Monday 5th of February 2024
The Story of the Mexican Fisherman
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 yellowfin 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 siestas 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 New York City, 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?” 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 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 siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
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 yellowfin 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 siestas 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 New York City, 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?” 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 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 siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
Tuesday 8th of February 2022
|
Just because you can acquire something, it doesn't mean you can maintain the thing.
Just because you can maintain the thing, it doesn't mean you can enjoy the thing. |
|
Monday 18th May 2020
|
Everyone talks about how important morning routines are to starting your day “right”.
You're not always going to have the luxury of starting your day with enough time, or in a place to go through your perfect morning routine. Your ability to be adaptable and get things done despite the fact that your beloved routine went to the dogs that morning is more valuable than the actual routine itself. Don't become a slave to it. Keep sight of your goals, figure out what you need to do in the grand scheme of things, then boil it down to the day ahead of you. Learn to mix it up and become adaptable, not bound by your routines. |
|
Thursday 7th May 2020
|
I hear a lot of people saying they'll never be able to do X, Y or Z. Often times the story you keep telling yourself and others around you has more power over you than the story that's actually unfolding.
Watch what you tell yourself and what you tell others. There's no greater tool than self awareness. Limiting yourself by repeating certain negative statements and words will make you bitter, resentful and empty. Be mindful of what you feed the machine. |
|
Tuesday 28th April 2020
|
No mind is achieved when a person's mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during competition, combat or everyday life.
There is an absence of discursive thought and judgement, so the person is totally free to act and react without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction (or instinct) or what is felt intuitively. We aren’t born with this. It’s something we must train. Pick your practice and your narratives wisely. |
|
Friday 21st March 2020
|
You can learn just about anything. From being less socially awkward, to playing an instrument or doing handstand. It doesn't mean you're going to be world class at it, but that's not the point. Aiming to be in the top 20% or even 30% at certain tasks or attributes will go a long way.
Specially if you compound different skill sets together. Think of the shelf stacker at your local supermarket that has good emotional intelligence, is a good public speaker, understands human psychology and to top it off he is tech savy, can play an instrument well and is in good shape. Let me tell you, he's not going to be stacking shelves for very long. He doesn't have to be an expert at any of those things, but that is nonetheless a powerful combination of skills, and if that's not an asset, I don't know what is. |
|
Wednesday 18th March 2020
|
A good general guideline is: Anything that you don’t have a choice about doing, you should strive to do well.
That includes eating, sleeping, working, moving your body, socializing, among others. Think of the bottom rungs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs here. Do the fundamentals well and things will start to fall into place for you. |
|
Tuesday 17th March 2020
|
We are social creatures. Everything we do is either directly, or indirectly linked to other people.
So don’t fool yourself thinking that you are the lone wolf, or the introvert who doesn’t do it for anyone else and doesn’t need anyone, because you do. Instead, embrace the fact that there are brilliant humans out there that have the potential of inspiring you, and affecting your life positively. Stay curious, and take some time for yourself to really figure out what has the potential to drive you forward. |
|
Monday 16th March 2020
|
Motivation isn't something that can be simply switched on. Otherwise, we would all be surrounded by ant like, over-productive people that never relent in their pursuits and goals. Motivation, isn't something that can be "trained" either.
Motivation is a bi-product of having an underlying mission or passion. In other words, a source of meaning. Meaning is the source of our sustenance. Don't go after the bi-product, go straight to the source. Pick wisely and be careful of what you attribute meaning to. |
|
Thursday 12th March 2020:
|
Today's thoughts and reflections are brought to you by The Local Motion Podcast.
This is hosted by Simon Stratton, founder of Local Motion Studios the first movement space in London and a dear friend of mine. He's kicked off a podcast and invited me as the first guest to have a chat with him. We discuss how to create a movement practice, exposure to fear and how to deal with uncertainty. We also share stories about the links and benefits between mental resilience and a physical practice. We finish with some book recommendations and educational accounts to follow. Grab a coffee and enjoy. Click below to have a listen:
|
|
Tuesday 10th March 2020:
|
If there's anything we can be certain of, its that we will all face hard and challenging times. These will manifest themselves in all sorts of different ways.
Don't wait to get caught like a rabbit in the headlights. Take stock of your situation and your potential risks, so that when something comes at you, you'll be that bit more prepared and resilient to deal with it and handle it. That means working on being an asset to yourself and your loved ones so they can rely on you. That means building a good support network of people around you that you care about, trust and vice versa. That means physically preparing yourself to deal with potential injury. It also means meditating on all sorts of potential deviations and disruptions in your grand plans to take over the world. Because there will be hurdles and black swans to deal with. So stand up straight with your head up, look over at the terrain ahead, whether that be at work, or personal life and start preparing yourself for the journey and it's potential challenges. |
|
