Ronnie Sellers - 30 Things to Do When You Turn 30: 30 Achievers on Turning 30

S ECTION O NE
Give Back to the World

For this creative entrepreneur and co-founder of mental_floss, a trip to India brought an unexpected encounter and a new way of thinking about giving back to the world.

This groundbreaking philanthropist who co-founded Kiva finds inspiration in helping others and shows how one can change the world with a great idea and the will to implement it.

The host of Trading Spaces notes that in your thirties its time to pay attention to community: turn outward, look at the world around you, and see how you can truly make an impact.

This real estate entrepreneur illuminates how property can contribute to ones personal financial stability and a communitys well-being.

S ECTION T WO
Pursue Your Passion and Purpose

This bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek urges people to work less, enjoy themselves more, and reclaim their purpose by designing their ideal lifestyle not by obeying conventional wisdom, but by striking out on their own.

This legendary Penn State football player recalls how a single moment on the field changed his life forever.

Passion and purpose are the perfect ingredients for this co-founder of a granola company that seeks to deliver a humanitarian message as well as healthy food.

This innovative violinist and composer reveals the importance of dreaming big and dreaming often and not just when were children.

In the world according to Curly Girl, life is not just about whats left on your to-do list, but what youve already accomplished as well.

For NBA All-Star Chris Webber, stardom in his twenties was all about living for the moment. Now, looking to his mother as the ultimate role model, he sees that life is about far more than that.

Sometimes a quarterlife crisis can lead to ones true calling, as this popular author and TV host of The Works discovered.

S ECTION T HREE
Get in Touch with Who You Really Are

While many young people fear growing older, the founder of Charitini.com says you should embrace your thirties as the decade you truly come into your own.

This real estate scion and publishing force climbed the corporate ladder by a young age, but it was a family crisis that taught him what was most important.

This popular motivational speaker and author and former pro baseball player recounts how adversity can teach powerful lessons about life and appreciation.

A brief but intimate encounter with a mother gray whale and her new baby leaves this conservationist not only with a sense of awe and wonder, but with a renewed commitment to fight for our planet and all its magnificent creatures.

A senior Google executive, having lost a beloved partner, shares his touching thoughts about discovering whats truly important in life.

The editorial director of Billboard Group has her dream job, running the bible of the music industry but her path wasnt always so clear until she turned thirty.

This acclaimed author and famed New York Times reporter reveals how she discovered an ingenious way to overcome her guilt for mistakes made.

S ECTION F OUR
Nurture Your Body, Mind and Spirit

As the chef and holistic health counselor who helped husband Morgan Spurlock detoxify and regain his health at the end of his Super Size Me experiment, this author knows from experience that fueling your body with the right stuff can lead to improvements in emotional, spiritual, and physical health.

Dynamic fitness instructor Amy Dixon knows what it takes to get in shape, and she knows all the excuses busy people have for putting fitness on hold. She writes about what it takes for thirty-year-olds to physically stay on top of their game.

One of the worlds foremost innovators, Kumar suggests how to create quantum moments that can help you focus on the big picture.

Publishing wunderkind Vivek Shah has risen through the ranks at one company, while colleagues hopped from one job to the next. To him, loyalty is important but it doesnt mean becoming complacent.

Even though Paramount Pictures executive Amy Powell has risen to the top of the hard-charging world of Hollywood, she underscores the value of staying grounded and maintaining a balanced life.

A well-known feminist activist writes of her decision to have a baby and all that goes into making this life-changing choice.

S ECTION F IVE
Stretch Your Horizons

Sexpert extraordinaire, the author reveals why thirty is an age to explore, push the envelope, and tap your pioneering spirit.

This basketball phenom says its not just looking inward that enriches your life, but looking outward to the wisdom of others.

Fans worship her as a singer-songwriter, whos sold millions of records, but KT Tunstall writes about how an Outward Bound course taught her about nature and her own inward spirit as well.

This Web entrepreneur, author, and world traveler recounts how seeing the globe is the perfect antidote for anything ailing the soul.

In her year-long process of trying one new thing a day to usher in her thirtieth birthday, this author-editor discovers a way to take small, seemingly painless steps to conquer a much larger fear.

This hotel titan and quintessential New Yorker writes about how the most formative experience of his life came halfway around the world, deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

If you are reading this, then you have reached the age where people twenty-nine and under will no longer trust you. You probably wont realize it, but they will be listening to you with a touch of skepticism. What you consider to be a friendly verbal exchange they will hear as a lecture. Their behavior will be guarded when in your presence because, whether you like it or not, you are now a part of the establishment in their eyes. Congratulations. You have reached the BIG 3-0!

Youve got a couple of milestone birthdays under your belt already. Your sixteenth was okay, but you were probably a little too tied up in knots from teen angst to really appreciate it. Youre twenty-first was definitely more fun than your sixteenth, at least up until the point where you downed that one last jello shot, after which your knees buckled and your eyeballs rolled up into your head.

But if youre like most people, neither of these earlier milestones did much to prepare you for turning thirty. This birthday is the real deal, the first real waypoint on the road to gulp maturity.