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.”
The Message
Know what YOU want and pursue it with a passion.
Most people waste so much time in the rat race pursuing what society tells them to value, only to realise that they already have what truly matters.
Get clear on what you actually want in your mind and do whatever it takes to construct it in reality.
So many people work without purpose and waste years in pursuit of a known outcome they probably don’t even want in the first place.
That known outcome is the default path people follow based what everyone around them is doing.
You know what your life will look like if you do what everyone else around you is doing because their lives are examples of the results you’re going to get.
Is this really the life you want or is it the life you've mindlessly settled for?
You need to take some time you figure out what you really want.
If no one else existed to influence you, what would your ideal life look like?
If you're thinking about money right now, it’s also senseless to have making money as your goal as money has no inherent value.
It's only valuable because we believe it's valuable. If there was an apocalypse, best believe it's the first thing people would be burning to keep warm.
The value of money comes from the story we apply to it, what it can buy, that motorcycle you've always dreamed of buying ever since you saw it in a film when you was kid.
But for all the things money can buy it can’t buy the most important things in life:
- Meaningful relationships
- Time
- Freedom
It’s smarter to start with what you really want, which are your real goals, and then work back to what you need to do to attain them.
Knowing What You Want
Money will be one of the things you need, but it’s not the only one and certainly not the most important one once you get past having the amount you need to support you and your family.
Money has the power to take away pain and discomfort but it won't satisfy your need to feel fulfilled.
Know yourself, know your mission and purpose follows.
Start by answering the below questions:
- What are my values?
- What do I want?
- Who will I have to become to achieve it?
You can’t skip the steps of enlightenment. Spend some time really thinking about this. Days, weeks, months, as long as it takes. These answers act as the foundations of your identity.
If you want to generate wealth in a meaningful way, you need to know the destination first, and it needs to be meaningful. A meaningful destination is what will take you on a journey that will change you for the better.
How do you know if it’s meaningful?
Well it needs to be something you’re passionate about that’s linked to something higher than yourself. Whether it’s your family, friends, or community, it needs to serve others.
Failure to bake in meaning and you’ll be that guy who attains wealth and then cries about how hard his life is now. Don’t be that guy.
Picture this: Many decades from now, you’re chilling in your comfy rocking chair, old as fuck, staring out the window, reminiscing on the life you created and the person you became with a sense of deep pride. At total peace. Smiling to yourself because you know you did what you were capable of doing here and left it all on the field of life.
Now, who do you need to become, and what do you need to accomplish to have that moment, getting to the end being proud of yourself?
Once you can confidently answer this, you’re ready to really think about the value you can add to the world.
Always remember, you were born to be the anti-hero of your story.
Free your outlaw.