Episode 27 · June 3, 2026
Water The Roots You Can't See Yet
About this episode
Chasing success often stalls when the scoreboard refuses to register the points you know you've earned. In this solo monologue, Ben Beeri reframes that frustration through the metaphor of a 100-foot tree that begins as invisible roots beneath the soil — roots that demand more nurturing than the trunk anyone can see. The episode sits in the broader territory of mindset, delayed gratification, and entrepreneurial resilience, arguing that trust is the only fuel that keeps you watering ground that shows no sprout. "If you don't water it, there will be no tree," he says, framing belief not as optimism but as the prerequisite for effort itself. The host closes on the idea of the scorekeeper who is always watching, even when the jumbotron stays dark, and the day the display finally turns on to reveal every point was recorded.
Transcript
Auto-generated from the episode recording, so it may contain small transcription errors.
Ben BeeriThe only way to find out if you actually have roots there is to know where you planted the seed and to continue watering it until you start seeing the tree sprout. I feel like a lot of us chase success. And in our pursuit of success, in our pursuit of certain results, we pause along the way when we don't see the points coming up on the scoreboard. We're shooting. You're taking your shot. You're making your shot, but the scoreboard doesn't register your points. There's something going on with a scoreboard where they're being recorded.
Your efforts are being recorded. Your wins are being recorded. Your points are being recorded. But the display, the big display that's up on the jumbotron doesn't reflect your score accurately. You're planting this seed. You're watering it. And you're looking to grow this massive tree. And there's nothing. There is nothing there. And you feel like your work and your efforts are just wasted. Like, when am I going to cut my losses? Because I have been on this path, and I'm trying to make something happen. Scoreboard doesn't show it. There's no tree fucking growing.
And it's frustrating because how much more energy can I spend? How many more shots am I gonna shoot? Is it even worth scoring anymore if there's no points being recorded? Is it worth me wasting my time to go and water this tree? I want to nurture this tree. I want it to grow. I know I need to put the effort in to water it. There is no tree. There is no stump. There is nothing. It doesn't show anything. The truth is, is every tree starts with roots and your tree can't grow without roots and the roots need to be nurtured much more than when the tree actually sprouts and grows, has a big ass tree trunk that everybody can see. It's a 100 feet tall. You have to nurture it at the beginning because otherwise, I can guarantee you there's never gonna be a tree. And as you keep watering, you don't actually get to see the roots. You don't get to see them. By the way, they might not be there. They might be there. The only way to find out if you actually have roots there is to know where you planted the seed and to continue watering it until you start seeing the tree sprout. Get yourself a little stump,
and you get that stump. You're like, I put in all this work for that. I wanted my 100 foot tree. All this work and I get this little stump. That's your test. Keep watering because your tree can't grow without water. And all that time you spent watering those roots, trusting that they were there, trusting that they were going to grow into that 100 foot tall tree, even though you couldn't see them, the roots know it. They know it. They know that you came every day, three times a day, your little watering pail, poured the water on them, and you gave them a chance to become a tree Because your roots will never become a tree if you don't water them, you don't nurture them, if you don't give them a chance to grow. And the path can be tedious. It can be long. You really might not actually know when or if you are ever going to get a tree. I can promise you one thing though. If you don't water it, there will be no tree. So if you believe in something enough and you want something enough, you have to put in the level of effort
to make it happen. And the only way you'll put in that effort is if you have trust. And if you trust that the roots are there, if you trust that your points are being recorded on the scoreboard. You show up every day. You water the tree. Take your shots. You make them. Scorekeeper's there. Scorekeeper's always there. The scorekeeper is always watching. There comes a day where you look at the scoreboard and none of your points were ever missed. They're all there. Scoreboard finally turned on. You walk outside.
You look up, you've got 100 foot tree. A 100 foot tree is there. And the 100 foot tree knows that during the beginning days, when you weren't sure if that tree was ever possible, that you still came every day and you nurtured it. You watered it. You trusted. You believed. You knew that that seed you planted was a 100 foot tree. And when you want a 100 foot tree in life, there's no guarantees, but there's only one way to make it happen. And that's to keep showing up, keep nurturing it, keep watering it. And every tree you've ever seen started as roots, and the roots cannot be seen.
They're beneath the ground, and you have to trust that they are there because the day you no longer trust that they are there, it doesn't even matter if they're there or not. There will be no tree. And every tree knows that because every tree that has grown every 100 foot tree was once roots, roots that were nurtured and watered by someone who had enough belief, someone who had enough trust, someone that had enough vision to look up and to know that seed is a 100 foot tree.