I ran into this parable recently and found it powerful. It helped me re-evaluate what I’m after in life. Check it out.
A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.
“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.
The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life.”
The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”
“And after that?” asked the Mexican.
“With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”
“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.
“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.
“And after that?”
“Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”
“Millions? Really? And after that?” asked the Mexican.
“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”
And the moral of this story is: ……… Know where you’re going in life…you may already be there.
Know where you’re going in life…you may already be there.
Social conditioning has us all messed up. We are scattered. We have been advertised to billions upon billions of times. We have been exposed to social influences that have us wanting more. We have been conditioned to never be content, to keep up with the Jones’ and strive to be like the Kardashians. Bigger and more.
We have been told that life is not enough. We have been sold on the idea that more is the answer. Superficiality, consumerism, and a cloud of discontent surrounds the average person as a result. How about this instead:
Stop buying the unnecessary.
Stop buying false solutions.
Determine who you are and what you’re about. Create your own life; your values, your beliefs, your systems for living based on what makes you happy.
Have you taken time to evaluate what that is?
As a young guy of 25, I have just purchased my first house. Looking at this post its made me wonder wether that move was one I made for myself or made to ensure a brighter future.
Clearly I could spend my time travelling like many of the other young adults my age but I chose to get myself locked into a mortgage. I guess this post has really made me muse over some of the decisions I have made in the past and will be making in the future.
It’s all about what you man! That’s the beauty of it. Traveling seems glorious but it’s not for everyone. Owning a house seems glorious but it’s not for everyone. It takes wisdom to overcome ‘the grass is greener’ syndrome that plagues almost everyone. I know I’m still trying to gain that wisdom myself.
The ending surprised me, although in retrospect it is obvious where it’s heading. Very poignant. What you said before about laughing at painful truths, it would apply here but I didn’t even crack a smirk.
Great post Sam.
It is a great exercise to look back on what we have done. Maybe to reflect or maybe to see where we have come from. I have always thought I was doing the right thing… go to school, get a good job, buy a house, invest for the long term.
But it really doesn’t matter. It is about the journey and about knowing that if we have goals and ambitions we will get to where we want to. To what we love, enjoy and are passionate about.
I know I could be in better financial shape, have more in my savings account and be more advanced in my career and I am completely happy knowing I have friends and family I love to spend time with, enjoy immensely what I do and have time to think and reflect on what is important.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
We just have to trust that maybe we can connect the dots as we look backwards and reflect on what we have done.
Thanks again!
Great parable and article; it’s 100% true.
Social conditioning is nothing more than choices which are pushed upon you (via your particular culture/society), with the fear of consequence for choosing otherwise. Since most people lack emotional self-discipline to fear, they give in to fear-based thinking, feeling and acting 99% of the time. The only thing stopping them from choosing another way is their emotional response to fear.
Too many people are slave to the whims of their temporary emotional states, and this is precisely what allows such manipulation/ignorance to occur. In the end, it is the choice of action pursued by the individual that generates the results they get in life. Believing the media hype and social conditioning will leave you in the same spot (making the same choices) as billions of others. Only by consciously choosing your own path do these chains of oppression fall free.
I’ve recorded a podcast (www.thinknowlivenow.com/media) asserting self-discipline as the driving force of personal growth. I’m sure most of you will find the content here invaluable, as it approaches personal development from a slightly different angle. It is these deep mental and emotional issues that keep us from making the types of choices (that eventually lead to the types of actions) which liberate instead of bind.
-Jason @ ThinkNowLiveNow (http://www.thinknowlivenow.com/starthere)
Great parable indeed. Why should we waste much of our time for something which is already been there? Why complicate if the best things in life comes in the simplest form, right?