Podcasts SDS 566: The Best Time to Plant a Tree

4 minutes
Data Science

SDS 566: The Best Time to Plant a Tree

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Welcome back to the Five-Minute Friday series of the SuperDataScience podcast!

This week, Jon reflects on the Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” He also asks listeners to reflect on the long-term unfulfilled goals in their lives.

This week’s episode asks listeners to look back on the dreams that may have gone unfulfilled.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now,” is a famous proverb that pushes us to reflect on what could have been. It may also have yearning for our time back or regretting our lack of commitment in certain areas in our lives.

While it’s easy to feel like the ship has sailed on some dreams, and that it’s too late to start pursuing them now, in reality, it’s never too late to get started. We may wish we’d planted a metaphorical tree some time ago — say, 20 years ago — that could now be bearing fruit.

Perhaps you wish you were further along in your data science career already? Despite these worries, Jon encourages listeners to “make it happen.” Starting small with a data science meetup is a great way to jump back into the industry. That same data science meetup could give you the encouragement and support you need to stay consistent with your learning. Or, you could try taking up a one-math-or-computer-science-exercise-per-day habit like Jon covered in Episode #562 a fortnight ago.

What complex, long-term outcome do you wish you had begun investing in 20 years ago? No point in wishing for another day, another year, or another 20 years. Prioritize it, come up with a system to stick to it, and make it happen, Jon says.

ITEMS MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

SDS 562: Daily Habit #8: Math or Computer Science Exercise

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What complex, long-term outcome do you wish you’d begun investing in 20 years ago?
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Podcast Transcript

(00:05):
This is Five-Minute Friday on The Best Time to Plant a Tree.

(00:28):
Hey there, I hope you are having a great day today. My message today is centered around a Chinese proverb. It’s such a popular one that you may have heard it before, its: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Lemme repeat it one more time: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

(00:51):
The idea expressed by this proverb is that it’s easy to feel like the ship has sailed on some dream of yours and so you may feel discouraged, may feel like it’s not worth pursuing at this apparently late stage. We may wish we’d planted a metaphorical tree some time ago — say, 20 years ago — that could now be bearing fruit.

(01:14):
A straightforward practical example here could be that you wish you’d opened a retirement savings plan some years ago that now would have grown substantially and you’d be closer to achieving retirement at the level of comfort you’d like to. But, there is no time like the present. You might be able to make a plan to scale back your spending somewhere now. Start small, but you could get into the habit of putting a small percentage of your paycheck into a retirement savings account and then increasing that percentage gradually over time. A further 20 years will pass and 20 years from now you’ll likely be pleased you planted the retirement-savings tree today.

(01:52):
As a second example, perhaps you wish you were fitter? Fitness gains are incremental and require consistency, but you can start today and in 20 years — despite aging — you could be a dramatically fitter person than today. Wishing things were different won’t make a difference, but coming up with a plan to start small at the gym and go five times per week no matter what else is happening in your life, and the fitness gains will compound just like the long-term financial returns on a retirement account.

(02:23):
Another example. Wish you’d begun developing deeper personal relationships years ago so that today you could have a rich social life? Well, no need to be discouraged or wish things were different than they are. Perhaps there’s a local data science Meetup you can find that’s recently begun running again post-pandemic and years from now you could have developed several deep friendships from those interactions that started today.

(02:45):
Speaking of data science, perhaps you wish you were further along in your career already? Well, make it happen. That very same data science Meetup could give you the encouragement and support you need to stay consistent with your learning. Or you could try having a one-math-or-computer-science-exercise-per-day habit like I covered in Episode #562 a fortnight ago.

(03:06):
So, take a moment to reflect. What complex, long-term outcome do you wish you’d begun investing in 20 years ago? No point in wishing for another day, another year, or another 20 years. Prioritize it, come up with a system to stick to it, and make it happen!

(03:25):
All right, that’s it for this Five-Minute Friday episode. Keep on rockin’ it out there, folks, and I’m looking forward to enjoying another round of the SuperDataScience podcast with you very soon.

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