Let me tell you a short story I heard quite a while ago. We might call it “The Fisherman and the Businessman.”
In a quiet fishing village, a vacationer watched a fisherman return to shore with just a few fish. “Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the businessman.
The fisherman replied, “This is enough for my family. I spend the rest of the day with them, relax, and play music with my friends.”
The businessman smiled. “If you worked harder, you could buy more boats, build a fleet, start a company, and eventually sell it for a lot of money.” “And then?” the fisherman asked.
“Well,” said the businessman, “then you could move to a small village, do a little fishing, spend time with your family, relax, and play music with your friends.”
The fisherman laughed: “But that’s exactly what I’m already doing.”
My conclusion? Other people’s goals will cost you your life.
This story came back to me on our most recent cruise. I first heard it years ago at a seminar.
Back then, I met people who had worked hard all their lives—long hours, nights, always grinding. Often in jobs that gave them ulcers, brought them closer to heart attacks, or led to constant fights at home. Because money was always the most important thing.
And then, to recover from all that suffering, they spend their hard-earned money on a vacation—to get what they otherwise don’t have in their daily lives.
Don’t get me wrong: It’s totally okay—and necessary—to earn money to pay the rent.
The real question is: What are you sacrificing for it?
I know a lot of people who do what they do just for the money. They get no joy from it.
They work themselves into the ground just to buy with money what they might already have with a different lifestyle: A good time. Rest. Joy in life.
Last week, we talked about goals. So—what’s your goal? Maybe it’s money. Why? So you can go on vacation and finally relax? Great deal.
“Norman, come on. Be realistic. If I want to go to exotic places, I need money…”
That may be true. But here’s my question: Do you know anyone who travels to exotic places and earns money doing it, instead of spending it? No? Think again. Who’s writing you this newsletter right now?
Anke counted the other day—we’ve taken 18 cruises in the past few years. “But you’re just lucky that you get to give talks on board…” Nope. That has nothing to do with luck. It’s by design.
This way of working and traveling—we designed it over the years. And believe me, ten years ago, I didn’t see any way to make it happen either. How? With what? For whom?
What it needed was: A goal. An idea. A desire. Not an answer to “How?” The path reveals itself once you feel a deep longing in your heart—and you follow your intuition. Even if it’s uncertain. Even if it’s scary.
What do you really want? That’s your question of the week. Or better: What do you really, really, really want? And what’s one small step you can take now to at least move roughly in that direction?
Back then, we went on cruises as regular guests. That’s how we made our first contacts.
Step by step—toward our own goal. It is possible. Because if we could do it, so can you. As soon as you start believing in yourself—and simply take the next step.
Of course, you probably don’t have time for that. You have to earn money. And do things you don’t enjoy… But one thing’s for sure: If you keep thinking the way you think, you’ll keep getting what you already have.
It’s time for change. Only if you feel like it, of course. And if you have the time. Or just leave things the way they are. Maybe everything’s fine as it is.
And if not, maybe share this idea with someone who grumbles and complains their way through life every day. Because only they can change it. If they want to. Or someday have to.
