"The purpose of your life...
... is not to serve your business, but the purpose of your business is to serve your life." ~ Michael Gerber, The E Myth.
posted by Scott at
10:39 PM
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Business and Life
I saw this story about a fisherman on one of my business forums I am a member of, and it is a good reminder about business and life. The fisherman at first has everything he wants, but the banker/MBA thinks he should have more, more, more...
NO!
Love what you do, do what you love...
I personally am not out to make millions or even 6-figures...
I want to have a job where I can provide comfortably for my family, not have any debt, have the freedom to travel when I want, and spend time with my family...
Before you read the fisherman story, here is another story:
How would I define rich?
Let’s look at two examples:
A friend of mine spent 8 years investing his money. His portfolio yields him around 42 grand a year. In some areas that’s chump change; but in his area that’s comfortable. He works maybe 3 or 4 hours a week balancing his numbers, making bank deposits, phone calls, (that’s sort of thing) poolside with a corona in his hand. If he wants to go skiing in Colorado for a few months, he goes. If he wants a newer car, he pays cash. If he wants to spend his morning loafing around his house in a pair of slippers, he does. He lives his life with minimal time constraints, almost zero stress, and he works as often or as little as he wants. He’s happy, calm, and comfortable. He’s rich.
Another friend of mine has a combined household income with her husband of over 450 thousand a year. They are in debt up to their eyeballs after blowing all their money on obnoxious status symbols. Between their mortgage, private school tuition for the kids, country club memberships, and other living expenses, they are just barely keeping their heads above water. It is not uncommon for them to be dead broke by the end of the month and they’ve even had to borrow money from their parents a couple of times when things got really bad. My friend has to work 60 hours and week and barely ever sees her children. She is being treated for depression and sometimes complains that the stress is so bad that she often has panic attacks. She’s poor.
Do you see where I’m going with this? It’s not the dollar amount that makes you wealthy. It’s the time you have to put forth to make yourself personally comfortable. Personal comfort varies for everyone, but I would say that a person who spends 1 hour a week to be comfortable is richer than the person who spends 70. Whether takes you 25K a year to be comfortable or 200K is moot. Time is the only tangible luxury.
Okay, on to the fisherman story...
----
An American investment banker was walking by the pier of a coastal Mexican village when a fisherman docked his small boat nearby and tossed several large yellow fin tuna onto the dock.
The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked, “How long does it take to catch them?”
The Mexican replied: “Not very long — maybe a couple of hours, senor.”
The American then asked why the fisherman didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish.
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs and was happy with that.
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 siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life which I enjoy very much.”
The American rolled his eys and said, “I’m a Harvard MBA and could help you. Here’s what you should do: Spend more time fishing. You get more money, and with that, you buy a bigger boat. Then you can catch more fish, and buy an even bigger boat. If you work hard, then soon you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor. If that works out, then you open your own cannery. At that point you would control the product, the processing and the distribution. And, you could leave this little town and move to Mexico City, or LA and or even New York City. From there you could run the whole thing by phone, Fedex and the Internet.
The Mexican fisherman thinks this over for a minute and then asks, “Interesting. How long will this all take?”
The American thought for a little bit, took out his calculator and punched in some numbers, and then announced “I think you do this in only 15-20 years.”
“But what then?”
The American laughed and said, “Here’s the beauty of the whole thing. When the time is right you announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You could make millions!”
The Mexican thought this over for a little longer, staring out to sea and thinking about what millions would buy. He asked, “Okay. Millions.. then what?”
The American said, “This is the best part — you would retire. 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 friends.“
NO!
Love what you do, do what you love...
I personally am not out to make millions or even 6-figures...
I want to have a job where I can provide comfortably for my family, not have any debt, have the freedom to travel when I want, and spend time with my family...
Before you read the fisherman story, here is another story:
How would I define rich?
Let’s look at two examples:
A friend of mine spent 8 years investing his money. His portfolio yields him around 42 grand a year. In some areas that’s chump change; but in his area that’s comfortable. He works maybe 3 or 4 hours a week balancing his numbers, making bank deposits, phone calls, (that’s sort of thing) poolside with a corona in his hand. If he wants to go skiing in Colorado for a few months, he goes. If he wants a newer car, he pays cash. If he wants to spend his morning loafing around his house in a pair of slippers, he does. He lives his life with minimal time constraints, almost zero stress, and he works as often or as little as he wants. He’s happy, calm, and comfortable. He’s rich.
Another friend of mine has a combined household income with her husband of over 450 thousand a year. They are in debt up to their eyeballs after blowing all their money on obnoxious status symbols. Between their mortgage, private school tuition for the kids, country club memberships, and other living expenses, they are just barely keeping their heads above water. It is not uncommon for them to be dead broke by the end of the month and they’ve even had to borrow money from their parents a couple of times when things got really bad. My friend has to work 60 hours and week and barely ever sees her children. She is being treated for depression and sometimes complains that the stress is so bad that she often has panic attacks. She’s poor.
Do you see where I’m going with this? It’s not the dollar amount that makes you wealthy. It’s the time you have to put forth to make yourself personally comfortable. Personal comfort varies for everyone, but I would say that a person who spends 1 hour a week to be comfortable is richer than the person who spends 70. Whether takes you 25K a year to be comfortable or 200K is moot. Time is the only tangible luxury.
Okay, on to the fisherman story...
----
An American investment banker was walking by the pier of a coastal Mexican village when a fisherman docked his small boat nearby and tossed several large yellow fin tuna onto the dock.
The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked, “How long does it take to catch them?”
The Mexican replied: “Not very long — maybe a couple of hours, senor.”
The American then asked why the fisherman didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish.
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs and was happy with that.
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 siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life which I enjoy very much.”
The American rolled his eys and said, “I’m a Harvard MBA and could help you. Here’s what you should do: Spend more time fishing. You get more money, and with that, you buy a bigger boat. Then you can catch more fish, and buy an even bigger boat. If you work hard, then soon you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor. If that works out, then you open your own cannery. At that point you would control the product, the processing and the distribution. And, you could leave this little town and move to Mexico City, or LA and or even New York City. From there you could run the whole thing by phone, Fedex and the Internet.
The Mexican fisherman thinks this over for a minute and then asks, “Interesting. How long will this all take?”
The American thought for a little bit, took out his calculator and punched in some numbers, and then announced “I think you do this in only 15-20 years.”
“But what then?”
The American laughed and said, “Here’s the beauty of the whole thing. When the time is right you announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You could make millions!”
The Mexican thought this over for a little longer, staring out to sea and thinking about what millions would buy. He asked, “Okay. Millions.. then what?”
The American said, “This is the best part — you would retire. 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 friends.“
posted by Scott at
5:51 PM
