An investment banker was once taking a vacation in a small fishing village in Mexico, where he ran into a fisherman who had just docked a small boat with several, large fish in it.

The banker asked the fisherman how long it took to catch the fish, and the fisherman replied “only a little while”.

The banker asked what the fisherman did with the rest of his time, and he replied “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll into the village every evening where I drink wine and play guitar.

The banker then told the fisherman that he was a smart businessman who could help him. He proceeded to explain a plan where the fisherman could spend more time fishing, use the proceeds to buy a bigger boat, and eventually have an entire fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling to the middleman, he could open his own cannery and have full control of processing, production, and distribution.

The banker said “Of course, you would have to leave this small village to run such a growing enterprise.”

The fisherman then inquired how long such an endeavor would take.

The banker replied “I’d say 15-20 years.”

“Then what?” the fisherman asked.

“That’s the best part!” said the banker. “At the right time you could IPO, sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You could make millions!”

“Then what?” replied the fisherman.

To which the banker replied “Then you could retire. You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your children, take siestas with your wife, and stroll into town every evening where you could drink wine and play guitar.”

Sometimes in our lives we get caught up in our own goals and ambitions

We have constant focus on the end result.

When in reality, the journey to get there is the reward and endgame we were looking for all along.

What do you think?

#FishermanAndTheBanker #Entrepreneurship #StartupTips