The Best Time to Plant a Tree

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
Chinese Proverb

Procrastination can be one of our worst enemies. And if we have wasted time or not fully prepared for something it can cause us to lose hope or become discouraged.

Instead of admitting defeat, the best option is to move forward. Yes, I should have planted a tree in this spot 20 years ago, but I didn't. But if I plant one now, in 20 years I will be glad I did. If I still do not, then in 20 years I will still be regretting it.

The same thing applies to many things - saving money, paying off debt, learning a skill, accomplishing a task, forgiving someone, apologizing for a wrong, getting more education, etc.

Do not allow your previous failures to discourage or defeat you. Move forward and take action today so you will have fewer regrets in the future.

The Way to Happiness

"There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way."
Thich Nhat Han, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk

Most people believe they must:

1. First have something (e.g., money, time, or love)

2. Before they can do what they want to do (e.g., travel the world, write a book, start a business, or have a successful relationship)

3. Which will ultimately allow them to be something (e.g., happy, peaceful, content, motivated, or in love).

Paradoxically, this have - do - be paradigm must actually be reversed to experience happiness, success, or anything else you desire.

1. First you be whatever it is you want to be (e.g., happy, compassionate, peaceful, wise, or loving)

2. Then you start doing things from this space of being.

3. Almost immediately, what you are doing will bring about the things you want to have.

We attract into our lives what we are. This concept is confirmed by loads of psychological research. In his popular TED talk, Harvard psychologist Shawn Achor explains that most have happiness backwards. They believe they must first achieve or acquire something to be happy. The science shows that happiness facilities success.

For example, Scott Adams, the creator of the famous comic series Dilbert, attributes his success to the use of positive affirmations. 15 times each day, he wrote the sentence on a piece of paper, “I Scott Adams, will become a syndicated cartoonist.”

The process of writing this 15 times a day buried this idea deep into his subconscious - putting Adams’ conscious mind on a treasure hunt for what he sought. The more he wrote, the more he could see opportunities before invisible to him. And shortly thereafter, he was a highly famous syndicated cartoonist. It couldn’t not happen.

I personally apply a similar principle but write my goal in present tense. For example, rather than saying, “I will become a syndicated cartoonist,” I write, “I am a syndicated cartoonist.” Writing it in the present tense highlights the fact that you are being who you want to be, which will then inform what you do and ultimately who you become.

We do not need to wait until some future time to be happy. We can choose to be happy in our current circumstances.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Philip 4:11

Source: 35 Things You Should Know Before Becoming Successful, by Benjamin P. Hardy 

The Strength of a Rope

"The strength of a twisted rope need not be in any single strand. The strength of a twisted rope may come from the overlap of many strands. In fact, none of those strands may even continue through the whole length of the rope. It's the overlapping strands together that give the rope its strength."
Ludwig Wittgenstein

 This strength can apply to many things - a family, members of a team, or (as Ludwig Wittgenstein originally intended) to a line of reasoning.

For a group of people, no individual can or should support the weight of the group. And the individuals can be weak. But collectively they can be very strong.

We can think similarly about the evidence in favor of believing in God. If you take each individual experience or feeling separately they may seem fragile and of no consequence. But when you take all the evidences together they support our faith and hope.

Source: The Great Courses: Questions of Value