Now or later?
A great number of us are bad at thinking how our current actions will affect our future. We appear to be evolved to make the most of now and not to think too much about any negative consequences. Hence why a lot of us eat too much, don’t save enough and waste a fair amount of time.
If we could all learn to balance our actions with an eye to both the present and the future, we might make better decisions in the long run.
A great many people make a decision based on the immediate context and how they feel at that moment. In some circumstances, that’s just fine. It’s a good way to be guided to what you want in that moment. However, it’s a really useful skill to learn how to take a few moments to consider how your current choice will affect your future “you”. Let alone that of those you care about.
Too much food and too little exercise is clearly not a good foundation for later life. Drugs and drink might be fun now, but almost without fail it’s a recipe for problems in the future. Spending most, if not all of what you earn now will be very tempting. However, saving just a small proportion will increase your spending power in the future.
A lot of us forget we have to live in our bodies for quite a while. They need to be taken care off all the way through life, trying to remedy past issues later in life is much harder than some TLC along the way.
Your wellbeing needs to be thought about for your whole life.