Just a week ago, we experienced not only the turn of the year, but the turn of a decade. People have made a huge deal about new year’s resolutions from one year to the next, and I’ve always found them quite silly considering people can make resolutions at any point in the year. However, I will admit that with the end of a decade and the beginning of a new one, it may be a good time to reflect on your last ten years and look forward to the next ten.

So, this should be approached as a new decade’s resolutions instead. If it were thought of like this by the masses, I’d have much fewer problems with the idea of resolutions, especially if long term goals are considered.

For myself, I’m looking to focus a lot more on my financial situation going forward as well as my health. If there are two things that impact my life the most down the road, it’s these. While other smaller resolutions are fun to tackle, nothing is as impactful as taking care of your body and mind while also building a solid financial base that will support you throughout life.

Regarding health, I know one thing I’ll be cutting back on this year (to prepare for the decade to come) is alcohol and candy. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t drink every single day, and I’m not some sort of candy fiend who is always at the theater munching on whatever candy boxes I can get my hands on.

But still, I know that alcohol will slowly destroy my liver, and candy boxes are absolutely loaded with sugars that are not only bad for my body but my dental health as well. While they have been my little vices for the past few years, I know they haven’t impacted me too badly in the immediate here and now. But that sort of thinking is what gets you in trouble decades down the road. I don’t want to wake up one day and have some sort of heart problem or liver problem that could have been avoided back when I was this age.

I think if more people considered their health and life down the road when they made resolutions for the new year, things would be a lot less bleak. When we learn to look towards the future and learn from the past, real change occurs.