15 Huge Things Taylor Swift Accomplished Before Turning 26

If you're in the middle of your quarter life crisis, edging toward your Saturn return at 28 when it's all supposed to make sense, then you'll know that this brief moment in time can be a point of total upheaval. Whether you're working in a dead-end job, wished you'd studied a different course or broke off a long-term relationship that you thought was "the one," 25 can be a year of changes and making decisions to be a grown-up. Maybe it was in this year that you've sat alone in your bedroom and taken solace listening to Taylor Swift's first album, sang along to “Fifteen” or “Love Story” when nobody else was home and reminisced on the simpler days back in high school (but were they, really?).

Taylor Swift just turned 26, and along with the rest of us born in 1989 (or thereabouts), she's that little bit older and wiser than the millennials buzzing around right now. Who would've thought that the curly blonde princess from the country charts crooning about teardrops on her guitar would now be literally running the world as the number one female-earning musician, a feminist icon and all with a net worth of $250 million? Even if you find her expressions of faux surprise and predictable high-waist shorts and red lipstick a little passé, you can't deny that Taylor Swift has taken her mid-twenties by storm. Statistically, she ranks as just about the most successful woman in the world, and her status as a household name is a credit to both her charm and her business savvy.

Read on to learn 15 huge things Swift has managed to accomplish before her 26th birthday.

15 Number one in the world on Instagram

Yep, there's that little distinguishing factor. How do you get to become the number one in the world on Instagram? A whole lot of excellent marketing skills, coupled with a fan base in the many millions. If you've ever seen footage of Taylor's tours (or been to a concert), you'll know that Swiftie's flock in their thousands to every concert, in every city, more or less all over the globe. That's millions of Instagram accounts all tuned in to check out Taylor's life, selfies and cute expressions on a daily basis. Taylor has used her Instagram from everything to feminist advocacy to plain showing off of her celebrity friends and connections. At 94.4 million followers, she was number one in the world. Reportedly, Selena Gomez has just overtaken her at 102mil, but who's counting, right? Tay-Tay rocks the social media world along with only a handful of other celebs.

14 Signed a record label at aged 14

Taylor Swift may be a mega-star these days, but she's also a good example that success doesn't come overnight. To have sold millions of albums, achieved worldwide fame and adoration as well as the respect of the musical community takes dedication. Before Instagram, before all those boyfriends, Taylor was a gangly 14 year-old with living in rural Pennsylvania on her parent's Christmas tree farm. Singing at county fairs and learning how to play the guitar ad-hoc from her parents local IT guy was how it started for Tay. Luckily, Taylor had amazing parents committed to supporting her dream, who would travel to Nashville with Taylor for auditions. Taylor was discovered and signed with SONY / BMG at 14 and from this end of things it certainly looks like she never looked back! Every star has their roots and it's comforting to know that the all-powerful Taylor started in a quiet middle-American town.

13 Youngest woman on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list

From a pretty farmers daughter to the youngest woman to ever be listed on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list, Taylor Swift shows the trajectory you can go with determination, hard work, talent and excellent branding. Speaking out about issues she was passionate about, embracing her “Swiftie” fans, making herself accessible to the public via social media and not being afraid to document her clumsy romantic pursuits are the things which make Taylor a stand-out celebrity figure. While earning money from music is one thing, amassing an entire brand around yourself and creating a personal that is known wherever you go are the things which really cement long-term influence and power. Taylor has become powerful through her many artistic pursuits, but also evidently through her business savvy. For example, Taylor decided not to be available to Spotify or other digital music companies because she believes that artists aren't adequately compensated.

12 First musician to sell a million copies in a week (1989 Album)

Build it and they will come! In a world where people barely buy CD's and downloading entire albums is often seen as a little lame, not to mention overpriced, Taylor proved if you're beloved by as many as she is, your album will sell! 1989 was a complete change in pace for Taylor Swift, departing completely from country to try to establish herself as a pop artist in her own right. Beloved by so many country fans, there were some who didn't take kindly to the change. Inside the album cover, Taylor penned a special message to her fans, thanking them for their support as she evolved as an artist and tried new music styles. As well as changing the sound of many of her album songs from dreamy country ballads to the pure catchy pop style of the viral “Shake it off” - 1989 sold over a million copies in it's first week of release. Enough said, we think.

11 Topped Forbes 2016 highest paid musicians at $170 million

Yep, she's rich. At just 26 years old girly, waif-thin Taylor Swift has amassed an enormous fortune -- more money than most of us on planet earth will ever see in our lives. From crooning on her guitar about boys who broke her heart to ripping up world stages, Taylor has earned a whopping $170 million over 10 years, from aged 16 when her first album was released to now. That's a casual $17 million a year annual income. She's kicking complete butt in showbiz, beating Dr. Phil, Ellen de Generes, and is actually the worlds highest paid celebrity. Yep, Taylor Swift is actually the richest celeb out there -- as good as it gets! Though she's got more cash to splash than she'll know what to do with for the rest of her life, Taylor does donate a lot to charity and we don't begrudge her success (well, maybe a little).

10 Completed four crazy world tours

One thing is for sure, success is hard work, and one of Taylor's achievements has been her constant commitment to touring all corners of the globe to reach her far-flung fans of all nations. Taylor is most popular in the US, Canada and Australia, but has toured in places like the Phillipines, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia too. She's done four major tours for the albums Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989, dazzling audiences every single night with incredible costuming, props, light shows and the entire works that you'd expect from the most successful female pop artist in existence. Taylor's 1989 tour was her biggest and most exciting yet, with amazing behind the scenes footage. Taylor also makes an effort with her fans. She's been known to write personalized notes, send Christmas gifts to hospitals (known as her “Swiftmas”) and acknowledge that without the mass following of young women, she wouldn't be where she is today.

9 Spoke out for LGBT issues

Growing up in a conservative town and playing to an often conservative crowd in the country music scene, Taylor Swift has actually been accused of staying silent on issues of gay rights for quite a long time. While a lot of celebs like Miley and Lady Gaga are super vocal on the topic, it wasn't until somewhat recently when same sex marriage was legalized in the U.S that Taylor put her two cents in on the issue, in the song “Welcome to New York,” in which she cheekily sings: “You can want who you want/ Boys and boys and girls and girls." It seems like this concept might have been a little new for Taylor, but nonetheless she did her bit. Her earlier song “Mean” was also used in school bullying campaigns against homophobia. After same sex marriage was legalized, Taylor also tweeted the aforementioned song lyrics, hash-tagging #LOVEWINS #finally -- a move that endeared her to all LGBT fans even more.

8 Became a poster girl for millennial feminism

This one is a little controversial, as Taylor Swift has been accused of “white feminism” that is only relevant to rich white women, while failing to examine more serious global aspects. While this may be true, Taylor has also been one of the young female pop stars to reclaim the use of the word feminism in a contemporary society in which it was fast falling out of fad. Along with her “squad” of girls like Lena Dunham, Selena Gomez and Jessica Alba, Taylor espouses supporting other women and not believing the old traditions that men are in charge. She's an example of a women who's achieved enormous success in her own right, which is definitely worth a point for feminism, anyway. She credits her feminist enlightening to celeb pal Lena Dunham, saying to The Guardian: “I think a lot of girls have had a feminist awakening because they understand what the word means. For so long it's been made to seem like something where you'd picket against the opposite sex, whereas it's not about that at all.”

7 Made an inner circle of celebrity besties

Taylor's Instagram is awash with pics of her “squad," as well as extra pals she seems to collect along the way. It's no lie that Taylor loves being photographed out and about with her crew. Her 4th of July party this year showed her hanging with a bunch of gorgeous celebs, including Blake Lively and Cara Delevinge, and had people wondering whether these peeps are genuinely all friends or T-Swift is just an excellent publicist. Taylor regularly invites friend and celebs on stage during her concert. Among the noteworthy are Julia Roberts and Ellen DeGeneres, and Swift is frequently photographed with Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevinge and Emma Stone -- celeb besties who are all in the squad. While the concept of celebrity friends isn't new, Taylor has had the savvy to use it as a marketing tool and take it to a whole new level. Hopefully some real friendships have been formed amidst the cat-clawing of Hollywood, too.

6 Has the most talked about dating life of any celeb

From first famous boyfriend Joe Jonas in 2008, Taylor Swift's love life has been in the limelight, and she likes it that way. In fact, before you knew about Taylor's feminist views or her squad, you knew about her boys. In her rise to fame over the last decade, Swift has managed to be photographed with a ton of boys and confirmed to be dating more than a few. After Joe Jonas came a brief fling with “You belong with me” co-star Lucas Till, and later in 2009, the smoking-hot Taylor Lautner who she met on the set of the film Valentine's Day. Taylor's most speculated relationship was undoubtedly with John Mayer during 2009, though it was said to end badly in 2010. Following this was Cory Monteith, Jake Gyllenhaal and actor Eddie Redmayne. The last couple of years have seen Swift with Zac Efron, Connor Kennedy, Harry Styles, Calvin Harris and current love Tom Hiddleston. Tabloid's lap up any photo of Taylor Swift with a guy, and considering it's likely to come out in lyrics later, we know why!

5 Listed on Time's most 100 influential people in 2014 and 2015

Between Forbes and Time magazine, Taylor Swift has been heartily recognized as a powerful and influential woman, and with the awards, fame and cash to come with it, these little accolades are just icing on the cake. When she's not producing, creating or performing music, attending ceremonies, piling up awards or making new music videos, Swift is social networking her little heart away, snapping leisurely pics with famous friends and clocking up likes online. This shy girl from Reading, Pennsylvania knows how to work the system and whether you like her or not, that definitely is an art to master. Taylor's worldwide influence in fashion, style, music and all manner of taste also spans ad-infinitum. Her third fragrance was released this year. We think she's probably not even just in the top 100 most influential people, but likely in the top 10 -- and all before her 26th birthday this December.

4 Documented at least six different boyfriends in songs

Now we get to talk about those songs. Tay's habit of airing her dirty laundry in public started young and has only increased. Putting pen to paper, she has immortalized the good, the bad and the ugly of her relationships with men (usually famous men) and given everybody just enough information to get them talking. So - which boyfriend belongs to which song? Taylor has achieved best-selling songs featuring eight different guys -- or so we think. This started way back on Fearless with the song “Mine” -- allegedly about Cory Monteith. On Speak Now, Taylor wrote about her relationship with Taylor Launter in the song “Back to December” -- a regretful tale about a boy whose heart she broke. Things got plaintive and a little soppy in “Dear John,” when Taylor reveals John Mayer's bad behavior: “Dear John, don't you think I was too young to be messed with?” And Jake Gyllenhaal features in “All Too Well” when she leaves her scarf at his sister (Maggie's) house. A little down the track, Harry Styles is the subject of “I knew you were trouble” and “Style.”

3 Named an icon of American Style by Vogue

When one is photographed often, one must look good, always. Taylor is one of the most photographed celebrities in the world and has achieved an impeccable definitive style in her 20's. Once the country girl started with golden locks and prairie dresses, Taylor has transitioned into a chic super-model-esque celeb, all short bobbed hair, high pants and black turtlenecks. Her style revolution is something fans both liked and disliked, but there's no doubt about it that Taylor Swift has a style all of her own, which is recognizable around the globe. She made it okay for tall girls to wear high heels, chopped her locks and owns the red lipstick -- definitely Vogue-worthy material. Taylor has indeed been featured on dozens and dozens of magazine covers and with the long, leggy proportions she possesses, it's not hard to see why Vogue gave her credit where it was due!

2 Managed not to go off the rails

She's been in the limelight for much of her formative years, and definitely spent what should've been her crazy teenage years under all kinds of pressure. So many people born around the same time as Taylor who spent their high school and college years churning out music or films under the gaze of the cameras have ended up total wrecks -- think Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes -- and we're just getting started. But no raucous photos of Taylor have ever appeared in the tabloids. Sure, she goes out dancing and drinks cocktails, but this girls has managed to stay drug free (or so it seems) and avoid getting into messy scrapes. Given the circles in which she moves, we think she has pretty great boundaries for herself. While her dating antics appear in reporting, she always looks fresh and rested as though nothing will get the better of her. Go Taylor!

1 Composed and recorded 90+ songs

One thing that's to be said about Taylor Swift, even if you don't like her music, is that unlike many celebrities, her songs are all her own. Taylor has put pen to paper and written over ninety songs -- and that's just the ones that have been recorded! Unlike lots of other pop singers who buy the rights to pre-existing songs and make them their own, Taylor's incredible success has come from her own experiences, her own life and her own head! We think this is why she's so relatable and young girls have been her biggest fans. Despite sometimes being a little cheesy, Taylor's lyrics speak to the experience of growing up as a teenage girl and all the little, silly things that happen. Giving a voice to these stories is an achievement in itself and her fans prove it. Composing and recording over ninety songs by aged 26 is no small feat!