On July 13th this year I turned 30. Before I turned 30 I decided I was going to make a list of 30 lessons I’ve learned through my life so far. A list that consists of elements learned through various sources: experience, talking to amazing people, reading books, blog articles, etc. and watching a lot of content from other inspiring people.
It’s starting to be long over due with this one. So here it is. 30 Life Lessons I’ve Learned On The Way To The 3.0’s – in no particular order.
1. Don’t rush things.
Everything good in life doesn’t have a quick fix. You won’t be satisfied with half ass solutions anyways, so take your time, be patient and make continuous progress. Learning the beauty of delayed gratification will give you better and more long lasting results.
2. Know your core values.
Your core values should be guiding you and your decisions in life. They should be the foundation stones in everything you do or participate in. Knowing your core values require you to dig deep and dare to ask yourself; how would i like people to describe me to others?
3. Be true to your values
Knowing your core values is only the first step, and doesn’t mean shit, if you’re not true to them. Hold yourself accountable, revisit your values and your actions frequently to make sure, that everything you do or participate in, is in line with your values.
4. Never tolerate disrespect.
Be careful with what you tolerate. You are teaching people how to treat you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with disagreements, but if people starts to disrespect you, you have to stand up for yourself and let them know, that you won’t tolerate this behaviour.
5. Master Self-Discipline.
Motivation is a powerful force, but if you wanna succeed, you can’t be relying on it. As powerful as motivation is, it’s just as fleeting. Self-Discipline is making yourself do the things you know needs to be done, also when you really don’t feel like doing them.
Kids do what they feel like doing, adults make a plan and execute.
6. Surround yourself with people who are better than you.
If you wanna get better, you need to surround yourself with people that inspire you, people that are living proof of the fact that you can get better. Don’t fall into the trap of being a part of a group where you’re always the smart one, always the most talented one – it will make you lazy and kill your self growth.
7. Remove toxic people from your life.
A lot of people will try to bring you down, just for them to feel better about their life or situation. Do everything within your power to get away from these people. I don’t care if it’s friends or family. Everyone trying to bring you down has to go.
8. You don’t need a lot of friends, you need a few truly real ones.
Your inner circle is probably the only people you need as friends. You need friends that will be there for you when you need them. Friends that share the joy of your journey, with out gaining anything but the shared happiness, supports you when shit hits the fan and will stay by your side in dark times.
9. Be a real friend – show up when they need you.
To get these kind of friendship, you need to practice what you preach. Be a real friends for those you chose to have in your inner circle. If they need you, you better have a damm good excuse if you’re showing up.
10. Dare to dream big.
If you want to accomplish great things, you first have to dare to dream it. Don’t fear the risk of failure. It’s a part of the journey and necessary for you to learn, evolve and go back and win.
11. Find a life-partner who always supports you.
The partner you chose to have by your side, going through life, is going to massively impact your future. Make sure that the person you chose will support you in your dreams, project etc. And for the love of god, make sure to do the same for them.
12. The hardest worker always wins in the end.
Talent is great, but in the end, it’s always the hardest worker who lifts the trophy. It doesn’t require talent to work hard, and if you have talent and work hard you will be capable of achieving incredible things.
13. Be on time.
Being on time shows engagement, shows you care. Not only about the situation or event, but about the people you are working with or meeting.
14. Don’t waste people’s time.
If you are going to take a minute, an hour or even more of someone’s time, make sure that what you’re presenting is relevant and well prepared. Nothing is more annoying than people wasting other peoples time.
15. Listen more than you speak
You’ve got two ears and one mouth, use them in conjunction. The day you start listening more than you speak, is the day you start really learning, and becoming a master of helping people.
16. Never trust someone who disrespects waiters, cleaners or other service staff.
People who look down at people in the service industry, thinks that they are better because they have a job with a higher pay check. BULLSHIT. If you see someone disrespecting a waiter make sure to keep that person as far away from your life as possible. Changes are, that they will throw you under the bus at any given moment.
17. Research can’t always be implemented into real world application 1:1.
Don’t get me wrong. Research is a very important part of the work i do with athletes. But just because something worked in a 100% controlled research environment, doesn’t mean that it will fit in the real world, where people aren’t able to control each and every variable in their life. The magic happens when we combine the research and the practical experience to form the best possible plan.
18. Nothing is black and white – there’s always nuances.
In this day and age, we get a lot of our information from Instagram, TikTok etc. The algorithm feeds off of blunt statements and wild claims. To sort through all of the information available out there, know that nothing is ever black and white, there is always nuances – pros and cons with everything.
19. Context matters, always.
Context is king. Without context you can’t evaluate if a training plan, an exercise or anything for that matter, is good or bad. In general there’s no such thing as a bad exercise, but it has to be the right exercise for the right person at the right time. Always ask “What’s the context?” before jumping to conclusions.
20. Training longevity is massively underrated in the sports performance industry.
In the sports performance industry we focus so much on how to get athletes better, stronger faster, and doing so in the shortest amount of time possible. We often overlook the importance of training longevity. A simple rule to remind ourself to focus on this is: the athlete who are able to put in the most consistent work over the most consistent period of time, is most likely the athlete who will experience the greatest improvement.
21. Walk The Walk.
This one is extra important to me. Don’t expect your clients, followers or anyone you are giving advice to follow your guidance if you’re not doing so yourself. Another perspective on this is that you can’t really help or teach anyone something you haven’t tried yourself. My business partner Rasmus Steffensen wrote a great post about this on his Instagram the other day – go check that out.
22. Try to go All In, at least one time in your life.
You learn so much about yourself when you go all in. And i mean really going all in – not just saying it, but actually living it. Putting aside everything else to focus 100% at your goal. Having tried this you will know your boundaries and are able to scale your focus on different tasks later in life.
23. Know a lot about a little – not a little about a lot.
Too many people try to know something about everything. To really be knowledgeable about a topic requires you to go down the rabbit hole and continue into all the outposts of this topic. Knowing every side of it. You can’t do that with a lot of things. So master the art of knowing a lot about a little, instead of knowing a little about lot, which in my opinion is just as useless as knowing nothing at all.
24. Learn to use negative comments as fuel for your passion.
No matter how hard you work on removing toxic people from your life, you will always stumble upon someone giving you hate, throwing a negative comment your way. Master the skill of turning this comment into fuel on your fire towards your passion. Nothing is more powerful than a man on a mission to prove some idiot wrong.
25. Don’t get hung up on how much money you make – find a job you love.
We are spending way too much time on work, for you to be stuck in a crappy job – just to get a bigger pay check. Find something you love, and are passionate about. Something you look forward to when you get out of bed in the morning.
26. Don’t stay in a job, or anything, just because it’s easier than the practical shitshow of leaving.
We all know the comfort of staying put, not making any changes. We also know, if we are true with ourself, that we’ve all stuck to something way too long, just because it was easier than handling the mess of leaving. Don’t be like that. Yes it’s easier right now, but in the long run, you will be much happier if you make the necessary changes and move on.
27. Just because an idea sounds appealing – doesn’t mean it’s the right decision.
Too many times to count, I’ve had ideas that sounded appealing, but when carried out turned out to be the worst decision. Nothing wrong with making a shitty decision from time to time – like failure, that’s part of learning and evolving – but please do consider your ‘great’ idea more than once, before jumping head first.
28. Ask your partner for honest critique.
If you’ve chosen the right life-partner, you should ask him/her for critique often. They offer a perspective that you likely haven’t thought off. Two brains are better than one.
29. Take that criticism positively, and use it to become better.
Don’t make the mistake of taking the criticism from your life-partner badly. They are in your corner, they are trying to help you grow and achieve your goals. Take their criticism as it’s intended and use them to become better.
30. Walk a mile to avoid a fight, but when one starts – don’t back down even an inch.
Fighting is (almost) never the right solution. Doesn’t matter if it’s physical or verbally. Not to be mistaken for arguments, where you discuss different aspects or opinions on a topic. These are amazing and should be most welcome, if you want to grow and learn. But fighting should be avoided as much as possible. It’s causing more harm than good.
BUT, because there is a but. When a fight breaks out, you should be prepared to fight – don’t back down even an inch. You’re not a good person for not fighting because you’re incapable of it, you are a good person when you are capable of fighting, but chose not to.
The list could have been way longer, but these are 30 lessons i feel are important in life. Luckily the list can grow longer and longer over the years to come, and I intend to keep growing – I’m never done learning!