You May Already Be There

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village. A tourist
complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and
asked how long it took to catch them.

"Not very long." they answered in unison.

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to
meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children and take siestas
with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our
friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We
have a full life."

The tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help
you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell
the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger
boat."

"And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second
one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of
trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then
negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your
own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico
City , Los Angeles , or even New York City ! From there you can
direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?"

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years" replied the tourist.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting,"
answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big,
you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.


"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the
coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a
siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying
your friends."

And the moral of this story is: Know where you're going in life...You may already be there.


(From a viral email)