The Mexican Fisherman Story contains a very important life lesson about productivity, creating a lifestyle by design, the sometimes-pointless pursuit of more, and asking ourselves WHY we do what we do each day and whether it aligns with our end goal.
In this episode, I share my understanding of this story and why it is important to know if your employees are fishermen or bankers.
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Full Transcript
Today I’m dedicating this episode to one of my favourite stories, which contains a very important life-lesson about productivity, creating lifestyle by design, the sometimes-pointless pursuit of more, and asking ourselves WHY we do what we do each day and does it align with our end-goal?
As you listen to this story, I want you to reflect on where you are today and where you want to be in the future; the next 5, 10 or maybe even 20 years from now.
The story itself revolves around two characters, The Mexican Fisherman and The American Investment Banker.
As also want you to think about which one you currently are, and which one would you prefer to be.
And… think about what you would need to sacrifice to live the life of the American Investment Banker, or what you would need to give up and not pursue, to live the life of the Mexican Fisherman.
So, here’s the story…
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village in Mexico 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 him 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 and didn’t need anymore.
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 set up?”
To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”
“But then what?”, 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 a very rich man.
You would make millions!”
The fisherman said, “Millions. Wow – then what?”
And what the American said next is the point of this story, he said, “Then you would retire.
You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you could 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.”
It’s a great story, but…
The part I find funny is the ending, when the banker says, play with your kids, because by now, 15-20 years later, the kids are grown up and gone; they’ve moved on, and I’m sure some of his guitar playing amigos may have even passed on.
In the end, in the pursuit of more, he would be losing more than he gained, based on what made him happy.
And it’s important to note that the banker did not say that the end-goal was making millions. The end-goal was the ability to spend time with family and friends when he wanted to, just as the fisherman was already doing.
Even the banker knew that money itself is meaningless, it’s what you can exchange it for that is important.
So, right now, are you more like the fisherman or the banker?
Earlier on, I mentioned what would you be willing to sacrifice to live the life of the Banker, or what you would need to give up and not pursue to live the life of the Mexican Fisherman.
But… do you need to make that choice, and can you have both?
Good question.
I think you can have both as long as you are in touch with both your business and lifestyle needs.
There will be times when your business and your team need YOU to act like the banker.
You’ll need to put in longer than usual hours, show leadership and give direction, but then there will be times you need to put that sombrero on your head and chill out under a shady tree with a cold Corona, metaphorically speaking of course, and enjoy what you’ve achieved and everything life has to offer.
As you progress through your career you can fluctuate between the fisherman and banker, especially as you reach certain milestones and goals in life.
If you find you’re in banker-mode too often, more often that truly you’d like to be, you will feel an uneasiness within you.
And… if you wear your sombrero too long when you know you should be working and doing more, it will cause the same uneasy feeling.
This is why you need to constantly be asking yourself, WHY! Why are you doing what you do each day?
And, as my friend and past guest of the podcast Deb Johnstone would say, ‘and for what purpose’.
Think about the fisherman, he already had everything he needed, and he was content and happy.
So, an extra 50 fish each day for the fisherman would mean very little to him if he had to sacrifice time with his children, wife and amigos.
I’ve often said to my wife, if 20 million suddenly landed in our bank account tomorrow, what would we do differently…and to be honest, very little would change.
I would still be working with my current coaching clients one-on-one because it makes me happy, and without a question I would still be doing this podcast because I love connecting with people around the world, however instead of doing my interviews via Zoom I would fly my guest to my million-dollar private recording studio in Cairns.
And I’m sure some of those podiatrists that turned me down would be throwing their hands in the air for a free trip to Cairns.
But seriously, not a lot would change other than over indulging in things I don’t really need, and this can sometimes be the trap or the rat race we fall into.
The rat race is often described as self-defeating; blinding you into chasing that which may already be beside you.
How many times have you not attended an event, or passed on spending time with family and friends because you’re working hard to spend more quality time with them in the distant future?
I did this for many years until it was pointed out to me. Someone asked me once why I worked so hard and my response was so I could spend more time with my family.
You can see how that makes no sense.
Soon after that, my daughter, who was four or five at the time asked me why I was away all the time. This was at a time when I had multiple clinics around the state, and I was doing a lot of travel.
Her question broke my heart and it was at that moment that I made the decision to slow down, consolidate and get my life back.
We work longer hours to the detriment of our health in the pursuit of a lifestyle that we think will make us happy. We convince ourselves that if I have this…I will be happy.
And as we make more, we buy more. The toys get bigger, faster and more expensive and cycle continues.
Now if you’re doing that, working hard, buying bigger and more expensive toys and you’re absolutely loving it, then don’t stop.
I think you should keep riding that wave of enjoyment for as long as you can because I did it for years and I loved every minute of it, but at some point, you’ve got to step back, reflect on your achievements and ask the questions, WHY and “for what purpose”?
If you know your WHY and for what purpose, and it still excites you, then keep heading down that path and don’t let anyone stand in your way.
You see, the reason I love the Mexican Fisherman story so much is because a good friend of mine, who has also been a guest on the podcast numerous times, Dr Jesse Green, often refers to me as the Mexican Fisherman because he knows I’m very happy and content with where I am in life.
Jesse and I talk at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, and every now and then I’ll run a business idea past Jesse, one that’s been spinning around in my head for a while, and he will say, ‘that’s a great idea’, followed by, ‘but you’ll need to give up the Mexican Fisherman lifestyle, are you prepared to do that’?
And, my answer is always NO.
This is why you need be surrounded by good friends and good mentors. People that will challenge your thinking and get you to think outside of the pursuit of more.
Getting more patients, expanding and growing a business and making more money is so easy, but knowing when to pull back and enjoy what life has to offer, well…that’s far more difficult.
I’ve had coaching clients who wanted to set up additional locations, and I’m a big fan of growing and expanding, but when I have them weight up the positives and negatives, and ask the questions WHY and for what purpose, some choose not to pursue an additional location…and then have thanked me afterwards.
Here’s something else I’d like you to think about.
In your business, do you know if your employees are aspiring fisherman or bankers?
The reason you need to know this is because it will help with productivity, employee satisfaction and quality of life for both you and them?
It’s difficult to make a fisherman and banker and vice versa.
And… would you prefer to have more fisherman or bankers on your business?
When I think about some of my previous employees, some frustrated the hell out of me, while others were like a dream come true.
I came to understand that my fisherman employees were very happy and content, and time with family and friends, and life experiences far outweighed anything materialistic over and above a nice home and car.
If they had to choose, they would much prefer to go camping for the week with their family then attend a podiatry conference and trying to incentivise them with money never motived them to work any harder, however additional time off did.
I used to find this difficult to comprehend because at the time I was the banker.
And then on the other hand, my employees who were also bankers were motived by money and what it could buy them, (bigger car, bigger house, better holidays, etc) and they loved incentives, especially ones related to making more money.
And at the time, I loved them because that’s where my head was at as well.
So, are you chasing fisherman or bankers?
Depending what you need in your business right now and where you are in your life’s journey, one will definitely be better suited to you.
If you’re a fisherman and very happy with where you are in life, you may prefer to work with other fisherman who will do exactly what is required in your business to steady the ship, however, you may prefer to employ bankers who will want to drive your business, allowing you to live the fisherman lifestyle.
As I always like to point out, especially in my solo episodes, because these are the episodes the trolls love to hate the most…there is no right or wrong answer or way to approach life, it’s what works best for you and what makes you happy.
Because long-term happiness is key.
You’ve got to find your balance between the fisherman and the banker, that’s what I’d like you to take away from this episode.