A boat docked in a tiny Irish fishing village.

 

An American tourist complimented the local fishermen on the

 

quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch

 

them.

 

 

"Not very long." they answered in unison.

 

 

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

 

 

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient

 

to meet their needs and those of their families.

 

 

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

 

 

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take

 

relax with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to

 

see our friends, have a few drinks, play the fiddle and sing a few

 

songs. We have a full life."

 

 

The tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can

 

help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can

 

then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you

 

can buy a bigger boat."

 

 

"And after that?"

 

 

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a

 

second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire

 

fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man,

 

you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and

 

maybe even open your own plant.

 

 

You can then leave this little village and move to Dublin, London

 

or even New York City !

 

 

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

 

 

"How long would that take?"

 

 

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.

 

 

"And after that?"

 

 

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really

 

interesting, " answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business

 

gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make

 

millions!"

 

 

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

 

 

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near

 

the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish,

 

take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and

 

enjoying your friends."

 

 

"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing

 

now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" they asked.

 

 

And the moral of this story is:

 

 

Know where you're going in life...  you may already be there...