Immediately, I’ll share a brief parable that has made the rounds through the years on esteemed web sites. Each time I learn it, it makes me pause and look inward. The story is also known as “The Banker and the Fisherman” or “The Mexican Fisherman” – and it brings a lesson in the great thing about simplicity and gratitude over blind ambition.
For these curious, the story has been adopted and modified with a determined (and applicable) American taste through the years, however it seems that the origin of “The Mexican Fisherman” story was by means of a brief story “Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral” (“Anecdote regarding the Decreasing of Productiveness”), revealed by a German author, Heinrich Böll, in 1963.
Benefit from the story – I’ll share a number of ideas after.
“The Mexican Fisherman”
An American funding banker was on the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with only one fisherman docked. Contained in the small boat had been a number of massive fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the standard of his fish and requested how lengthy it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “Solely a short while.”
The American then requested why he didn’t keep out longer and catch extra fish.
The Mexican mentioned he had sufficient to assist his household’s rapid wants.
The American then requested, “However what do you do with the remainder of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman mentioned, “I sleep late, fish a bit, play with my youngsters, take siesta with my spouse, Maria, stroll into the village every night the place I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I’ve a full and busy life.”
The American scoffed. “I’m a Harvard MBA and will enable you to. You must spend extra time fishing and with the proceeds, purchase an even bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the larger boat, you can purchase a number of boats. Ultimately, you’ll have a fleet of fishing boats. As an alternative of promoting your catch to a intermediary, you’ll promote on to the processor, finally opening your personal cannery. You’ll management the product, processing, and distribution. You would want to go away this small coastal fishing village and transfer to Mexico Metropolis, then LA and finally NYC, the place you’ll run your increasing enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman requested, “However how lengthy will this take?”
To which the American replied, “Fifteen to twenty years.”
“However what then?”
The American laughed and mentioned that’s the most effective half. “When the time is true, you’ll announce an IPO and promote your organization inventory to the general public and grow to be very wealthy; you’ll make tens of millions.”
“Tens of millions?” requested the fisherman. “Then what?”
The American mentioned, “You then would retire. Transfer to a small coastal fishing village the place you’ll sleep late, fish a bit, play together with your youngsters, take siesta together with your spouse, stroll to the village within the night, sip wine, and play guitar together with your amigos!”
The Classes I Take from “The Mexican Fisherman”
There are a number of large classes that I take away from “The Mexican Fisherman”. The primary is that it’s a sharp critique towards blind ambition and pursuit of more cash versus easy residing – at a time when that’s a lot wanted (notably on this nation).
Generally the straightforward, staple items that can provide us true happiness are proper in entrance of us, if we solely might study discover happiness and gratitude in “sufficient”. And this story actually emphasizes the “why?”. Asking ourselves that query till our solutions attain they’re logical conclusion earlier than opting to tackle more and more tense work roles and obligations to earn increasingly more cash in jobs that we aren’t obsessed with (or generally hate), is about as central to our happiness because it will get.
The second lesson that I take away, is that the pursuit of more cash, as a aim unto itself, actually has no which means, worth, or objective. Research present that when our revenue is sufficient to comfortably cowl all of our fundamental wants, beneficial properties in happiness from more cash are fairly minimal. What worth does incremental wealth convey if the gadgets it means that you can buy don’t convey incremental happiness?
A Criticism of “The Mexican Fisherman”
The one a part of the story that I’d tinker with is that this: “The Mexican mentioned he had sufficient to assist his household’s rapid wants.”
There’s nothing flawed with catching some further fish to supply a bit little bit of safety for your loved ones, or, in case your love of fishing (or no matter it’s you do) dissipates. “Sufficient to assist rapid wants” could possibly be synonymous with “residing paycheck to paycheck” and that may be a fairly tense strategy to reside too. What occurs if the fish disappear, the boat sinks or is stolen, or he turns into too previous to fish anymore? There’s loads of wholesome spectrum between “sufficient to assist rapid wants” and “IPO tens of millions”.
How about this substitute, “The Mexican mentioned he catches sufficient to assist his household’s rapid wants, plus sufficient further through the years to indefinitely fund their present way of life.”?
Gratitude + saving sufficient to fund a easy, happy existence indefinitely (aka “monetary independence“) – now that’s a profitable combo. And if fishing is your factor, carry on fishing.