As I approach my mid-twenties, I’m realizing that many of us assume we can keep living the way we are now, expecting our future selves to handle finances, relationships, family, and career. For now, we just need to get by and have fun, right?

While that mindset may work in the short term, it’s not sustainable long-term. Two, three, five, even ten years can pass by without the holy embodiment of your future self who has their shit together suddenly materialising in front of you.

The truth is, while you might sort out the big issues someday, that won’t happen unless you start taking baby steps today.

Straight out of college, you might assume a higher-paying job is on the horizon, but before you know it, five years have passed, and all you’re looking at is a modest 20% raise from your entry-level salary. Things don’t automatically fall into place just because we’re getting older. Wisdom doesn’t arrive on its own—it comes from experience and trying different things.

It’s faith without action. You’re placing faith in your future self without taking any action to become that self.

Growing up, we believed that as adults, everything would just fall into place: traveling the world, owning a big house, falling in love once and then marrying that person. But by now, most of us have realized that none of those things happen unless we make them happen.

It’s alright to leave things to destiny and have faith that everything will work out but don’t expect it to happen while you sit back and do nothing—for a considerable amount of time.