How Much Do You Need?

It's one of my favourite teaching stories...

I'm sure you've heard of it.

But, just in case, and as a reminder for all those who have, here it is...

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.

As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.

The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”

The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”

“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?”

The businessman was astonished.

“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.

The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”

The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.

“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”

The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”

The fisherman asks, “And after that?”

The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”

The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

End of story.

I love this one because it highlights something so crucial...

We often overestimate what we need to be happy.

In fact, in my work as a coach, many of my clients have been ambitious people that, despite outward success, aren't that happy inside.

They feel like they're on a constant treadmill.

That there's an urgent need to get somewhere...achieve something...prove others wrong.

Often that treadmill has come from them thinking they need more to be more.

More money.

More success.

More respect and status.

Eventually, when that doesn't work, they find me.

Now here's my question to you...

How much do YOU think you need to be happy?

Studies show a 70K a year income is the sweet spot for many.

Which should take the pressure off your shoulders if you're listening to people telling you that you have to become a "million dollar coach".

I'm not saying you shouldn't do that or get to that level.

I'm saying that if you're doing it for reasons like more money equals more happiness...

...you're likely going down a dead end.

And 70K is a hell of a lot easier to hit than a million.

So do think about this stuff.

How much do you actually need to live the kind of life you want?

I know mine.

Make sure you know yours.

And if you want to master the same coaching methodology I use with my 1k an hour clients and do coaching part or full time, CLICK HERE

David