The 30s signals a time of responsibility and maturity. Yes you could get away with certain excuses when you are in your 20s, but this should not apply when you are in your 30s. If you want to be happy you have to change your mindset and objectives as you approach your 30s.

1. Hanging out with friends and showing off how much of a cool drinker you are. In your 20s it could be cool, but as you grow older that hangover from binge drinking just gets worse.

2. Calling your relatives and family to bail you out of your failures and personal crisis, whether emotional or financial.

3. Spending more money than you earn and gradually immersing yourself in unnecessary debts.

4. Showing off your new accessories and designer items on social media.

5. Comparing yourself to your friends and feeling intimidated by their successes. No matter how hard you try you feel that you are not good enough.

6. Blaming others for how your life turned out. Yes things are not working out yet, but you should learn to fix your problems in your 30s.

7. Expecting to win the lottery and spending all your energy on get-rich-quick-schemes rather than understanding that success requires time, effort and consistency.

8. Hanging out with people for the sake of it, rather than the impact they will make in your life. Perhaps you are lazy or you want these friends in your life for the sake of convenience or you just don’t know how to get them out of your life.

9. Spending a bulk of the income you earn on partying, eating out and on alcohol. You just don’t save or invest because you feel the future will always take care of itself.

10. Expecting perfection from yourself and those around you. You just believe that mistakes are for the weak and the immature rather than knowing that no one is perfect after all, including you.

11. Staying late into the night with people you don’t even know. You don’t apply caution to what you do because you think the world offers you a solo ride. Well the 30s doesn’t give room for too many mistakes.

12. Having random sex with people you don’t even know. Yes you want to have a good time but face the reality of engagement first. It is for your own protection.

13. Holding on to a nickname which doesn’t substantiate who you really are. Yes a nickname meant a lot to those who heard it back then, but your real name is what people will take you seriously for.

14. Holding on to a grudge and resentment because you feel every other person has to be like you. You only show growth when you are willing to tolerate others.

15. Waiting for other people to fix your life for you rather than accepting responsibility and taking charge of your world.

16. Living a life of worry and nervousness because you are concerned about what others think of you rather than knowing that only you can be in the best shoes to look after yourself.

17. Stalking your ex on Facebook and on social media, wanting to know how he/she is getting on without you in their world. You really need to step up your game and move on.

18. Going to the store and buying things impulsively rather than only purchasing items you need. Perhaps you want to prove to certain people how much cash you have and how cool you are at spending this dough.

19. Hanging unframed pictures on your wall because you feel that you are connected with the image in them. Well, that Terminator or Michael Jackson poster can either be pulled down or you simply get it framed.

20. Eating an unhealthy diet and not paying attention to your health.