When is the best time to plant a tree?

The Chinese Proverb tells us it was 20 years ago.

The second best time?

Today.

But planting trees never feels urgent. The seeds seem too small to ever amount to anything. We can’t imagine 20 years into the future. We don’t know where to start in the first place. Or we’re paralysed by choice: what kind of tree? Where shall we plant it?

The hardest step is always the first. But once you begin, you’ve begun. And then it’s no longer about starting but carrying on.

Make yourself accountable.

Write it down.

Tell a trusted friend.

Or tell the world.

The more real it becomes in the outside world, the more real it becomes in your mind and the more likely you are to see it through.

Then make the big thing into lots of small things.

The big stuff is just small stuff, repeated, over time.

Plant a seed - that’s enough for day one.

Then water it once a week.

That’s all. Invest regularly and let compound interest do its thing.

A little bit of pain now for a lot of pleasure later.

And maybe even pleasure beyond your own.

After all, the best trees to plant are the ones in whose shade you will never even sit.