40 Powerful Things to do before turning 40

Last Updated on October 31, 2021 by Hollie Giglietti

Turning 39

This past weekend I turned 39 and I won’t lie, I freaked out a bit.

This seems to happen every year around my October birthday. The anxiety of another year passing me by hits so hard.

My mindset is hardwired to believe I didn’t do enough, I’m not far enough in life, I’m not enough…

But……This is the year I want to change my mindset!

This year my mindset will be positive, focused on enjoying every minute of the journey. This year, I’m going to start truly believing that I am enough.

My main goal in life is no longer to do what I think I’m supposed to do or do what everyone else is doing.

My Main Life Goal

My main goal is to have a thriving, joy-filled, free spirited life I love, that’s highly contagious and overflows to those around me!

This list of 40 powerful things I want to accomplish before I turn 40, is full of actions to revitalize my mental, physical, spiritual and emotional well being.

I’ll be documenting my journey throughout the year in upcoming blog posts. I’ll be sharing my thoughts, what I’ve learned and if I was able to complete these things throughout the year.

Stick around to see what happens!

Create Your Own 40 before 40!

I invite you to join me! Print off the checklist below (no email required, it will open into a printable PDF) and create your own list of things you want to accomplish this next year. My checklist is at the bottom if you want to borrow some ideas 🙂

40 Powerful Things to do Before Turning 40

As I turn 39 these are some of the things I would love to say I’ve accomplished in one year from today.

1. Read 1 book a month

I love reading but I don’t do it enough. I mainly enjoy reading non-fiction and want to learn and grow as much as possible this year. Leave me the number 1 book that changed your life in the comments!

2. Adopt a dog

I’ve had one dog in my life, his name was Gus. He was my everything for 10 years. The cutest brown Boxer Rottweiler you have ever seen. He passed away the night before my birthday four years ago and I’ve missed him every day since. It may be hard, but I’d love to get another dog I can love.

3. Dance on Tiktok

This one might be the hardest… LOL. But I think it would be fun and definitely get me out of my comfort zone! Are you on TikTok?

4. Lose 100 pounds

I know this sounds a bit extreme but the combination of depression and anxiety from the pandemic of 2020 combined with my hypothyroidism, deems this necessary. My main goal is to be as healthy as possible!

5. Have balanced blood sugar levels

How do I plan on losing 100 pounds this year? By healing my insulin resistance and blood sugar levels, moving more, removing junk food and eating more nutrients. I will also be preventing diabetes by doing this.

6. Have balanced hormones

I’ll be working on this with my integrative doctor. Balanced hormones = more energy, a steady calm with less anxiety and depression.

7. Have a full business/LLC, up and running through this blog.

I want to build something I can be proud of, while also helping others live a free spirited life. If you’re interested in starting a blog, you need ” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>Click here to check it out!

Also, if you’ve been searching for a FREE “How to start a blog” course, this one is the absolute best. I think I’ve taken more than 50 blogging courses and this one is a really great free course. Chelsea from Her Paper Route breaks the process down, includes detailed videos AND teaches you how, not only to set up your blog, but to create a money making, successful blog. If that’s something you’re interested in, definitely check out her free blogging course.

8. Meet new friends.

We moved to North Carolina, from the Midwest, a few years ago and we don’t have much of a community yet. I plan on getting involved in more events and groups, to meet more people. Why is this SO hard when you get older??

9. Get organized.

I’ve been working on this the past few months and have made progress. I want to finally be fully organized with my business and my house and STAY organized.

10. Spend more time doing creative things.

I’d love to get back to sewing my own clothes, creating fun DIY’s and craft projects. It’s been way too long since I’ve done any of these things. Watch for all the DIY’s I’ll be posting. Coming soon! 🙂

The floral hair clip below is something I made for my engagement pictures. I loved how it turned out.

11. Practice singing on a regular basis to be a better singer while having more confidence in my abilities.

I helped record some vocals on my husbands album he’s working on, this past summer 2020. It was so fun!

12. Get back to learning water color painting.

If you’ve never tried it, it’s so relaxing and fun. I just got some new paints, brushes and paper and am so excited to paint with watercolors again.

13. Start doing yoga.

I love yoga and would love to start doing this a few times each week. I’ll probably find some free beginner yoga classes on YouTube and maybe join a class next spring.

14. Decorate my first home

My husband and I got married a year ago and are finally in a normal size house. We’ve been living in very small spaces the last few years. I can’t wait to do ALL the boho DIY’s and decorating.

15. Create a daily prayer and mediation practice

I have a hard time with discipline in a daily practice. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. This is the year!

16. Start a YouTube channel

Video is terrifying for me. I’d love to conquer this fear.

17. Purchase a camera and learn photography.

Knowing how to use a manual camera will be SO helpful for taking photos for this blog, advanced selfies :), & videos and photos for my husbands music project. After many (and I mean MANY) hours of research, I went with the Canon Full Frame Mirrorless EOS R Vlogging Camera. It’s not Canon’s newest camera but even after three years, this camera has raving photography AND videography reviews.

In picking out my first lens, I went with the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM Lens because the reviews are good for creating YouTube videos and a wide range of uses for photography.

I learned you need a good memory card and learned that this Lexar Professional 1667x 128GB SDXC UHS-II Card will work well.

I’ll be using my camera for many different things but the first use will be to record videos for my husband, Kristian’s music project. He’s a singer songwriter and this KINGJUE 60″ Video Camera Tripod will be great for filming epic music videos in the Blueridge Mountains where we live.

Lastly, I knew I needed a good bag and went with this cute and affordable Camera Bag Backpack.

18. Learn to finally love myself, my whole self, including my body.

I’m tired of always feeling at war with my body. I want to learn to love me for who I am, at any size, while I work on feeling my best.

19. Stop comparing myself to anyone else.

This has held me back most of my adult life. I dance to the beat of my own drum and I want to finally be OK with that.

20. Watch the sunrise in the mountains.

21. Make it a practice to go to sleep before 11pm.

22. Make it a practice to wake up before 8am.

23. Learn to be a really good wife.

Our first year of marriage (especially in quarantine) has been one of the hardest years of my life. I have so much to learn. After living independently for 37 years, joining together with another person is incredibly challenging. We are both so used to doing things our own way, independently.

24. Visit a new state or country.

What’s the most unique country, state or city you’ve ever been to? List your suggestions in the comments!

25. Finally figure out how to have a budget and start a savings account.

I know…. I know…. I should have done this a long time ago. But it’s never too late, right?!

26. Start moving every day.

Walking, dancing, kick boxing – anything fun to get moving and release stress on a daily basis.

27. Call my parents more.

I love talking to them, I should call them more often! They live in Northern Illinois and I live in North Carolina. We don’t see each other very often but video chats are second best.

28. Call my friends more.

I have best friends back in the Midwest that I need to call more often.

29. Become a better story teller and writer.

30. Start making $2000 a month extra, on top of the salary from my full time job.

This will allow me to help others, invest in continued learning, growth and financial stability for the future.

31. Stop letting others intimidate me.

This has always been a hard one. I need to stop doing this though because it keeps me from having meaningful relationships. We all have different strengths.

32. Learn SEO, branding, email and Pinterest marketing.

33. Change my diet and lifestyle so that I can have a TON of energy.

I’m tired of being tired. I have a 3 year old niece and a 1 year old nephew and I want to be able to keep up with them. They deserve a cool, healthy, energized Aunt Hollie!

34. This year I want to start focusing on others more. It’s been all about me for way too long.

Some ideas – Service projects, letters, phone calls, reaching out to offer encouragement.

35. I’m going to drink 64 oz. – 1 gallon of water daily

36. I want my new house to be a place where people come, visit, feel comfortable, safe and welcome. Fun dinner parties will be happening!

37. I’d love to learn how to write a song.

My husband is an amazing musician. You can find him at Krisitian Philip Valentino. I’d love to learn songwriting from him and maybe even write some songs with him.

38. I want to focus on gratitude this year, keeping a gratitude journal and daily practice.

39. I’ve always wanted purple hair and a super fun hair cut.

I made an appointment for the end of October 2020. Lavender hair, here I come!

40. Revamp my diet to be the healthiest I’ve ever been.

Removing grains and sugar from my diet five years ago was the best thing I’ve ever done. As I’ve added them back in the past 6 months I’ve felt terrible. I’m going back to removing sugar and grains but will also be adding in nutritious alkaline foods, following an alkaline keto greens way of eating and working through emotional eating habits.

365 Days to Create a Life We Love

1 entire year to create new healthy habits, become more financially stable, enjoy being more creative and building community and fun friendships.

I’ve never made a list like this before. I’ve recently made a vision board with similar ideas and I believe there’s something important about writing down your goals – even sharing them with others.

Although 2020 has been so hard for so many, today is a new day. A new day full of possibilities and accomplishing powerful things.

If you decide to make your own list – Cheers! We got this 🙂