Today I want to share with you a very brief — but brilliant — story written by Mark Albion that I recently discovered. It’s known as the parable of the Mexican fisherman. I hope it encourages you to reflect on your goals in life — and the strategy you’re employing to reach them:
The Parable of the Mexican Fisherman
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, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos: I have a full and busy life, Senor.”
The investment banker scoffed, “I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you. You should spend more time fishing and then buy a bigger boat with the proceeds. Then, with the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats until eventually you would have a whole fleet of fishing boats. That way, instead of selling your catch to middleman, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. Then you could control the product, processing and distribution.”
Then the banker 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 Senor, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “Fifteen or twenty years — if you worked really hard, maybe a bit less.”
“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, Senor? Then what?”
To which the investment banker replied, “You’d retire. You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you’d sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with all of your amigos.”
The Moral of the Story
According to Albion, the story is intended to make us think about why we do what we do — preferably, before we start doing it. But don’t think that Albion believes everyone should be following in the fisherman’s footsteps; he doesn’t:
The point is to get you to question, not one (approach) or the other, but maybe some mix of the two, varying throughout your life. It is to question if you are ‘growing’ a company, or going after a promotion, to make sure you know why — that is to examine your life; not to take certain values for granted.
Most people who get on life’s treadmill are conditioned to continually crank the dial up, rather than scaling it back. But that presupposes that more is always better. It’s not.
That’s not to say there is anything wrong with climbing the company ladder. Or moving up to a bigger house; or even buying an expensive luxury car. However, those choices usually come with consequences that impact our lifestyles in other ways. For example: less family time, increased stress at home and the office, and/or reduced discretionary income.
The key is in truly knowing what you really want in life — as opposed to what you think you need.
Photo Credit: pedrosimoes7
I went through a version of this self-awakening myself a couple of years ago. I realized that I been telling myself “Someday, if you work hard and make tons of money you can retire to the mountains, own some land, tinker, fix, hike, and bake all day.”
Eventually I realized that if I frugalize enough, I can make that happen 30 years BEFORE retirement age. Why spend the glory days of my life working in cube?
Already a couple of close friends have said “Man, I hope to do the same thing someday when I’m retired.”
For what it’s worth, Mr. F., I am in Albion’s camp; for me, there is a balance somewhere between going all out for the brass ring and simply kicking back and enjoying this carousel of life we all find ourselves on.
The fisherman’s life is certainly romantic — but I do want the ability to afford a few things in life beyond playing with the kids, taking a siesta with the Honeybee, and strolling into the village to sip wine and play guitar my amigos. And that requires more ambition than the fisherman has got — if only a little bit.
I think the difference between the two scenarios would be security, without the money from building his business and retiring, the fisherman and his family are a couple of bad fishing trips away from starving. It is the difference between a job and a hobby.
I hear you, mb. Then again, that is why we all save money — or at least are supposed to.
Yeah mb….I call it Squirrel Mentality. Put away enough nuts for winter.
My neighbor is a chiropractor. At one point he had built his practice – had a receptionist, a bookkeeper, and another employee. Then he realized he was working extra long hours to pay them.
So he cut back his practice, and does all that work himself – boom! Fewer hours.
And if the economy continues to flounder, I think more and more people will have the same epiphany, Marcia.
The point which the businessman is making is full of sense. He sees potentials in the fisherman. If I were the fisherman, I would go out of my comfort zone to see what the world has to offer. There’s no harm in trying especially when your aim is to bring better future for the family.
But, a lot of times your family doesn’t want the “better” lifestyle, they want you, the kids want family time, even if its a small home.
A dear friend of our daughter (when she was a teen) proved this. She had everything: Horses, mansion, pool, exotic vacations, new BMW for her 16th. My kids had a stay at home mom, small house, and vacation was camping. The friend spent more free time with us then at home, to the degree that she told me about her engagement before her parents, to see if I approved.
Her parents worked so much that family meals were at most twice a month. Her housekeeper and (when younger) nanny knew her likes more than her own parents. She never went to the college as her parents planned, she is a stay at home mom.
After she got married, she gave her parents as much time as they gave her. To this day (20+ years later), she keeps in touch with us.
All I am saying is, make sure that your actually doing whats best for the family, not for your own dreams, if that is the justification your using.
Great observations, Dave. Thank you!
It’s easy to say that the key is deciding what you want in life. The hard part is figuring out exactly what that is and then doing it. But you can put me firmly in the “middle ground” approach advocated by Albion and Len.
We need to ask ourselves..Do we work to live or do we live to work? 🙂
Always loved this story, and it’s one of the inspirations for me going on my own journey to FIRE. I began to realize that spending more and having ‘nicer’ things wasn’t making me happier, and that I should be like the fisherman and just appreciate the life I have now. Sadly, so many people are like the businessman that it can be hard to just exist, you know?
There’s a word that seems rather lacking in today’s world: “ENOUGH”. A few years ago, we downsized and moved, and are now enjoying a simpler life, with ENOUGH; enough time, enough money for our needs and a few wants, and enough time to enjoy life. It was a GREAT decision!
I think as a society we’ve been brainwashed into wanting more and more of everything . Yes we all have a lot more “stuff” but we’re working like crazy to acquire it. I’m with Cicero when he said, “If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need.”
Truly, very little is needed to make a happy life.
Hey, Mindimoo! Nice to see you! It’s been awhile!
Part of the problem is that once you start having “nice” stuff, you tend to always want to have it. When I was young, I was happy staying in Super 8, Best Western, you name it. But then when i started working in a law firm I always got to stay in nice hotels on the client’s dime. Then I was no longer content to stay in motels where I was perfectly happy before. The same thing happens with first class on airlines (which thankfully I still can’t afford when I’m flying for personal reasons!), food, etc.
None of these things make us “happy” — but denial of them can make us “unhappy,” if we have the wrong state of mind. And it’s a very hard mental state out of which to break.
Great point, James. I completely agree with you.
And what if the fishing business venture failed…….if prophets making a profit are so smart then why are they still working ???
Maybe because they’re making a profit?
Mark Albion, a sports writer, has written five books I believe. (Fiction and non-fiction ). I highly recommend “Tuesdays with Morry” and “The Five People You will Meet in Heaven”.
I thought that name sounded familiar. Thanks, Kev!
Kevin & Len – Nope. It’s Mitch Albom who wrote those books. I’m holding one on my lap as I type. Don’t know about this Mark Albion. Two very different people.
Gotcha! Thanks for the correction, Liz. 🙂
When I was 49 , 20 years ago, we downsized, sold the house, and moved to a rural area….bought an old crap shack on a beautiful river and rebuilt it into a small home. The kids were gone and starting their own lives by then. Anyway, I did all the work having been a carpenter in a previous life. Used some extra funds from selling the place in town to buy an additional 16 acres. The list of stuff/changes goes on and on, but one day 12 years ago I did some basic math and decided to retire…at 57. My wife pulled the pin at 55. My boss had asked me to take over a pre- apprenticeship carpentry program and I declined because it would have taken at least another 5 years to get it running properly, 5 more years of extra worry and stress. My friends and co workers thought we were nuts, until they visited us. We heat with wood (electric backup if we go away)….the wood is cut on our own property or we use old growth cull from a local logging company. The stove is modern, with glass doors, and almost 80% efficient. Wood heat is also considered to be carbon neutral. Every winter morning I toss in a couple of more pieces, relax and drink coffee while staring at the flames…classical music on the xm radio and my best friend (our Jack Russell) in her bed at my feet. When it is light enough we will go for our morning walk, return for tea and a chat with my wife, then start the day based solely on the weather. This winter I am building a new kayak so there is always something to do whatever the weather might bring. Sunshine allows outside choices and rain means shop and music.
Siesta every noon, right after lunch.
But this is my story and not for everyone….. for sure. However, the gift is being able to choose what to do every day and the responsibility for our happiness is ours alone. When I was younger (24) working and working and more working at a few different jobs, my father in law exhorted me to just get the house paid for asap. “Have no debt” he said. “When I was young I was always broke, but when the house was paid for I always had $100 in my wallet”, was his advice. Yes, we do live where there is universal health insurance and no premiums so that is a huge difference, but the debt factor is the main criteria for personal freedom. When the daily news and proposed changes gets too whacko to even contemplate, I always joke about planting more potatoes. Our last mainstream news program was Nov 5, 2024. Now we watch just evening local news, and read online BBC or The Guardian. Skip the crazy stuff….read more books. If the economy crashes we’ll be okay.
Nothing like settling down in front of a nice fire on a cold winter morning – or evening. My retirement is much the same as yours, Paul. I wake up around 6 in the morning, put a pot of coffee on, walk the dog two to three miles (rain or shine), come home to relax and enjoy a couple of cuppas, work any chores that need to be done around the house or yard, and then go from there.