The Story Of The Mexican Fisherman: A Cautionary Tale

This post contains affiliate links that help supports this blog and cost you the exact same. If you do not wish to use affiliate links, then feel free to google the product.

The Classic Story of the Mexican Fisherman and the American Investment Banker

Have you heard the story of the Mexican fisherman and the American businessman? It goes like this:

A Mexican fisherman is out fishing for the day in his little boat. He casts his net and pulls in a good haul of fish. After a few hours, he makes his way back to shore when he sees an American businessman walking along the beach.

The businessman sees the fisherman and calls out to him, asking how many fish he caught that day.

The fisherman replies, “Enough to feed my family and have some left over.”

The businessman then asks, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman shrugs and says, “I play with my children, drink wine with my wife, and play guitar with my friends. I live a simple but happy life.”

The businessman scoffs and says, “You should be working harder, those fish only took you a little while to catch! If you worked harder, you could catch more fish and make more money. You could buy a bigger boat and hire more fishermen to work for you. Then you could really start to make some progress.”

The fisherman smiles and nods before responding, “I see, and then with the bigger boat and extra fishermen working for me, what would I do?”

Enthusiastically the businessman responds, “well then, you can continue to expand and run several boats and hire even more fishermen, and eventually, you can come to New York with me and take your company public. Then you sell your company stock, and with all the extra money, you wouldn’t have to work anymore.”

Grinning, the fisherman asks, “with all this time and money, what would I then do with my life?”

With complete satisfaction, the businessman boldly claims that he could spend his time doing a little fishing, playing with his children, drinking wine with his wife, and playing guitar with his friend.

What the Mexican Fisherman Story Means

This story is often used as an example of the different mindsets between those who are never satisfied and those who are happy with what they have.

The American is always striving for more; he is ambitious and always looking for ways to improve his lot in life. But on the other hand, the Mexican is content with what he has and understands what makes him happy.

While there’s a lot of wisdom in the traditional interpretation (that we should search for gratitude and happiness), I think there’s a different lesson to be learned from this story—a lesson that’s relevant for all ambitious folks.

The Key Lesson Is

Play your own game.

For some, that game will be to build a fishing fleet, and for others, it will be to make enough to get by and spend the rest of their time in leisure.

The game is for each person to decide, and it is no more correct to tell someone ambitious that they should slow down than to tell someone enjoying leisure that they should be more productive.

We all have unique desires, passions, and beliefs (some of mine are discussed here).

However, each of us must find our own way and build our own life plans.