You don’t have to spend the rest of your life feeling exhausted from work, waiting for the weekend, and barely making ends meet every month.

Instead, there are smart choices we can make now to set ourselves up well for later. But that means we have to do hard things today, and that’s exactly why not everyone is earning more.

Most people have a very short time horizon. If you’re willing to look farther, you will make better choices today. Choices that improve your life.

Here are two of those choices. I believe these are the most important reasons why some people earn more than others.