I came upon a great story in the web written by Heinrich Ball.
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican
village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat
were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the
quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The
Mexican replied, “only a little while.”
The American then asked why
didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican said he had
enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The American then asked,
“but what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman
said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my
wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play
guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”
The American
scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time
fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the
bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of
fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell
directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would
control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this
small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually
NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman
asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American
replied, “15-20 years.”
“But what then?”
The American 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?”
The American said, “Then you
would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep
late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to
the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with
your amigos.”
The moral of the story — Know where you’re going in life —
you may already be there.
