Ditching What's Realistic to Aim Higher: The Story of Two Fisherman
Brendan Barca
Co-Author of The Daily Buddhist with Pema Sherpa (Coming out May 2025 with HarperCollins) | 📘 Pre-order the book now 👇🏻
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PSA: My wife and I have another blog called The Daily Buddhist that comes out every Wednesday.
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Two fishermen sit together at the bar after a long day's work.
"How was your catch today?" one fisherman asks the other.
"Another tough day out there for me," sighed the other fisherman. "How about for you?"
"Oh really? That's too bad. To be honest, I did great. I filled up the entire bed of my truck with tuna, salmon, and cod."
"What? How in the heck did you do that? There were so many other boats out there today. They gobbled up all my fish!"
"Oh I see," replied the successful fisherman. "Well, where were you fishing?"
"Right off the north shore. You know, where we all go!" He takes a sip from his pint. "You must've been out there too."
"Actually... no," he responded. "I was out by the gulf stream."
"Out by the gulf stream!!" shouted the other fisherman, nearly choking on his beer. "You're crazy. No one goes out that far."
"Well, not no one," answered the successful fisherman. "I go out there nearly every day. It's great fishing and there isn't a soul in sight."
The majority of us are either afraid of or think we're incapable of doing great things, so we settle for mediocrity. We apply for safe schools rather than the ones that we think are "out of our league." We go for jobs that "make sense" given our age and experience rather than our dream job.
The problem with this approach is that the competition is steepest when we aim at realistic goals — because everyone else is doing the same thing. This strategy leads to a cluster of competition and a lack of opportunity as it did for the unsuccessful fisherman who fished out by the north shore.
On the other hand, those who are unafraid and willing to shoot higher, like the fisherman who journeys out to the gulf stream, actually face less competition and therefore can find greater success. The fishing is actually easier out where the water is at its deepest.
The next time you consider going for the "safe approach," consider this paradox. Might you actually be better off aiming higher and venturing out further than others are willing to go?
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PSA: My wife and I have another blog called The Daily Buddhist that comes out every Wednesday.
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