It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. It seems to me that July was only a month or so ago, and the leaves were changing on the trees just last week. They say that time speeds up as you age, and I’m going to agree with that.

Growing up the youngest child in a big family, I always looked forward to the days when I’d be out on my own, having my own house or even my own room, making decisions and living life in whatever manner I saw fit. Those were the days when hours would drag by, and you could spend what felt like years waiting for the last bell to ring at school. Perspective is a funny thing.

Now, though, another year has gone by, and I’m looking back on the three resolutions I made in 2015. I stuck with one of them, the financial one, as you can imagine. I wanted to step up my savings towards retirement, and I put a pretty aggressive number on that goal. The great thing about financial resolutions is that you can make them largely automatic. If you want to save more money, set up a weekly transfer to a savings account. If you want to pay down debt, set up a weekly payment to your debtor. It takes only a little bit of effort to get the process in place, and that effort happens at the beginning, when you’re still fired up and ready to go.

The fact that I was able to meet that challenge speaks volumes for the power of habit. Habits, the small things we do every day without even thinking about them anymore, these are the things that lead to success or failure. They’re not easy to form, and they’re not easy to break, and if there’s one piece of advice that I’d like for the younger generation to have and actually pay attention to it is this: form good habits. Do the small things right.

I’d also resolved to run a marathon at some point in 2015, and I discovered that took a little more of a time investment. I’ll carry that resolution with me into 2016 and I hope to stay more true to it than I did this year. Health, after all, is one of the greatest blessings we can hope for in retirement.

I didn’t quite make it to that marathon, but I did meet the third goal I set way back in January 2015. I’ve been aware of the days speeding up for awhile now, and I decided to make one resolution that seized the day, that would create memories and that would challenge me to step out of my comfort zone.

So this past summer, I sat in a tiny little airplane that probably hadn’t been inspected this decade, strapped myself to a then-complete stranger who was soon to be my very best buddy, and jumped (okay, was pushed) out of the airplane. It was exciting, exhausting, and downright terrifying, but I can say with no hesitation that I seized the day.

In this last week of 2015, I think that looking back and celebrating our successes is just as important as looking forward to our goals for the new year. Still, 2016 is right around the corner. Whatever your goals are for the new year, I certainly hope you meet them with enthusiasm, and that you’re able to look back on 2015 with fond memories. Happy New Year!