The Best Time to Plant a Tree
By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Second Counselor in the First Presidency
In ancient Rome, Janus was the god of beginnings. He was often
depicted with two faces—one looking back on the past, the other
looking forward to the future. Some languages name the month of
January after him because the beginning of the year was a time
for reflection as well as planning.
Thousands of years later, many cultures throughout the world
carry on a tradition of making resolutions for the new year. Of
course, making resolutions is easy—keeping them is a different
thing altogether.
One man who had made a long list of New Year’s resolutions felt
pretty good about his progress. He thought to himself, “So far,
I’ve stuck to my diet, I haven’t lost my temper, I’ve kept to my
budget, and I haven’t once complained about the neighbor’s dog.
But today is January 2 and the alarm just went off and it’s time I
got out of bed. It’s going to take a miracle to keep my streak
going.”
Starting Over
There is something incredibly hopeful abo ut a fresh start. I suppose at one time or another we have all wanted to start again
with a clean slate.
I love getting a new computer with a clean hard drive. For a time
it works perfectly. But as the days and weeks pass by and more
and more programs get installed (some intentional, some not so
intentional), eventually the computer begins to stall, and things it
used to do quickly and efficiently become sluggish. Sometimes it
doesn’t work at all. Even getting it to start can become a chore as
the hard drive becomes cluttered with miscellaneous chaos and
electronic debris. There are times when the only recourse is to
reformat the computer and start over.
right moment to begin—the first day of a new year, the beginning of summer, when we’re called as bishop or Relief Society
president, after the kids get into school, after we retire.
You don’t need an invitation before you start moving in the direction of your righteous goals. You don’t need to wait for permission
to become the person you were designed to be. You don’t need
to wait to be invited to serve in the Church.
We can sometimes waste years of our lives waiting to be chosen
(see D&C 121:34–36). But that is a false premise. You are already chosen!
At times in my life I have spent sleepless nights grappling with
issues, worries, or personal sorrows. But no matter how dark the
night, I am always encouraged by this thought: in the morning the
sun will rise.
With every new day, a new dawn comes—not only for the earth
but also for us. And with a new day comes a new start—a chance
to begin again.
But What If We Fail?
Sometimes the thing that holds us back is fear. We might be
afraid that we won’t succeed, that we will succeed, that we might
be embarrassed, that success might change us, or that it might
change the people we love.
And so we wait. Or give up.
Another thing we need to remember when it comes to setting
goals is this: We almost certainly will fail—at least in the short
term. But rather than be discouraged, we can be empowered
because this understanding removes the pressure of being perfect
Human beings can likewise become cluttered with fears, doubts,
right now. It acknowledges from the beginning that at one time or
and burdensome guilt. The mistakes we have made (both intenanother, we may fall short. Knowing this up front takes away much
tional and unintentional) can weigh upon us until it may seem hard of the surprise and discouragement of failure.
to do what we know we should.
When we approach our goals this way, failure doesn’t have to
In the case of sin, there is a wonderful reformatting process called limit us. Remember, even if we fail to reach our ultimate, desired
repentance that allows us to clear our internal hard drives of the destination right away, we will have made progress along the
clutter that burdens our hearts. The gospel, through the miraculous road that will lead to it.
and compassionate Atonement of Jesus Christ, shows us the way to
cleanse our souls of the stain of sin and once again become new, And that matters—it means a lot.
pure, and as innocent as a child.
Even though we might fall short of our finish line, just continuing the
But sometimes other things slow us down and hold us back, causing journey will make us greater than we were before.
unproductive thoughts and actions that make it hard for us to get
started.
The Best Time to Begin Is Now
Bringing Out the Best in Us
Setting goals is a worthy endeavor. We know that our Heavenly
Father has goals because He has told us that His work and glory
is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of
man” (Moses 1:39).
An old proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years
ago. The second-best time is now.”
There is something wonderful and hopeful about the
word now. There is something empowering about the fact that if
we choose to decide now, we can move forward at this very moment.
Our personal goals can bring out the best in us. However, one of
the things that derail our efforts in making and keeping resolutions Now is the best time to start becoming the person we eventually
is procrastination. We sometimes delay starting, waiting for the
want to be—not only 20 years from now but also for all eternity.