As you grow you soon discover that life is filled with many lessons. Different lessons in which you learn new things at the different stages throughout your life - most of them tougher and harder with each passing year. However with every new lesson you become stronger and more capable as you rack your lessons learnt on your belt of life. Each notch a trophy to the things you have survived, the insights you have learnt and the understanding you now have because of them.

So, when the time comes that you reach your thirties you have been through so much, you may have accumulated enough notches on your belt to feel like you could retire. You are tired of the hardships and want to revel in your success of survival, of making it this far, more or less unscaved. It’s a big milestone and one that should be celebrate. Your flirty thirties, the new twenty (we wish) will inevitably arrive and when it does you need to ensure that you are ready for the next lot of notches for your belt. This is also a time to reflect on all that you have earned, all that you have learned throughout your thirty years on the planet and what you are entitled to for surviving it - the things that nobody can take away from you. Here are things you should have mastered before reaching the big 3 -0.  

• How to Say No

This is one of the hardest words to master, in fact it takes years of trial and error and many awkward moments to feel confident enough to say NO. No to Friday drinks, no to dates, to families, no to injustices. No no no.

• How to Sew A Button

Your clothing doesn't just come with an extra button as some sort of freebie - bonus lesson nothing in life is free. Your shirt comes with an extra button because more often than not that button falls off and by the time you're thirty your mum is no longer willing to sew your buttons back on for you. You need to know how.   

• Changing a Flat Tyre

Gone is the stigma that only men change tyres. You are just as capable as any man. Yes it takes some practice and a fair bit of elbow grease but you'll never feel more empowered than when you change your first tyre. 

• Administering CPR & the Heimlich

No need for a medical degree, and hopefully you will never be in a position where you have to use this. But if you do find yourself in a situation where you do then you'll be happy to have it in your back pocket. It is a skill you will never regret having. 

• Buying Embarrassing Pharmacy Products

Tampons, pregnancy tests and condoms are all products which cause us and sometimes the checkout assistant to blush. Well not anymore. Everyone on the planet buys these things. By thirty you need to be able to walk up - confidently look them in the eye and buy your embarrassing goods without a pang of judgement and a wave of embarrassment.

• To Appreciate Untouched Beauty

Whether it be in a person or a place, at thirty you should be able to recognise and appreciate beauty like never before. 

• The Importance of Self Reflection

 It's important to dedicate time for oneself, whether it be a solo trip on an intimate African Safari or a beach getaway somewhere in the sun. It is important to stay in touch with yourself and your needs, wants and desires. In our busy lives we often miss the small silent voice in our head that's trying to tell us what we need. When we detach ourselves from our everyday lives, when reconnect with ourselves - we can hear what it's trying to say better. 

• When to Say Yes

Just as it can be difficult to say no to people, it can be equally hard to get ourselves to say yes to things that require us leaving our comfort zone. When we reach thirty we have already created a world of familiarity in which we like to live. It's important to know when you need to shake this comfortability up. When it's important to say yes despite every fiber of your being wanting you to say no.

• Handling Heartbreak

The thing about officially being an adult is you have to act like one even when you don't want to. This lesson is like a double edge sword. You need to learn how to have your heart broken as well as know how it feels to break someone else heart. You need to know how to leave someone like you would like to be left. You also need to know that heart break is not the end, it's really only the beginning - this line is cliché but true.

• Being Domesticated

 There is no need for you to take on the roll as Maid or Master Chef but you need to know how to do the basics - at least have a signature dish and know how to do your laundry and make your bed. You can't eat take out and toast for the rest of your life, your body and your abilities need to be stretched.  

• How to Go Alone

You need to enjoy your own company, in fact you need to love it, revel in it and even seek opportunities to require it. After 30 years of being you - you should at least love you and that means being unafraid to attend dinners or events alone. You are enough - always.