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

Warren and I keep a shared document of business ideas. We started this document a long time ago, when we were both unemployed and had no idea what we were going to do next.

We used to add to this document every day, but recent activity has fallen off. If we were to track this document in git, it would look something like this.

Peak activity indicates the times when we were ready to give up on a project, troughs correspond to periods when we’re working full force on an existing endeavor.

Sometimes the best time to plant a tree is not now, but maybe tomorrow, because I’m really busy right now.

Seth Godin says: Halfway up Everest, it makes no sense to have a discussion about climbing K2 instead.

And sometimes we can get other people to plant those trees, like the gardeners my parents found at Home Depot.