Yesterday, a prospective advertiser stopped by the shop. After telling him I had enough advertisers working for me (I have about six), he must have got flustered and asked, "Don't you want to increase business here and expand to more and more stores?! I can help you do that."
I told him, "Actually, business is right where I want it. We are at pretty much full capacity on the weekends, the ads I am currently using are working great. I couldn't really ask, or handle, more."
"Now is the time to expand your brand, open more shops!", he said At this point it was clear I wasn't going to pick up any new advertisers (him included).
I said, "Listen, and try to understand. I work seven days a week most weeks. I love the work. My customers like seeing me here every time they come in, a lot of them for the last seventeen years I've been open. I come to work everyday at noon after dropping my daughter off at school on the way to the beach to surf a couple of hours. I can take time off to watch my daughter play volleyball. My commute to work is about 10 minutes. If I opened more stores, I would have to split my time between them, not see my customers here, double or triple my stress level, and rest assured, quality of my product WILL go down on the nights I'm not at any of the shops. Business here has increased every year I've been open." And then I said the words that no person I've met (here in America) believes. I said, "I'm comfortable and make enough money to be happy."
"You can't tell me, you made more money this year than last year, in this recession!" he said sarcastically
"Yes, I did."
"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"
"I don't need you to." I said smiling.
He turned and quickly walked out.
For years now, I've noticed that every time I tell someone, I'm satisfied with my career and make enough money to live comfortably, and am not interested in busting my ass just to try to increase my income. (Don't get me wrong, everyone that knows me knows I already bust my ass and put in a lot of hours. But I enjoy it and the people I work with.) They can't understand it. I think it might be an American thing.
Usually, I wouldn't write a post like this, but Mark called today and told me about this story he read and thought about me. It was strange both incidences happened less than 24 hours apart.
The Mexican Fisherman
An American investment banker was at the pier of 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 you stay out longer and catch more fish?"
The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."
The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your 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."
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 Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then?" 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 and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions?...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."
-- Author Unknown
ENJOY LIFE TODAY, YOU'RE NOT PROMISED TOMORROW. -- Sean Murphy and maybe Confucius probably
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