 Life is filled with lessons. We'll learn some as kids and teenagers. Others will learn when we are all grown. Sometimes this lessons come quickly and at other times we'll learn them the hard way. Perhaps after going through a rough patch. What we need to understand is that learning these things will help us leave a much more productive life. This lessons are there to improve the quality of our lives. However, sometimes the timing at which we learn these things can go a long way in affecting the outcome of our lives. For instance, there are specific lessons that we ought to learn when we are young. If we want to enjoy the best of our lives when we are old and gray. Anyway, in this video, I will share with you 13 lessons you have to learn before age 30. If you are new here, consider subscribing so you don't miss out on exciting videos like this. 1. Nobody will help you. You are your responsibility. No one else will take up the responsibility of your life, but you. Yes, when you were younger, your parents did almost everything for you, including taking specific initiatives and taking some actions. Now you are older. Who's going to do that for you? Dennis Waitley, an American motivational speaker, writer and consultant, once said A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make. For instance, if you want to become the most successful accountant in the world, then you have to take steps to achieve that dream because no one else will do that for you. You are in charge of your life. 2. All the opportunities for growth are beyond your comfort zone. The moment you get stuck in routines, life has become comfortable for you or ignore opportunities in view. Hence, you have to challenge yourself if you genuinely want to succeed. Stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way you can grow and move forward. And when you are young, it becomes easy to spot opportunities and succeed eventually. Of course, it's going to be a lonely road because most people prefer to stay where they are comfortable. But always remember, that's the only place that opportunities lie. Helen Keller, an American author, political activist and lecturer once said, Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. To achieve anything in life, you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and take risks. Calculated risks. 3. The only person you compete with is yourself. Nobody cares about how you look, what you wear, what you do and how you do them, who you're friends with, the kind of food you eat, etc. So, making efforts to prove to everyone that you've got the fanciest job, house, cars and the likes is nothing but a wasted effort. The earlier you understand this, the better it is for you to live a real life where you are concerned about nothing else but self-development and improvement. Your only competition is you. Anist Hemingway, an American journalist, novelist and sportsman, said, There is nothing notable in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self. 4. You can't be friends with everyone, it's time to choose your friends. The people you choose as friends matter a lot. They determine whether you will be successful or not. If you hang around successful people, chances that you will become successful is high because they will motivate and challenge you to push for success as well. Ben Kusnocha, a tech entrepreneur and author, who worked closely with Reid Huffman, founder of LinkedIn for several years, said that the most essential lesson Huffman taught him was that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time around. You really are the company you keep. Start today, keep the right kind of people around you and be friends with those who inspire you to be better. 5. Your health is your most valuable asset. Good health is an invaluable treasure that most young people often waste before they realize its importance. In our 20s, when we are still very much active and vibrant, we tend to take good health for granted. After all, we think we have the strength to do anything we like, such as go three days without having a proper night rest because we probably had to go clubbing or partying all weekend long, drink and smoke. Yet, we don't pay attention to healthy living habits, like exercising and eating healthy meals. So we don't pay attention to our good health until the situation forces us to do so, such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, bone density and the likes. 6. Saving money now will earn you financial freedom. We all desire to be wealthy, but we can only achieve this by attaining financial freedom. To make this happen, however, you need to learn how to save so that you can invest. When you don't save, you can't invest. And without this, you can't generate more money for yourself. The best way to develop your savings habit is to ensure that a certain percentage of your monthly income goes into different account-tagged savings. You can also set up another account-tagged emergency funds, which should be a sum of six months of your salary. So you don't have to resort to using credit if you lose your job or become seriously ill. 7. Failure is part of life's journey. Shakiru Kan said, Success and failure are both part of life. Both are not permanent. Do you know what? Failure is part of the journey to learn. The key to growing and finding success is learning from those mistakes and failures. So it's okay to fail as long as you're learning and growing, instead of letting failure hold you back. 8. You can't please everyone. Yes, we all want to feel respected and valued. But that shouldn't be done at the expense of our integrity and happiness. Trying to please everyone is a decision that will always leave us feeling this way. Bill Cosby said, I don't know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everyone. You can't succeed if you keep seeking validation from people every time. You see, the truth is that it wouldn't make you feel good about yourself to ask people's opinion on every decision you want to make. So, stick to your values and stay true to what you believe. People will respect you for that, rather than trying to please everyone. 9. You won't always get what you want. No matter how carefully you make plans or how hard you work, sometimes things just won't work out the way you want them to, and that's okay. Yes, we always want to stay positive. We have expectations and predetermined vision of what our ideal life should look like, but reality doesn't ever walk on the path of ideality. You might change your mind, your dreams may fill, etc. Don't feel so bad about it. Instead, understand that it's all part of life. Just move on. 10. You have to create an emergency fund. It is expected that you should have gotten an emergency account in your 20s. Still, if you haven't, you should consider getting one. Because an emergency account, as the name sounds, is something that you can fall back on quickly. In the case of an emergency, experts advise keeping at least 3-6 months of expenses in a high-interest savings account. 11. Love is more of a decision than a feeling. Love is beyond the first emotions we feel towards a person. It's a decision we have to make because relationships can be hard work. However, it is up to us to choose how we want to act, think, and speak with our partner. We have to decide to let go of anger, to forgive, respect, and be faithful towards each other. 12. You can't continue enduring bad relationships. Staying in bad relationships for too long can affect you in more ways than you think. For instance, it can ruin your health by causing depression. You see, you need to learn how to love yourself as well as nurture your body. If your relationship isn't exactly going the way you'd like, then you might want to consider stepping out instead of enduring that lousy relationship. 13. Be proactive. One of the best lessons anyone can learn from a young age is how to be proactive about life. You see, the secret to getting ahead is taking the decision when no one else is ready to do so. Brian Rogers Loup said that, Do what to the others wouldn't do. So tomorrow, you can do what others can't. Nothing happens just like that. Every circumstance is a consequence of an action or two. Successful people understand this and become proactive about living. George Bennett Shaw said, The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them.