Here we are nearing the end of January. For the first time in my life I can say that one of my New Year’s resolutions has lasted more than two weeks. One of my major resolutions this year was to get serious about meal-prepping healthy and affordable meals and to stop ordering food and going out to eat as much. For the last three weekends I have spent hours making large batches of food and preparing for the week ahead. This has allowed me to save money and time on food and make healthy meal choices, even when I don’t have a lot of time to make a meal. Although meal-prepping takes a lot of time and consideration, it has completely transformed my week and my budget.

That’s the thing about preparation. It’s not easy, but it is really important. What are you preparing for currently? For some of you, it might be a major life event such as a graduation, birth, or wedding. For others, you might be preparing for more long-term goals and instances. Maybe you are saving up for a major purchase or generally preparing for retirement. All of these scenarios are important and different, and they all require a certain amount of preparation.

The thing about preparation is that in some cases, preparatory acts can feel useless when you don’t see the fruits of your labors immediately. Sometimes you will not see the benefits of your preparation for a long time. Unfortunately, sometimes you won’t realize the importance of preparation until you find yourself in an instance in which you have failed to prepare, and it is producing a negative outcome. It’s hard to balance preparation with immediate results and long-term preparation that will affect you in the future.

Don’t put yourself in these situations. Students, you might think you are too young to start getting serious about looking for colleges. It’s never too early. Graduation is going to sneak up on you, and you should be doing everything you can to prepare for it. Even if you are too young to start touring schools, remember that you are starting to contribute to your cumulative GPA now. Don’t hurt your chances of getting into a good school because the Freshman-aged-you didn’t prepare.

I ask you again, what are you currently preparing for? What should you be preparing for? I encourage you to take a look at your life. What are your goals? Deadlines? Upcoming events? Take little steps each day to prepare for you future. You don’t have to accomplish grandiose feats each day, but keeping up on future preparations will keep you from experiencing a lack of preparedness. What are you doing to today to prepare for your future?

Bria