We have a white pirie mango tree in our yard.  Our good friend Charin gave it to us as a sapling.  I waited for years for the little sapling to grow bigger and bigger, and one year it gave fruit!  It was delicious.  Juicy, sweet, smooth, ambrosia for the senses and tongue.

Unfortunately for any of our plants, one of my interests is bonsai trees.  I love the look of spreading branches, controlled growth and proportioned shapes.  Because of that, after a few piddly seasons of fruit, I decided to trim the mango tree into a pleasing shape that would allow for an open middle.  I removed all branches going straight up, trimmed off all branches that hung downward, and evened out the tree.  It looked quite nice!

However, the tree rebelled and stopped producing, much to the disappointment of Uncle and the kids, who were quick to blame me for not letting the tree grow and give fruit.

Just this year, my well shaped tree (imho) had a good crop.  I am in mango heaven.  I will hold off trimming the tree for as long as possible.  However, I do believe the tree has matured enough to stand for a good trimming and continue to fruit all season long.

Here is a lesson I would like to teach, if you don’t mind.

When our mango harvest was piddly – that is, I could count 12 mangoes in entirety on the tree and each was looked at on a daily basis – I longed for the day I could pick the perfectly ripe fruit off the tree and eat it.

The very first ripe mango was picked and lovingly brought into the house.  I smelled it, held it, and told the family we would eat it later when the time was right.  The second mango was ripe enough soon after, and I picked that one, put it out to show on the table, then put the first one in the refrigerator to keep it for a while.

This went on for about 2 weeks.  Meanwhile, the refrigerator had several ripe mangoes and we hadn’t cut and eaten any – I was saving it for the right time.

Uncle does not think like me.  One day, he peeled and sliced all the mangoes I had picked and stored for everyone to eat.  It was delicious, though most were over ripe because of the lapse of time from harvest to eating.  Many were too soft to slice, and a few were rotten and shriveled up from being in the refrigerator too long.

Because I was hoarding the mangoes instead of eating them right away, the majority of them were wasted.  The lesson learned is this:  Mangoes need to be picked and then eaten.  Waiting is wasting.  I now eat mango almost every day when it is in season, or I give the away to friends and family who appreciate them.

Here is the investing lesson that correlates to mango:  Learn and do your research (grow the tree, pick the ripe fruit), then do it (peel, slice, eat).  Jump in instead of waiting on the sidelines.

I meet a lot of people in investment classes that are learning as much as they can and researching this or that, but they are not investing.  They have great excuses.  I had a great excuse about not eating our mangoes – not the right time.  It was a bogus excuse and the cause of lost opportunity.

Please eat and enjoy your mangoes instead of putting them aside for a better time.  In your life, do something other than just watch on the sidelines or wait for the perfect time.  The time is now.  Get in the game to enjoy the victory and perfectly ripe delicious mangoes.

Here is a mentor minute from Raymond Aaron with the same message, though not about mangoes:  Achievements connected to Action.