I’m about to turn 30. Birthdays are a good time for reflection and birthdays that end in “0” even more so. And so I’ve been thinking back on my first 30 years: what I’ve accomplished in my 30 years, where I’ve improved or grown in the last, say 10 or so, where I did well, where I did poorly, what I want more of and less of, etc.<\/p>\n
People get pretty worked up over 30, but I’m happy. There’s a lot of clarity in 30 – presumably less than at 40, but certainly more than at 20. I feel content in where I am as a 30-year-old. I’m well aware there’s a vast number of things I don’t know, but I’m confident enough in what I do<\/em> know not to be overwhelmed by that fact. There’s been a lot of ups and downs and I’m proud that I attempted to learn something from all of them (and often succeeded).<\/p>\n I reflect on all of my birthdays, but I don’t generally share those reflections publicly. But I thought turning 30 was a good time to share.<\/p>\n So, over the past 30 years, what are some highlights? On the personal front, I…<\/p>\n On a profession front, I…<\/p>\n And in the past 10 years, what have I improved on? I…<\/p>\n All of these accomplishments and improvements have been some part effort and some part luck. I certainly worked incredibly hard to get where I am, but I’ve also been blessed to have many fantastic opportunities.<\/p>\n Of course, it wasn’t all peaches and roses. I got cheated on (more than once). I got hurt and hurt people. I made countless mistakes with friends, family, and at work. I made bad choices or worse yet, failed to make tough choices because I was scared (this is rare with me, but it happens). I found out that sometimes even when you make the right\/tough choice it still feels horrible. And at one point in my early 20s, I found I had become someone I neither liked nor could be proud of.<\/p>\n My To Do<\/em> list is still long. I hope to scratch many more off in the next 10 years. Continuing my pilot-all-the-things goals, I’d like to<\/p>\n Though it’s more of a hope than a goal, also on the list is getting to drive a tank (I nearly got this opportunity in Switzerland).<\/p>\n Also in the next 10 or so years, I’d like to…<\/p>\n Interestingly, one of the things I miss from being younger is how shocked people were when you were very good at your job; I miss that puzzled look on people’s faces in the office when they’d say, “wait, and you’re only 22?” I of course get respect and compensation still, and I have no complaints, but those moments were fun.<\/p>\n Anyway…<\/p>\n As I begin my 4th decade on this planet I strive to continue to grow my awareness of myself and my surroundings, and my ability to be a good person, friend, boyfriend, brother, uncle, etc. I will endevour to find ever more challenging professional situations in which I can continue to hone my craft and discover new ones. I will seek to push new boundaries in myself and others and never settle for “good enough.” But most importantly, I hope to still be me<\/em> in all things; to not compromise my identity for any reason while still being open-minded enough to accept any rational fact-driven arguments that invalidate ideals or morals I may have. I hope to never lose that quality that got me dubbed a nuclear generator<\/em>: the tenacity and passion with which I approach my work and my life. In other words, while I will hopefully continue to grow as a person, I plan to always be the crazy Metallica-obsessed, Harley-riding, “fuck”-yelling, idea-challenging, devil’s advocate-playing, crazy motherfucker I’ve always been.<\/p>\n Finally, this crazy ride wouldn’t be worthwhile or possible if not for the people who have been on it with me. You all know who you are. Thank you and I love you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m about to turn 30. Birthdays are a good time for reflection and birthdays that end in “0” even more so. And so I’ve been thinking back on my first 30 years: what I’ve accomplished in my 30 years, where I’ve improved or grown in the last, say 10 or so, where I did well, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352,"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions\/352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phildev.net\/phil\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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