Planting Trees
Investing in the Next Generation...but How?
Welcome back to Catholic Founders, The #1 Publication For Catholic Founders & Business Owners. We’re on a mission to support and educate Catholic Business Owners worldwide so that together, we can intentionally influence the world toward God.
I need 30 seconds of your time.
Bringing the world back to God (fulfilling our mission) requires your help.
Share this publication with one Catholic Business Owner that you know.
That’s all; we trust the Holy Spirit to take it from there. 🕊️
When was the last time you planted a tree?
No, I’m not talking about planting trees for the environment. I’m talking about planting trees for the next generation.
Trees that you’ll never sit in the shade of.
Recently, someone shared this Greek Proverb with me.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit”
It’s a powerful thought. If we want to contribute to building a great society (I assume you do), we should spring into action and ‘start planting trees.’
There are many ways you could approach this idea.
Actually, planting trees.
Timber has always been known to be a good investment. There are a lot of benefits to timber because you can harvest at a favorable time in the market. If done well, it’s resilient to fires. There are many different types of products you can make out of timber. So why not plant some trees? Having that in a generation will be a great investment for your children.
Or perhaps you just want some epic trees to sit under to think. Oh, maybe you could even build a treehouse!
Investing in the Future.
Most would assume this principle is about ‘investing’ for future generations. That’s certainly one way to look at it. You can be financially responsible and teach your kids how to be financially responsible. That’s a great service for the future that should ease the toils of life in some way.
If you’re serious about this, you get familiar with building family wealth. There is a great book called Family Fortunes that shares many of these principles. You can also check out The Business of Family podcast (inactive for a bit, but full of gems).
When investing in the future, the hard part is actually teaching the next generation. Making money is far easier than helping the next gen understand how to use the money in a good way that won’t lead to ruin.
Public Works.
Maybe you’re financially very successful, and you’re investing in something that will benefit the broader public or perhaps your specific community. For example, you could build schools, monuments, Churches, etc. Or perhaps you decide to build wells in Africa or find a way to invest in emerging nations where they have limited inbound investment.
There are endless opportunities for both philanthropic and for-profit public works around the world.
If you find this content valuable, what are you waiting for? Become a paid supporter of our work today by clicking “Upgrade to Paid” — It gives you some skin in the game to keep you coming back for more, so together, we can upgrade how you run your business.
These are good things, but I would argue there is something far more important than any of these.
Mentorship.
A lost art. Nowadays, no one really mentors. If they do it, it’s usually in a formal setting through some program set up by a third party. It’s ridiculous to me that someone needs to be prompted by a third party to become a mentor.
I mean, for crying out loud! You’ve been blessed, but it takes some accelerator or school reaching out to convince you to become a mentor? Let’s be real—there are opportunities for you to mentor the people around you at any time.
Of course, we have our own children to mentor, but they should not be the only ones we mentor. Just look around you and recognize who God is putting you in front of.
What we learn is valuable to the people behind us. They need guidance. Why do we expect them to make all the same missteps that we did?
Mentoring is not just for old or late-career people. It’s for all of us, young and old. I know a lot compared to people three years my junior. Why not impart my insights to them? It might allow them to leapfrog ahead.
The big problem with only asking very late career people for their mentorship is that they are looking over at a huge landscape and telling you about the big mountains and hills. When someone closer to you gives you advice, perhaps at the top of a single hill you’re about to traverse, they can give you some tactical tips about which path to take, the stones to latch on to, etc.
Don’t wait!
I know what you’ll say. I’m too busy, though. I just don’t have time. Ask yourself this…would you be where you are without mentors in your life? It seems very ungrateful to accept and to fail to pass it on.
I Know it’s Hard.
A thought that might be in the back of your mind is…this is hard. I work hard, and I barely even get to enjoy my own life. Why should I add to my plate by helping out others? Well, St. Paul has an answer.
“For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.” - Romans 8:18
He continues.
For we know that every creature groaneth, and is in labour even till now. And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body. - Romans 8:22,23
Bottom line, it’s tough. But it’s to be expected. If you thought it was supposed to be easy, check out this next line.
For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen, is not hope: For what a man seeth, why doth he hope for? - Romans 8:24
We need to toil—we need to work hard—we need to hope and trust in the Lord.
We need to plant trees.
The difficulty is part of the journey. It’s what we are called to since the Fall of Man. Embrace it, and in it, you’ll find joy and peace.
In summary, Embrace the difficulty of life and make an intentional choice to mentor the next generation.
See ya next time! 👋
Asks 🙏
👉 Pray! — Prayer will allow these posts to hit people right between the eyes (spiritually speaking) to bring them down a notch and help God to pour into their souls.
👉 30 seconds of your time could be worth $360 to us! 🤯 — When you share this with another Catholic Entrepreneur, it gives us a shot at landing another founding subscriber ($360 a year).
👉 Who should we interview? (Comment or DM)