Why Wait Until Retirement To Maximize The Joy In Your Life?

There’s a Mexican proverb that goes something like this:

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.

The Mexican replied, “Only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate 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 siestas 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, and 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 LA, and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

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

To which the American replied, “15 – 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 siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Maximizing Your Joy Today

When planning for your retirement, it’s natural to hold off on things. We get into a routine of working, moving up the corporate ladder and living every day the same. But what if we learned from the proverb above and maximized our joy today, instead of working harder with the intent to have more down the line?

Sometimes, the effort that it takes to get “more” later in life comes at a greater cost in the here and now. The countless hours of overtime may be wasting precious time with your family that you’ll never get back. While we have to work to survive (or at least most of us do), we can also work on making the most of our time every day, and keeping our lives as balanced as we can so that we’re not just working to an end goal and then regretting the time that we’ve wasted in between.