30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30 Quotes

“You know when you’re in yoga and you’re looking around, thinking, Wow, I wish I were that flexible, or How come she can hold that pose? Well, my friend has a saying: “Stay on your own mat.” Not physically, but mentally. In life, we’re all made differently: our families, our frames, our personalities and talents. Appreciate how you were made, and stay on your mat. That’s where happiness lies.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“Most of us fear that in growing old, we’ll become a shell of ourselves. But, of course, it’s the youthful versions of ourselves that are our shells; we must leave them behind like a snakeskin. We must grow out of ourselves to grow beyond our old limits, or else risk being suffocated by the sediment of our own history.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“It’s rare that I have a boyfriend- that only happens if I fall in love. I’ve noticed that people who are never in a relationship just to be in a relationship keep their childlike spark because they don’t end up settling for things that make them unhappy, and they never feel as if they took less than what was out there for them. So for me, being single is what I do, and falling in love is the exception.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“Love isn’t always enough. It’s a hard lesson because we’re raised to believe that it is—it’s in every story we hear. But just because you love somebody and they love you back doesn’t mean your relationship makes sense or that it’s a good one for you both to be in. Having chemistry with someone is important, yes, but the most important thing is that the person you’re with makes you happy.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“So, as women, we’ve got to be pretty damn amazing to realize early on that physical perfection is neither achievable nor useful, and that all that fixing can be toxic.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“no one finds a braggart wise. And once I no longer thought of listening as “waiting to talk,” I began to have more meaningful conversations.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“I always say I was one woman before his death and have been another ever since. The one before thought she could fix anything if she just worked hard enough. The woman after was forced to accept that sometimes life has plans for us and our loved ones that are far, far beyond our grasp.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“I now believe in growing old gratefully, not gracefully. I haven’t found the secret to life, or love, or eternal youth. But I do know now that youth is not the blossom but the bud, and that though one cannot always be young and wild, if you are willing to learn, to grow, to outrun the mileposts of your own wildest dreams, you can always be winsome and lucky, lovely and free.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“[W]hy should you wait for a knight in shining armor to give you a ride when you can afford to buy the horse yourself?”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“as Glamour editor Emma Rosenblum, who recently turned thirty, says: “We’re all on different time lines and need to realize that life isn’t a race. It’s more like one of those huge celebrity walkathons, where everyone’s ambling along at her own pace, wearing a really dorky hat and lots of sunblock.” By thirty, you should be moving at your own speed.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“young women around the age of thirty who are concerned with things like finding a husband, starting a family, paying their bills, and succeeding in their careers, as well as with how they look. I think the most important thing for them to know is that it’s really normal to be freaked out about where you are in life, but those things you want so badly will come in due time. Meanwhile, life will be a lot more joyful if you learn how to be comfortable in your own skin.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“young women around the age of thirty who are concerned with things like finding a husband, starting a family, paying their bills, and succeeding in their careers, as well as with how they look. I think the most important thing for them to know is that it’s really normal to be freaked out about where you are in life, but those things you want so badly will come in due time. Meanwhile, life will be a lot more joyful if you learn how to be comfortable”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“I learned not to invest too much in a relationship before I really know how the other person feels.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“Making peace with my past was the first step; being grateful for it was the second. Now, at last, I can appreciate the woman those experiences created: me.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” When I got that, I thought, Of course, I would just go for it! And that’s what you’ve got to do every single day of your thirties and beyond. Just go for it! Your life is now.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“If you’re successful, you’ll have friends who are with you for the moment. They are there because you can afford to be in the room and because you’re the big deal of the moment. And when you’re not the big deal of the moment, you’ll look around the room and see the only people who truly care about and support you. These are the important people to remember.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“But I have learned that love is the one area where women should give themselves a break and cut bait. Men are better at that—if a guy isn’t feeling great about the relationship, he will leave and not look back. As women, we’re more analytical and more accommodating. We tend to hang in there and try harder. But if you’re with a dude who’s texting other girls, bye-bye.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“I think a very key thing for women is to refuse to let anyone tell you you’re banned, you’re out of fashion, you don’t look the right way. Put your energy into a career that will be there for you regardless of the naysayers.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“Love, of course, is a wonderful thing, a grand adventure of the heart. But while it’s thrilling to get caught up in its wake, don’t forget to hold on to who you are—or that incredible person might get swept away.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“The ability to accept and adapt gracefully to life’s twists and turns is one of the greatest skills you’ll learn. Should you plan for the things you want? Absolutely. But if you’re not exactly where you wanted to be, exactly when you wanted to be there, don’t sweat it.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“By thirty, I believe we should all focus more on feeling gratitude for the gifts we’ve been given. The more grateful we feel for our families, for our friends, for the good health we have, the more we will nourish those things for the future.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“There’s no such thing as telling someone a secret: It stops being a secret the minute it’s told.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received was from my grandmother, who said, “A woman always has to keep something of her own, even if it’s a jar of quarters.” The other was from my agent, another wise woman, who told me twenty years ago: “You don’t have to tell everything you know.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“It’s not right to spend money you don’t have to perpetuate a lie about who you are.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“But I still envisioned thirty—in my own life, in my friends’ lives, in life in general—as a kind of train station. At that station, you got off the train you’d been riding up to that time, the train that had your parents on it, your siblings and your school friends, your textbooks and your pink diary with the lock and key—everything that had been trailing behind you for your entire life. And you got ready to board a different train, a train that would take you the rest of the way.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“Life is not a fairy tale; it’s a parade of events that help you accrue wisdom and courage and faith. You learn first that you can and, later, that you should.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“But as grateful as I am to everyone who’s ever believed in me, and to all of the kind, generous, hardworking women who have advised me and inspired me, I’ve learned in my thirties that we have to make our own success. Hard work and loving what you do create the only path to greatness. There’s no cheating life. I don’t care if you’re rich; I don’t care if you have connections; I don’t care if you’re beautiful. You can’t rely on others to carry you where you want to go. Build your own path, follow your own dreams, and—I promise—you will discover how powerful you truly are.”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“It’s useless to obsess over one standard of beauty, since it can change as soon as you cross a border. My travels have taught me this: The world can’t decide what’s beautiful. So you decide, okay?”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“If the means to a well-lived life is to take the road less traveled, first you have to get”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30

“But time, as I came to learn, only moves in one direction, and somewhat reluctantly, I traveled with it:”
― Pamela Redmond Satran, 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30