Do you live in fear of the big 3-0? Olivia Wilde might change your mind about that. In the September issue of Elle, she's one of 35 of the "world's most accomplished 30-year-old women" that the magazine assembled to talk about being 30. Her outlook on the whole situation is so freeing, it might actually make you excited to hit that milestone!
Wilde said she stopped caring what people thought of her when she turned 27 and got a divorce. It's also when she felt like she really started her career, began living for herself, and selected projects she cared for and believed in. "You know, I think you go from living for your parents to your peers, maybe back to your parents, maybe to your employer—You go through all these stages of living for other people, and I think at 30 you say, it's my life and I live it for me," Wilde said.
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Even better is her advice for her 13-year-old self: "You will live beyond 25." Wilde would urge her younger self to slow down, and let her know she will get everything she wants to do, with plenty of time. She opined that the brain learns about consequences at age four, and by design, loses awareness of consequences at age 16 — so people can follow their biological impulse to break away from their "tribe" or families.
"At 30...I think it's another biological, evolutionary shift that allows you to break away from the tribe. And to be yourself. And to live for yourself," Wilde said. "And I think it's maybe designed so that you will be an elder, maybe it's designed so you can be a parent but, you know, you don't have to be. The point is that you then are free to make whatever decision you want."
Wilde also proves she takes aging seriously. She's aware that she no longer leans on her youthfulness to impress people. "The only thing I find a little bit scary about growing older is that you no longer can use the novelty of youth to make your achievements seem all the more impressive...You are now an adult, and what you do will be judged solely on what it is," Wilde said.
She accepts the gravity of aging, looks forward to the benefits, and is ready to embrace the more "fulfilled" life that age can bring. Sounds like Olivia Wilde has it all figured out!