I know what’s your first question is.
What’s the difference between being wealthy and being rich?
Being wealthy and being rich synonymously involves with having a lot of money. But, the main difference between wealthy people and rich people is knowledge. Wealthy people are motivated by their dreams that’s why they know how to make money while rich people are only motivated by money.
The moment rich people stop working, they also stop making money. Whereas, wealthy people can build sustainable wealth that can last for years through asset and investments which produces multiple streams of income.
In line to that, I would like to share just a short story. This story was originally written by Mark Albion (Apr 19, 1999). A story that has been shared by many.
This story, I believed has changed so many lives and I’m sure it will change yours too.
A young businessman was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Seeing several large yellow fin tuna inside the small boat, the wealthy businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of the fish and asked how long it took to catch them. “Only a little while”, the fisherman replied.
A little surprised, the young business man asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” The content fisherman said, “This is enough to support my family’s immediate needs. I don’t need any more.” “But what do you do with the rest of your time?” asked the confused young man. “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a walk with my wife, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my buddies; I have a full and busy life.”
The lad 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 LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The fisherman asked, “How long will this all take?” to which the young man replied, “15-20 years.” “But what then?” The business man 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, sir? Then what?”
“Then you would retire, move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a walk with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your buddies.”
So what is it that makes you truly happy? If you had all of the wealth in the world, what would your days be like? Understand this and you’ll chase many dead-ends in your days.
I hope this inspires you as much as it has inspired me.
Best,
Allon