The Best Time To Plant a Tree Is 25 Years Ago. The Second Best Time Is Today

“I’m going to start soon…”
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time…”
“I need to do that…”
“I know I should be doing this…”

When I hear people saying things like this I am reminded of this quote that a well respected business man said to me some time ago: “The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago. The second best time is today. Be a person of action; start taking steps toward the future you want today.” When I first heard this I really got it. I took action and a lot of things changed in my life due to me just taking action. I found myself starting to do the things I talked about doing for years. I began to make great progress in my life. Today, I cannot help but speak this same quote to others when I hear them saying the things that I was once saying.

Often when I say this quote to people, nothing changes. For the past year, this has been something that has troubled me. I would ask myself, “Don’t people want to grow and excel in life?” I have come to believe that the reason so few people are willing to act is because, as a people, we have allowed ourselves to become complacent with where we currently are. Life gets in the way of us moving and making progress. We are comfortable where we are, so why risk messing it up?

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus talks about the parable of the talents. The wicked servant in the parable hid the talent that was given to him by the master because he was afraid that he would not be able to make more out of it. How often do we fall into this same category? We are unwilling to step out in faith and try to do something that we want to do because it may threaten how comfortable we are. So instead we stay where we are, hiding who we could become just so we do not have to face the risk.

Today I encourage you to look at your life, see if you have been putting some things off that you know you should do; and start doing them! There is no better time than today. Plant the tree of self-disciplined in your life today. Begin to move in the direction that you know you need to go. Allow your comfort in life to be challenged. In the end, you will find that you are a person of action. Always moving toward the future you know you want, one step at a time.