FEATURE STORY
A corporate executive, on holiday in a
small Greek seacoast village, was strolling by the docks and taking in
the local color. He complimented one fisherman on the quality of his
catch. "How long did it take you to get all those fish?" he asked. "Not very long," answered the Greek. "An hour or two."
"Then why didn't you stay out longer to catch more?"
Shrugging, the Greek explained that his catch was sufficient to meet his needs, and those of his family.
The executive asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take
a nap with my wife. In the evening, I go to the village to see my
friends, dance a little, play the bouzouki, and sing songs. I have a
full life."
The executive said, "I have an MBA from Harvard. I can help you.
You should start by fishing longer every day. You'll catch extra fish
that you can sell. With the revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With
the extra money the larger boat will bring you, you can buy a second
boat and a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of
trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can then
negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your
own plant. You can ship fish to markets all around the world. In time, you can then move to New York City to direct your huge enterprise."
"How long would that take?" asked the Greek.
"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the executive.
"And after that?"
"When your business gets really big, you can sell stock and make millions!" exclaimed the executive
with zeal.
"Millions? Really? And after that?"
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a small village
near the coast, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, catch a few
fish, take a nap with your wife, and spend your evenings singing,
dancing, and playing the bouzouki with your friends."
What is success? Ask yourself some hard questions. Why are you doing the things
you are doing? What do you really want from life?
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