Today, a friend of mine invited me to go out and drive around Bali.
We planned to visit some rice terraces and then Mount Batur.
At first, I thought about saying no as it would be too far and I wouldn鈥檛 be able to work the whole Sunday.
And I鈥檓 so involved in building AnotherHabitTracker.
But then I remembered a little story that I read in The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris.
I鈥檓 going to put it here:
“A businessman was at the pier of a small coastal village when a fisherman docked his small boat. Inside the boat were several large fish.
The businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
‘Only a little while,’ the fisherman replied.
‘Why don鈥檛 you stay out longer and catch more fish?’ the businessman asked.
‘I have enough to support my family鈥檚 needs,’ said the fisherman.
‘But,’ the businessman then asked, ‘What do you do with the rest of your time?’
The fisherman said, ‘I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life.’
The businessman scoffed, ‘I have an MBA from Harvard 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 owning 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 a big city to run your expanding enterprise.’
The fisherman asked, ‘But, how long will this take?’
The businessman replied, ’15-20 years.’
‘But what then?’ asked the fisherman.
The businessman laughed and said, ‘That鈥檚 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 businessman 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, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends.'”
Do you understand how stupid we are sometimes?
What鈥檚 the point of building an internet business?
To make money and have freedom, right?
But for what?
To enjoy the world and the company of the people you like.
And there I was, almost losing the opportunity to have a great time in Bali with my friend to spend more hours doing work that can easily be done another time.
But thank God I went!
It was an amazing day!
I reminded myself that Bali is so much more than Canggu and all the touristy artificial things.
I saw the jungle part, the more local areas, stunning rice fields, crazy volcanoes, a huge lake鈥擝ali has it all!
Very grateful for the day.
Let鈥檚 not forget that it鈥檚 okay to be ambitious and have big goals, but it鈥檚 even more okay to slow down and enjoy the journey a couple of times!
I hope you had a great Sunday like I had.