32 Lessons I Learnt At 32 Years Old

It was my birthday this week and I turned 32. I take my birthday as an opportunity to reflect on my life, the beautiful moments, the not-so-happy ones, the wins and the lessons from the losses and mistakes.

In my life on 2 continents in 3 different countries, I've gone through over 20 jobs in 5 industries, started multiple businesses chasing my dreams, failed, divorced from an abusive marriage, became a step mom to 2 beautiful kids, got engaged to the love of my life, and are now building a wildly successful practice together with a mission to help free millions of people from emotional and physical pain so they can live truly happy lives fulfilling their potential.

I learnt a ton of lessons in my 32-year journey, here's 32 of the main ones.

1.     Doing what is best for you and putting your needs first is not selfish or cruel – as long as it’s ethical towards yourself, and others around you.

2.     You must love yourself first before you can truly love someone else. You cannot pour out love into someone else if your cup is empty. That’s a recipe for burn out and eventually resentment towards those people.

3.     Going after your passion and purpose is really REALLY scary and it involves a few big leaps of faith into the mysterious unknown. But what’s more painful is to be stuck in uncertainty and never know what could have happened if you gave yourself a chance.

4.     Every person is basically good inside – everyone needs love and tries to survive and thrive to their best ability.

5.     That, however, doesn’t mean that everyone should or deserves to be around you and close to you. Judging people’s character and being picky of who you allow around you is an important lesson to avoid getting burnt.

6.     People will treat you as you allow them to treat you – you are what you tolerate. No one else will set boundaries for what is acceptable but you.

7.     What is good for someone else may not be good for you. This applies to food, exercise, information, routines, programs, people. We are all unique with individual needs and there’s very rarely a one-size fits all approach.

8.     We all have an internal guidance system that is attuned to our unique truth and can lead us to exactly the places and people we need. Regularly tuning in and listening by reducing the intake of external information is key.

9.     There’s more to what the eye can see. This applies to everything – politics, the economy and financial system, the health and education system, and how things in life just seem to happen chaotically. There’s an order and a plan that becomes clear when looking at things deeper and from a further perspective, at the same time.

10.  Everything is energy, and this energy that all matter is made of is ever changing, and ever-lasting, shifting from one form to the next but never disappearing.

11.  The beliefs we pick up in our first 7-8 years of our lives – beliefs about ourselves and the world around us – get stored in our subconscious mind and shape our life for many years to come.

12.  Most people carry a ton of unprocessed pain and trauma which they often are not fully aware of. This impacts their life force and day to day decisions on many levels.

13.  All humans have unlimited potential to be whatever they decide to be – the only limitations are the ones we set in our mind that we at some point accepted as truths.

14.  The world is abundant and rich, and scarcity is a concept that is man-made and fake. Everything is abundant in nature and there is more than enough for everybody.

15.  Our emotions and consciousness affect the reality we create and experience in a very scientific way. Perception becomes, indeed, reality.

16.  Addictions are a result of lack of connection and love unexperienced.

17.  Growth is scary and transformation is painful, and the most challenging moments in life teach us the biggest lessons and provide the most opportunity for leaps in advancement. Often the things that scare us are the exact things we need to go towards.

18.  Not following the status quo, thinking for yourself and questioning the popular narrative is tough, scary as sh*t, and will cause you to lose relationships and people to turn your back at you or point their finger at you – but hey, it’s still way better than conforming for the sake of fitting in.

19.  Never become a chameleon. Stay true to yourself and speak up your truth, and people that are your tribe will be attracted to you and stay.

20.  Being authentic and showing all your spectrum of emotions takes a ton of courage. But it’s the only way to create strong real connections with those around you.

21.  Nature provides us with all the medicine we need for the body, soul and mind.

22.  Most disease and illness is caused by lifestyle, and that includes the food, water, environment, level of activity, emotions and thoughts experienced regularly. 

23.  Most man-made chemicals that float around in our food, water, soil and air are poisonous and the less you can expose yourself to them, the better you will do.

24.  Cats are incredibly funny creatures and great roommates that will keep you entertained for days.

25.  Working hard is not enough to make you successful or rich. If so, the person working 3 jobs would be – that was me a while ago. Instead it’s about the mindset behind it, leveraging yourself and your tools, and the strategy you adopt.

26.  It’s not worth fighting someone else to prove yourself right. It never works, so choosing peace and agreement is way more productive.

27.  Taking radical responsibility for every result in your life, good or bad, is the only way to take the power in your hands and create the life you want. Blaming anything outside of yourself puts you out of control to create any change. Life happens from you, not to you.

28.  Victimizing has never created any winners. Neither has sympathy.

29.  You can have a ton of friends and still feel alone. You can be alone and feel happy and connected to the world.

30.  We are all powerful creative beings meant to create – art, buildings, poetry, families, gardens – life is a creative endeavour. There’s no such thing as a human being that’s not creative.

31.  Love can often be tough and can hurt, but it’s the most incredibly beautiful feeling and closing yourself off from it brings pain and numbness like nothing else. 

32.  The outer world is a reflection of the inner world. Acceptance, forgiveness, and deep love of self will bring about acceptance, forgiveness and deep love of your neighbour, and this will bring the end of separation and war.

Do you agree? I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments and if you can relate with any of it give me a thumbs up! :)