If You Want To Help Others, You Must First Help Yourself

My 30th birthday gift to myself probably isn’t what you’d expect.

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

I don’t know what all the fuss is about.

Turning 30 a few days ago really didn’t feel any different than when I turned 28, or 29 for that matter.

I didn’t wake up the next morning feeling older — or one year closer to death, as some would see it. It didn’t feel like my life was getting away from me, or that it’s too late to make a change or start something new. It didn’t feel like I’d missed the boat, or that the best years of my life are already behind me, as others would have me believe.

Instead, it was much more positive and exciting than that, and I think that’s partly because of how I’ve chosen to look at this milestone in my life.

I’m approaching these next 365 days with the attitude of this is my year.

This is the year where I do what I want, try what I want to try, and be who I want to be.

This is the year where I make myself a priority — not because I’m selfish — but because it doesn’t benefit me, or anybody else, when I don’t.

In his book The Early to Rise Experience, writer and speaker Andy Traub says that when you’re healthy, you’ll bless those around…