10 Healthy Habits to Make Before 30

Yesterday marked my 29th birthday, and as I step into the last year of my twenties, I’ve compiled a list of ten life-changing habits that I’m determined to embrace before turning 30. Before I enter a new decade of my life, I want to set myself up for a healthier more fulfilling lifestyle. Here are 10 healthy habits I’m making before I turn 30.

10 Healthy Habits for Your 30s

1. Prioritize Daily Movement

Throughout my 20s, I was consistent with physical activity. While I began the decade actively, I’ve been slowing down these last couple of years. I went from walking everywhere to sitting down all day because of my job. Within the next year, I want to create a system that works for me and my schedule. I want to see moving my body as a good thing and not a chore. I will add strength training, pilates, and cardio to my workout schedule.

2. Master Morning & Night Routines

A morning and night routine is something I recently started practicing but have yet to master. I understand not every day is going to look the same. Sometimes I wake up in a bad mood and don’t do my morning routine or sometimes I get home late and don’t want to do my night routine. I’ll give myself some grace on those days but for most days I want to stick to a routine. Having routines helps with setting yourself up for a good day and night. Not reaching for my phone and immediately checking my email will be my main focus for my morning routine. For my night routine, I want to spend less screen time before bed. This takes me to the next habit I want to adopt before turning 30.

3. Reduce Screen Time

I start my day looking at a small screen (phone) then move to a medium screen (laptop) and then end the day with a big screen (TV). I’ve noticed my life has been taken over by screens! My job involves a screen, so there is no way of avoiding my laptop screen but I can limit my phone and TV time. I feel like a kid putting parental controls on myself, but it has to be done.

The time limit options from social media apps do not help because you can simply override the warning. As much as I love my silly cat videos and watching YouTube, I need to spend less time on them. It’s weird to look back and think about how much time I spent on social media instead of on myself. Finding a balance between the two is my main goal this year.

4. Eat an 80/20 Balanced Diet

Speaking of balance, eating an 80/20 diet is my current healthy habit goal. The 80/20 rule is a guide for your everyday diet—eat nutritious foods 80 percent of the time and have a serving of your favorite treat with the other 20 percent. Eating this diet will help me limit my intake of processed foods so I can focus on foods with nutritional value. As much as I love the idea of eating healthy 24/7, I find it unsustainable. I still want to have In-N-Out once a week or a cookie at the end of the day. Finding a balance between the two will help me eat healthier foods while still enjoying treats here and there.

5. Make Time for Hobbies

I love reading, writing, puzzles, cooking, and learning. This year I want to spend more time on those hobbies and hopefully never stop being a hobby enthusiast. I love trying new things and doing different activities so having a new hobby now and then is very important for me. It helps to spend less time looking at a screen and more time thinking and developing new skills.

6. Create an Anti-Aging Skincare Routine

Skincare has been something I’ve never truly done research on. I have dry sensitive skin so I keep my routine fairly simple with cleanser, moisturizer, and exfoliation twice a week. That’s pretty much it! I would love to learn more about what ingredients I should be using and when to use them. Please don’t come for me, but I don’t use sunscreen every day. I work from home, so I usually don’t step foot into the sun!

However, when I do step out I still don’t wear it. I recently started using a red-light therapy mask and it’s helped with redness and texture. You can check out my results here! I want to find a skincare routine that has clean ingredients and is anti-aging so if you have any recommendations please let me know!

7. Prioritize Quality Sleep

Not getting enough sleep every night can impair brain function, lower quality of life, and increase the risk of chronic illness. Needless to say, getting enough sleep every night is my priority this year. The goal is 7 hours of restful sleep. The kind of sleep you get when you wake up asking what day it is kind of sleep. I hate waking up still feeling tired after 8 hours, and I learned that it’s because I’m not getting enough deep sleep. Eating healthier foods and exercising regularly help with better sleep so I hope everything will improve at the same time!

8. Be More Present

Ever since the pandemic, I feel like I’ve been on autopilot. I think my brain was so overwhelmed and overstimulated by what was going on that it went into this self-driving mode. Autopilot means that you can go through your day doing your daily routine without having to think about what you are doing. You consistently choose the path that is familiar and comfortable to not feel or do new emotions or things.

For me, I was doing the same routine every single day for months and I didn’t need to think about it anymore. It feels numbing and dissociative, so I want to find ways to step out of that comfort zone. This is going to be hard because I love my routines, but to grow as a person my routines need to grow with me.

9. Effectively Manage Stress

I truly think I’m in autopilot mode because I don’t know how to manage stress effectively. I convince myself that I’m too tired at the end of the day to do anything but watch short-form videos like TikTok. I convinced myself resting and doing nothing for four hours every night is “self-care”. It’s not and I need to re-train my brain to find ways to manage stress, fatigue, and anxiety. Luckily through insurance, I have the Calm app for free so I can practice mindfulness and meditation. I would also love to journal because I love writing, but I will work towards that!

10. Financially Plan for the Future

I’m a great saver when it comes to money, but saving gets you nowhere when it comes to growing your money. I plan to open a high-yield savings account and Roth IRA before I turn 30 to maximize my earnings and plan for retirement. I want to make sure I have some stability and security when it comes to my income.

Those are the 10 healthy habits I want to make before I turn 30 next year. I hope this helped you get some ideas if you’re looking for inspiration to start healthy habits before entering a new decade. This post was inspired by Tara Michelle on YouTube, you can watch her habits here!