There is this old story about a Mexican fisherman and an investment banker
An American investment banker was taking a much-needed vacation in a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. The boat had several large, fresh fish in it.
The investment banker was impressed by the quality of the fish and asked the Mexican how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”
The banker then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican fisherman replied 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 replied,
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos: I have a full and busy life, señor.”
The investment banker scoffed:
“I am an Ivy League MBA, and I could help you. You could spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats until eventually, you would have a whole fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to the middleman, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You could control the product, processing and distribution.”
Then he added: “Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City where you would run your growing enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But señor, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied: “15–20 years.”
“But what then?” asked the Mexican.
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 could make millions.”
“Millions, señor? Then what?”
To which the investment banker replied: “Then you would retire. You could 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.”
This post is 1,061 words, about a 5 min read. ENJOY!
It is interesting the length we think we have to go to attain the things we already freely have. The things we trade away in exchange for what we already have.
Freedom is not about the money in the bank. It is about the way you want to live. We get to have that choice today not at some random date in the future. You can enjoy today and tomorrow.
This is a major lesson for me. I tend to view life through the lens of this quote:
Undervalue Past Achievements
Overrate Future Potential
Be Realistic with Current Challenges
This is a great quote about how we should plan out and face life. I don’t want to be the guy that is still talking about the time I won a high school state championship 30 years ago. I should have new mountains climbed and new accomplishments I am proud of.
It is also an excellent mindset to have in business and career. It is how I achieve the goals that I have for myself. It is how I have grown in my relationships and in my faith walk. It humbles and reminds me to never see myself as fully developed or think that I have arrived. I want to always look for ways to improve.
However, it can also be very detrimental if I see the present only as challenges to be conquered. Especially when it comes to my finances and my desire for financial independence. It puts me on a hedonic treadmill, chasing the next goal and the next accomplishment and the next (fill in the blank). Believing at that point I will feel happier. Leaving me no room to enjoy the greatest gift I have, which is the PRESENT.
I willingly give up the freedoms that bring me joy today. With the expectations and hope, that the joy I experience in the future will be much greater and will make up for all the sacrifices I made. Now for some things, this is absolutely true and necessary.
But not for everything. As Morgan Housel puts it:
Expectations are like a debt that must be repaid before you get any joy out of what you’re doing.
There is a balance that I am trying to strike between not being complacent with the opportunities that I have today. But also not sacrificing having a great beautiful tomorrow. A balance between celebrating the present and pushing for the future.
For me, it is a very difficult balance because I always see the challenges that are coming. I see the risks of not using the time I have right now to push ahead as much as possible. I worry about the opportunity cost of not doing everything right now.
However, I am learning to go from a mindset of EITHER OR to BOTH AND. Looking for ways that I can have a WIN-WIN outcome for myself.
Where I experience Freedom in the important areas of my life but also get TOTAL FREEDOM in the future.
Where I can have a nice wedding, be able to help my parents, travel, give, grow in my career, and grow in my faith walk.
AND achieve full FINANCIAL FREEDOM to do everything that I ever dreamed of. Where I am work optional, family time is mandatory, and sport travel is required.
Enjoying both the freedoms of my present life I have achieved by the Grace of God and the future life I will achieve by the Grace of God.
Sacrifice is necessary for any goal to be accomplished. But not everything has to be sacrificed. The question I have to ask myself is:
Can I design myself to live in a form of Freedom even though it may not be the complete vision of FREEDOM that I desire?
What are the necessary ingredients for that life?
Am I living a full life or a busy life?
Guess I gotta experiment but I guess that is life
GENEROSITY > greed
✌🏾
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Morgan Housel, Paying Attention. There is too much information today. How do we select what to pay attention to? Morgan's three great ways to keep the necessary things and get rid of the unimportant things.
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