Dear reader,
I consider myself to be a fairly driven person.
What I mean by that is I know what I want to accomplish, and I am (usually) working towards those goals. I cannot point out a specific point in time where this drive for “escaping the ordinary life” began but I know it has been there for a long time. It may have been motivated because of where and how I grew up.
I’ve always wanted to accomplish things, build things, and become successful. And naturally, I have always considered living an ordinary life as an unsuccessful one.
But what does it even mean to be successful?
A couple of weeks ago, I was re-reading “The 4-Hour Work Week,” which had this story:
An American businessman had taken a vacation to a Mexican village. After being unable to sleep the first night because of an urgent business phone call, he decided to take a walk by the nearby lake.
While he was passing by, he saw a single boat with just one fisherman docked, and inside the boat were several large tuna fish. As the fisherman was leaving, the businessman complimented the fisherman for the quality of his fish.
“How long did it take you to catch those fish?” the American asked.
“Only a little while,” responded the fisherman.
The businessman inquired, “Why don’t you stay longer and catch more fish?”
“I have enough to support my family and give a few to friends.”
“But… What do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican looked up and smiled. “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Julia, and stroll into the village each evening, where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, señor.”
The American laughed and stood tall. “Sir, I’m a Harvard M.B.A. and can help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. In no time, you could buy several boats with the increased haul. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”
He continued, “Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village, of course, and move to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles, and eventually New York City, where you could run your expanding enterprise with proper management.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, señor, how long will all this take?”
To which the American replied, “15–20 years. 25 tops.”
“But what then, señor?”
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, señor? Then what?”
“Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village, where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”
Interesting story, no?
There is this quote that I often think of: “When we are young, we sacrifice our health to acquire wealth, and as we get old, we spend that wealth to gain back our health.”
But does this mean we should not be ambitious at all? Far from it.
The point that I’m trying to make is that we should not postpone things such as spending time with our family or giving time to our hobbies for after accomplishing certain things.
We should not escape the ordinary life only to achieve the extraordinary so that we can live the ordinary life again.
Do it only if you want to do it, not by accident. This should be a conscious choice, not a regret of “I never wanted this.”
I hope this will be an interesting food for thought.
I’ll see you next week.
Warmly,
Suraj
