A Fishy Tale

Here is a well-known story that humorously illustrates why goal-chasing can stop you from enjoying the life you want…now.

An American businessman was at a pier in a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took 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.

The American then asked the Mexican how he spent the rest of his 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 amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor.”

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 NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then, senor?” 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. You’ll become very rich, you
would make millions!”

“Millions, senor?” replied the Mexican. “Then what?”

The American said, “Then 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 amigos.”

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Quote from Marshall Field

“One of the secrets of not having a nervous breakdown is not having goals.” — Marshall Field, founder of the large Chicago department store chain

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Quote from Bernando Bertolucci

“My only goal is to have no goals. The goal, every time, is that film, that very moment.” — Academy Award-winning director Bernando Bertolucci (”The Last Emperor,” “Last Tango in Paris”)

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The Voice of Tigger Dies

I was saddened to learn that Paul Winchell passed away June 26th. He is best known as the voice of Tigger on the Winnie the Pooh cartoons. For over six decades, he was a master ventriloquist, brining dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff to life on television. He was also an inventor who held 30 patents, including one for an early artificial heart that he built in 1963.

He contracted polio at age 6. In his biography, Winch, Winchell describes himself as a shy child with a speech impediment who was frequently beaten by his overbearing mother. He found sanctuary from his often grim home life by listening to the radio, especially the comedy of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, whom Winchell began to emulate after buying a book on ventriloquism at age 12. When he began trying out his act on classmates, using a dummy he constructed as a school art project, the socially awkward youth discovered that his talent made him popular for the first time. He found a true passion. And, as he learned to throw his voice, he gradually overcame his speech impediment.

This is someone who truly embraced his “limits” and used them as a source of power. His ventriloquism and voices entertained the world. As he once wrote on his website when he first learned to throw his voice, “Suddenly I had found my place in the sun.” It’s hard to believe that a man who was the voice of Tigger, Gargamel in “The Murfs”, and Boomer in “The Fox and the Hound”, once stuttered.

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Email from Visitor

I received the following email from a visitor to the website…

“I took a Goal Setting course in 1989. I reached one financial goal. Did not reach the others. Since 1989 life often interfered with my goal setting. Many of the twist and turns were painful, however I learned many lessons and because of those experiences my life if much richer. Goal Setting is over rated. Should I enjoy a wonderful Saturday reading and working in the garden or should I get down on myself because I wasted a Saturday by not ‘moving toward a goal?’ I’d rather enjoy just my Saturday. One day I decided to write down the happiest moments of my life. They included swimming under a waterfall, giving a speech in the Boy Scouts, playing the guitar, and dating my girl friend the summer after college. Not one of these happy events was the result of setting a goal!”

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