Does it matter to your future what you do today? Do the decisions you make this very moment have an impact on what happens to you tomorrow, next month, next year, or even five years from now?

Recently, as I was looking forward to celebrating my birthday, I began thinking of a specific cake I wanted to eat. It has all kinds of berries and lots of chantilly. The cake is soft, moist, and light and I wanted to get it for my birthday. I was excited when I got to work one morning and that was the cake chosen to celebrate the birthday of one of my co-workers. Excited, and forgetting I hadn’t had much sugar in a long time, I got my self a big slice and happily enjoyed every single bite. It was delicious and my morning was so much better because of it!

A couple of hours later however, the sugar rush began to wear off and I began to feel sluggish. I developed a huge headache and only the delectable kale salad I had brought for lunch gave me the energy I needed to finish the day. The headache lasted for three days! When it was my turn to celebrate my birthday, I decided against getting that berry cake.

To answer the initial question of how our now affects our future, my one decision to enjoy a big slice of that cake affected me tremendously not only hours later, but also for days as evidenced by my three day headache and not buying the cake for my own birthday. What we do right now, at this very moment, affects our later. Just ask the person imprisoned by debt. The momentary decision to purchase something on a credit card may affect the financial future of that person for the rest of their life! Or maybe the person who decided to try just one cigarette, who then developed a smoking habit, and now battles respiratory problems or even lung cancer. What about the person on their death bed at peace with a life well lived?

Think about health choices, or the decisions made when parenting our children, or the options we select in our jobs or businesses. What we do at this very moment can affect our lives in the near or distant future. This realization places a big responsibility on the choices we make every day at every moment, because what we do matters and matters a lot.

Set goals for your life. How often we spend our days aimlessly, headed in no direction, not knowing where we should be going next? It doesn’t have to be that way, however. Think of where you would like to be one year or five years from now, and make choices this very moment that will help you get there. Would you like to enjoy better health? What about planning your meals around nutritious food that will strengthen your immune system? Would you like to have financial freedom? What about starting a budget or paying off debt? What are your dreams and goals? Take some time to think and plan your life so you can get there, starting today.

I didn’t want to have another massive headache for my birthday, so I decided not to purchase that cake and ended up having a lovely time with family and friends. What are you going to do today, this very moment, to get you where you want to be later?