What It’s Like Being Older Than 30

Hello, I’m Sy, founder and chief of editorials at LUCK-IT. Once a year, I do a self-interview to test out the interview system and refine the process for our interviewees. This is my system test for 2020 and the start of a new series we’ll be running throughout the year called ‘The Wisdom of Old Age’—about what life is like at every decade, told by those who are living it. It is also a (rare) way for you to learn that little bit more about me. Please enjoy.

Q: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how old you are now?

A: I’m 36 at the moment of this interview. And am presently a digital solopreneur and creator of 2 brands, who wants to be a proper entrepreneur like everybody else one day. 

What are your current daily and weekly routines like?

I work from 9-5:30 on weekdays with a 2-hour break for lunch from 1-3pm. At least in theory. In reality, it always varies, often longer, sometimes less. Because I have 2 different brands that I’m trying to grow concurrently (against the advice of a wise man who tried but failed to convince me I won’t succeed doing 2 things at one go), I’m either splitting my day into 2 or splitting my month into 2, depending on where I’m at on each of my projects. 

I start all work days with fruit and an 8-min run, and end my day with a home-brew toning routine I crafted for myself and a 3.6km walk when possible. Evenings are for socialising and chores. Before bed, I will journal and read either online articles or books or watch something.

On weekends, I either go out and interact with the world and its offerings or read, watch stuff and game at home. And of course, there are more chores. I wish I didn’t have to do so much chores. 

How is your body different from what it was like at age 20?

At age 20, I could drink till 6 in the morning and go out at noon looking and feeling perfectly normal. Now, any minor change in my bed time and wake time and my brain will be in a fog, my body sluggish and my face grey for the rest of the next day. Fine lines are also appearing around my face and I have in the past year started seeing (and removing) white hairs. The only good thing is that I feel stronger these days than when I was 20, likely because I have this regular exercise routine now that I didn’t have before.

What brings you joy these days?  

My work. (Yes, I can get a high from working some days, I don’t know why.) My loved ones. Uninterrupted nature and fresh air. Animals. The sea. Games. Movies. Books. More games.

Which item, bought or received in the past year, has been most useful to you?

The Bosch Flexxo Serie4 Lithium Power vacuum cleaner—which is basically an all-in-one wireless vacuuming system. I think such vacuum cleaners have been in the market for a while but since I had been using a bulky wired vacuum cleaner which required me to bend and plug in and out every time I entered a new room, the Bosch Flexxo basically revolutionised my life and made it so much easier to clean up.

The iPad 2019 I got to replace my favourite item of last year—the Boox Note, which unfortunately became unusable shortly after—was also useful, but it didn’t revolutionise my life the way the Bosch Flexxo did. 

What were you like as a young adult and how have you changed since?

As a young adult I was reckless and quite obsessed with trying new things all the time, just to know what the experience would be like. With regards to the major matters of life like career and family-building however, I conformed mostly to what everybody around me believed would be best. 

Past 30, I became way less reckless and now no longer do things just to know. For major matters of life, I no longer emulate the behaviour of the masses and generally custom-make my own way of living in order to attain maximum inner peace and joy. 

Can you list 3 things you realised or learned only after age 30 that you didn’t know before? 

1–“Adults” don’t really know what they’re doing with their lives either; everybody’s really just winging it and hoping for the best.
2–Love is wonderful indeed but also comes with more worry, effort and compromise than you would ever have to experience when not loving.
3—More is not always better.  

Which 3 people or things in your life are most important to you right now? 

Loved ones. A computer with internet connection. And regular periods of silence and stillness because those seem to boost my creativity tremendously and calm my soul.  

How important is status at age 30? What about wealth, knowledge acquisition, romance, birthdays and friendships? 

Status is not important to me but it seems to be quite important to some of the people around me and many of the people I’m connected with on Facebook. Wealth-building is important because I can sense my energy and employability waning as the years go by so in this regard it feels like now or never for me. Knowledge acquisition is still important because there’s a lot I want to do that I don’t know how to and thus I have to learn a little more every day. 

Romance is no longer as important as it was in my 20s because I’ve already picked one and settled down. Birthdays are getting less and less important with every passing year—sometimes I even struggle to remember precisely what age I am. Friendships… I hate to say this but for me friendships have taken a backseat because family, work and knowledge acquisition are now what I focus on and there just simply isn’t enough time to nurture friendships with those going on. I still do hang out with long-term friends every now and then and communicate with them often via text but it’s no longer this regular important activity like it was when I was in my 20s. 

What regrets do you have?

I regret not learning programming when I had all that free time when younger. Back in secondary school I had the chance to learn Javascript when it was still new and fresh but I kept away from it because it seemed “too difficult”. I am trying to learn Javascript now but the complexity of the language has grown tremendously since the 2 decades that have passed, and I have to also grapple with not having much free time anymore, so it just makes it even more difficult than if I had just sucked up the challenge years earlier. 

What do you think those not yet 30 should be doing while they still can?

Socialise like there’s no tomorrow (it’s much harder to make new friends in your 30s), learn skills with your free time instead of wasting it entirely on leisure activities (it’s also much harder to learn skills when you have more commitments later in life) and do all the weird and bizarre things you have been wondering about because at your age, you will still be excused for doing so. Also, save as much money as you can so that you can use those savings to invest into projects or products that can bring you additional streams of long-term income.     

Is there anybody you presently look up to, who you would like to learn from?

Oprah Winfrey and Tim Ferris. If you can’t already tell, the whole of LUCK-IT is me trying to be as wise and helpful as they are.

Lastly, do you think about death? And if so, what do you think of it? 

I don’t think of death on a regular basis since I’m generally still very healthy at this point in time. But on the rare instance I hear about the people related to the people around me falling ill or dying (usually those 50 and above), I find myself noticing that death often happens out of the blue, when you least expect it. Thus I think it important to live properly every day, in the way you yourself genuinely find meaningful, because when the time comes, whenever that may be, you won’t be getting any more second chances.

These are, of course, merely my own thoughts of life, and hardly an accurate representation of what another 30-year-old’s experience might be. Thus, for the rest of the year, I’ll be compiling answers from various people of various age groups just so we can all get a better picture of what life could be like an every age. If you’ve just had a birthday and would like to discuss what you now know now that you’re that little bit older, do tell me about your interest here.  

Read the rest of the Wisdom Of Old Age series here. 

You may also be interested in:
What It’s Like Being Older Than 40
What It’s Like Being Older Than 20

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Sy. Interviewer: Sy
Sponsor or support The Wisdom Of Old Age series here.
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