Kay:

Hey there Questers and welcome back. Happy Monday. It is September 6th, and this is episode 436. We have a quote for you today that is one of our all-time favorites and to say that we use it all the time I think is an understatement.

Shi:

We’re not the only ones. We hear tons of our mentors and people in this space using this. So, you’ve likely heard this quote before, but we will remind you of this classic. A Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

Kay:

Thanks, Chinese proverb. Such an ancient and wise piece of advice. One of the things that we loved about having a landscaping tree planter dad is that as we were kids, our dad would plant trees all around our community. That was what he did. It was his job. So, he would get hired by the city of Reno, through the landscaping company that he worked at, and he would go, and he planted small trees all over. Now, over time as the decades have grown gone by, we now get to see our dad’s trees as these huge, beautiful installments in our city that is actually known for being a city of trees.

Shi:

It’s kind of a famous line in the family that we all say, “See that tree over there,” and then, you know the next line is, “I planted that,” because that’s what dad always said and loved to tour around town and point out the trees. If you’re a Northern Nevada local, our dad worked at Moana Nursery for close to 20 years, which means he got to work on a bunch of really cool projects in the early nineties and late eighties including downtown Reno and some of the prominent neighborhoods around. So, we get to see those now nearly 30 years later. I mean, some of these trees are huge and it’s amazing to see the growth but sometimes if we’re going to just take this out of the literal sense and into the metaphorical sense it’s so hard to plant the seeds that, you know won’t sprout for a long time.

Kay:

And when the seed does sprout, the tree turns into a stick. When our dad initially planted the trees that were out there, they needed sticks and ropes which were important, even for them to stand up straight against the Gale force winds here in our community. They also needed support beans and fencing and stuff around them so animals wouldn’t get in because infant trees are very vulnerable, and it takes a really long time for them to get their roots down deep enough and be thick enough to withstand the test of time.

Shi:

There are those things in your life where you know you planted the tree 20 years ago, and you’re proud AF of your results, or of your business, or of your studies, or of your kids or whatever those seeds are. But isn’t this just the most annoying saying when you didn’t plant the seed, and someone says it to you?

Kay:

Shila is famous for bringing up this quote when you didn’t plant the seed and now you are regretting it. But the types of seeds that we’re talking about here like Shila said go much for things like actual trees. We’re talking things like habitat structures, the business journey if maybe you’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Your money, saving, and investing money over time. The best time to do that was 20 years ago but the second-best time is right now.

Shi:

Imagine what Amazon stock was 20 years ago. I think it’s close to being a public company, for 20 years if not a little bit more. So, we can always look back and say if I would have started then, but the best thing we can do, and truly the only thing that we have any control over is this moment right now. So, we try to focus our energy on, well, what are the seeds that I can plant today that will bear fruit or create shade for me and those that I love in the years to come? What is it going to take to protect that? What are the ropes? What are the sticks? What are the supportive forces that are needed in order to get that tree to be a 20-year-old tree? Because not all trees make it.

Kay:

No. Any idea, any want, any goal that you have that you move forward it’s going to be especially vulnerable in the early stages because it’s easy to slip back into your old patterns, your old thinking habits, or whatever it was that was the way of life that you were living prior to that point. So, as this Chinese proverb reminds us, “The best time to plant that tree was 20 years ago, but the second-best time is right now.”

Shi:

Alright, it’s your Monday Quest. Today we want you to plant a literal or metaphorical tree in your life. Maybe it’s a money tree or maybe it’s a tree in your actual backyard. Get it growing today. You won’t regret it in 20 years. Are you ready? Plant it with us now.

Kay & Shi:

Let’s quest!