 30 minutes. If I don’t make it in time, then I apologize for the misleading title. Let’s go!
#1 – Regrets are stupid. All you end up doing is wasting the time you have now suffering for a time you already left behind.
#2 – A good plan now is better then a perfect plan never. Stop thinking and just take action.
#3 – Self-pity is self-sabotage. The challenges you come across will always get tougher, but the most rewarding obstacle you will ever conquer is yourself.
#4 – Set deadlines for yourself, and make them hard. If you don’t, you will procrastinate and accomplish very average results.
#5 – Entering a state of “Deep Work” is crucial for massive success. This means you need to pick a time period every single day where all stimuli in your life is gone and you can focus 100% of your energy and creativity to one single task.
#6 – Proper diet psychology is where you are able to manage the diet in your life, and not have your diet manage your life.
#7 – Consistency beats intensity every single time in every single context.
#8 – Negative people are toxic and you should cut them out of your life. Our time is limited here, so be mindful of who you spend it with.
#9 – Getting into arguments online is one of the dumbest things an online entrepreneur could ever do. Or anybody for that matter.
#10 – Do your most important tasks for the day first so that you have all the energy, focus, and creativity you need to create your best work.
#11 – Strive to be a better person every day. Each day we have a new opportunity to learn something, help someone, provide value to a person in need, and forgive someone for something that doesn’t matter. Do these things.
#12 – Sweat daily. Movement will enhance your quality of life in every way you can imagine. One of the biggest mistakes someone can make is not find out what they are physically capable of.
#13 – Follow your passion. As far as I know, none of us are ever coming back here. So, do your thing and do it the best way you know how.
#14 – Be an early riser. One of the coolest feelings in the world is when you have knocked down the biggest obstacle of the day before anyone else is even up.
#15 – Never stop learning. Listening to people way smarter then me is something that has allowed me to grow at a much, much faster rate.
#16 – Travel everywhere you can. Visiting beautiful places and doing amazing things in these places gives you a feeling of fulfillment that can never be replaced.
#17 – Recognize your fears, and then do them anyways. The only reason you’re afraid is because you’re uncomfortable, and discomfort is the biggest signal that you could ever receive that you still have room to grow in your life.
#18 – Get a mentor. I’d be a complete nobody if it wasn’t for the mentors I have had in my life. They knew how to get the most out of me and teach me about letting go of ego, working with a team, sacrifice, and so much more. The world is a better place because of great coaches. Find one for every aspect of your life and ask them to push you to get better every day.
#19 – The best investment you can ever make is the investment you make in yourself. You are the only one who can control your future, so start investing in it.
#20 – The best way to build a business is to help everyone, give everything away for free for a long time, and be a genuine person who doesn’t change when some success comes your way. Then, repeat these steps for the next few decades.
#21 – Eliminate social media at the end of the day. It will improve your sleep quality and allow you to be more present with the ones you love.
#22 – Don’t text during dinner. Enough said.
#23 – Schedule in vacations. You will never know how large your fatigue-debt is until you realize how amazing you feel after a great vacation. These should be scheduled in just like your most important work tasks are.
#24 – Make sure that your definition of “seeking balance” in your life isn’t a cop-out for being lazy. Your family is depending on you, and you are depending on you.
#25 – Forgive yourself and others. I have done some stupid things in my life, and some people have done some pretty terrible things to me. It’s ok, don’t worry about it. Forgive yourself, forgive them, and move on. Focus on learning from these moments and never dwelling on them.
#26 – Pay off all your debts. Some debt is good for building credit, minimizing risk, and so on, but there are some debts that weigh most people down from truly following their passion and living an amazing life. Pay off the debts that weigh you down as it’s an amazing feeling once you do.
#27 – Work hard every day. Anybody who went to school with me would have told you I was never anything special, but I’ve managed to create the life I want through working my ass off, taking ownership of my life, and showing up every single day.
#28 – If you want to be heard in this world to grow your business, you have to be everywhere. For example, Hockey Training has a blog, a podcast, videos for Facebook, videos for YouTube, IGTV videos, IG stories, FB/IG posts, and I do seminars. We are everywhere, so no matter where you hangout, we can help as many hockey players as possible. If you want to be heard, be EVERYWHERE.
#29 – You will never grow a business with a mindset of saving money. You have to invest in your business and do it often. If you don’t pay to play, you will get dominated by those that do.
#30 – If you prepare for life, it will maximize your productivity and minimize your stress better than anything else you will ever try. My entire life is on Google calendar, and it is the prime reason why I am able to keep track of so many things at once. If you don’t use a calendar app, you are limiting your potential both personally and professionally.
BONUS TIP – Dogs are amazing, they will calm you down and be your best friend no matter what.
I can still think of many more… maybe we’ll revisit this when this old boy turns 40. Until then, thank you all so much for being in my life.
Dan Garner
