The parable of the Mexican fisherman is the point: the twenty-year plan often arrives back where you started. Its use is not as an argument against ambition but as a prompt to ask what the work is for. For students choosing courses and careers under pressure, the question worth answering early is which parts of the life you want are available now rather than after.

What is it all for?

Based on some tangential discussions with parents this week regarding the future of their children, I have decided to present to you a short story from a newsletter I closely follow myself, which itself sourced the material from Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral. Seeing the pattern here? Not all plagiarism is bad, as excellently explained in this book by Austin Kleon. I digress.

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Back on topic, I hope we can all reflect on this fantastic parable to realise what life goals you and your children should be working towards and why...

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What is the parable of the Mexican fisherman?

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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 yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

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The Mexican replied, “only a little while.”

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The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

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The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

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The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

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The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”

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The American scoffed. “I have an MBA from Harvard, and can help you,” he said. “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, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.

Instead of selling your catch to a middle-man, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening up your own cannery. You could control the product, processing, and distribution,” he said. “Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually to New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

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

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To which the American replied, “Oh, 15 to 20 years or so.”

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“But what then?” asked the Mexican.

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The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time was right, you would announce an IPO, and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions!”

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“Millions – then what?”

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The American said, “Then you could retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.”

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What else is worth reading?

What are the honest limits of this piece?

This is an opinion piece rather than research: it argues from experience and from the sources it cites, and reasonable people disagree with it. Where it makes a factual claim, the sources below are the place to check it.

There is a free, government-run service for exactly this:

“We provide careers information, advice and guidance. We can help you make decisions at all stages in your career.” — National Careers Service

Where can you check this at source?

The claims here about work, money and how people rate their lives are measured nationally: