This is a Great Story that relates to priorities and what is really important when it comes to Work and Business: Enjoy!
To
relax, a businessman took a vacation to a small coastal fishing
village. Unable to sleep after another urgent phone call from the office
the first morning, he walked out to the pier to clear his head. A small
boat with just one fisherman had recently docked, and inside the boat
were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the
fisherman on the quality of the fisherman’s catch.
“How long did it take you to catch them?” the businessman asked.
“Only a little while, a few hours.” the fisherman replied.
“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more?” the businessman then asked.
“I have enough to support my family and enough to give a few to friends,” the fisherman said as he unloaded them into a basket.
“But… What do you do with the rest of your time?”
The fisherman looked up and smiled. “I sleep late, fish a little, play
with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll into the
village each evening, where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I
have a full and busy life.”
The businessman became proud and
stood tall. “Sir, I’m a Harvard M.B.A. and can help you. You should
spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. In no
time, you could buy several boats with the increased haul. Eventually,
you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”
He continued,
“Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly
to the consumers, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control
the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this
small coastal fishing village, of course, and move to Mexico City, then
to Los Angeles, and eventually to New York City, where you could run
your expanded enterprise with proper management.”
The fisherman asked, “But, senor, how long will all this take?”
To which the businessman replied, “15-20 years, 25 tops.”
“But what then?”
The businessman laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time
is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the
public and become very rich. You would make millions.”
“Millions? Then what?”
“Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village,
where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a
siesta with your wife, and stroll in to the village in the evenings
where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends.”
(This story has been told online in various forms, and told by Tim
Ferris in The 4-Hour Work Week. I am not the original author of this
story.)
Who do you relate to more, the businessman or the
fisherman? In our busy, must drive towards more, often we feel a pull
that the businessman’s ideas are the way to go. However, most of us also
feel the pull that we wish we could ‘just’ do what the fisherman is
already doing.
“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more?” the businessman then asked.
“I have enough to support my family and enough to give a few to friends,” the fisherman said as he unloaded them into a basket.
“But… What do you do with the rest of your time?”
The fisherman looked up and smiled. “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll into the village each evening, where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life.”
The businessman became proud and stood tall. “Sir, I’m a Harvard M.B.A. and can help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. In no time, you could buy several boats with the increased haul. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”
He continued, “Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village, of course, and move to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles, and eventually to New York City, where you could run your expanded enterprise with proper management.”
The fisherman asked, “But, senor, how long will all this take?”
To which the businessman replied, “15-20 years, 25 tops.”
“But what then?”
The businessman laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.”
“Millions? Then what?”
“Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village, where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll in to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends.”
(This story has been told online in various forms, and told by Tim Ferris in The 4-Hour Work Week. I am not the original author of this story.)
Who do you relate to more, the businessman or the fisherman? In our busy, must drive towards more, often we feel a pull that the businessman’s ideas are the way to go. However, most of us also feel the pull that we wish we could ‘just’ do what the fisherman is already doing.
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