I think sometimes we make the mistake of believing that creating a different future requires making huge changes today. It usually doesn’t. Think about the person you want to be 10, 20 or even 30 years in the future. Your next chapter isn’t created 10 years from now. It’s being created in the small choices you make today. The walk you take today. The money you saved this month. The phone call you make. The book you open. The conversation you’ve been putting off. The hour you spend working towards something that matters to you. None of those things seems particularly life-changing on their own. The power isn’t in the size of the choice, but in making it again and again. Thinking big enough to know where you’re going. Choosing something small enough to actually do and repeating it long enough to see where it can take you. Where will the same small choices you’re making today, eventually take you?

It’s a photo of my son and his beautiful bride, my husband and me, as well as my parents and stepparents. A few years ago I probably would have only looked at my son and his beautiful bride. This time when I saw it, my eyes went straight to both sets of my parents. Both my parents and one of my stepparents are now in their 80s. Watching them has made me think differently about my own future. It made me realize how easy it is to assume our future will somehow take care of itself. Yes, genetics play a role. But so do the choices we make every day. For me, that’s what creating your next chapter is really about. It isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about making the kinds of choices today that give that future the best chance of becoming reality. It’s asking, “What kind of life do I want to be living 10, 20 or 30 years from now?” And “Who do I want to be when that future arrives?” That doesn’t just apply to our health. It applies to our relationships, our finances and how we spend our time. What’s one choice you’re making today that your future self will thank you for?

Ray Dalio talks about the importance of gaining perspective in Principles. One of the ideas that stuck with me is that when you zoom out over time, most things become smaller and less important. It had struck me on this particular morning when I looked up at the sky. A rocket launch. The moon. A tiny streak of light moving through something much bigger. The things that consume us today often feel enormous because we’re standing too close to them. The difficult conversation. The uncertainty. The decision we don’t want to make. The fear that we’re behind or that we’ve somehow missed our opportunity. But life has a way of changing size when we change perspective. What feels overwhelming today may become one of the smallest parts of your story when you look back a year from now. Sometimes the most important thing we can do isn’t solve the problem immediately. It’s simply to zoom out. Your next chapter isn’t written by the moment you’re standing in. It’s written by the perspective you choose to take as you move forward. What in your life might benefit from stepping back and looking at it from a different perspective?

How do you wake up most mornings? Do you hit the snooze button? Do you jump out of bed excited for the day? Or do you wake up to, “Mom, how do I turn on the stove? I’m making pancakes!” No matter how your morning starts, here’s something I’ve learned. Your morning doesn’t determine your day. Your state does. For years, I woke up on autopilot and lived much of the time in reaction. I think many of us do. We move from one responsibility to the next without stopping to notice how we’re feeling or realizing we have more influence over it than we think. I’ve become aware I have far more influence over how I experience my day than I do over what happens during it. That doesn’t mean every day is perfect. It means I have choices. Movement changes my state. Gratitude changes my state. Prayer changes my state. Learning changes my state. Laughter changes my state. The next time you catch yourself on autopilot or feeling frustrated, discouraged or simply “off,” pause and ask yourself: “What’s one thing I can do in the next five minutes to change my state?” I’d love to know… What did you try, and did it change the direction of your day?