06: How do you know when you have enough?
there's a parable of the fisherman and a banker...
Let’s keep it light today, shall we?
Before we go on, can you play this song while reading: To Build A Home by The Cinematic Orchestra & Patrick Watson (hopefully with good earphones or speakers)?
I had initially planned to share some thoughts on comfort zones and was already more than 60% into it, before I accidentally saw a post on Instagram that caught my eye and changed my newsletter schedule. It was a collaboration post between @bymilan & @sahilbloom.
Allow me to share it with you.
The banker visits a small fishing village and meets a local fisherman.
“How long did it take you to catch these fish?” the banker asks.
“Only a little while,” the fisherman replies.
“So why didn’t you fish for longer?”
“I have everything I need,” the fisherman says.
“I fish for a while, have lunch with my wife, go into town, drink wine, play music, and laugh with my friends.”
[The banker, of course, can’t help himself]
“You’ve got this all wrong, here’s what you need to do” he says.
“You need to fish for longer, so you can use that money to buy a boat, then that boat helps you buy a third and fourth… you create an enterprise for fishing.”
“You move to the big city, take the company public, and one day you’ll make millions!”
“And then what?” the fisherman asks.
Let me say that again in case it wasn’t loud enough.
“…Enough is knowing when more adds nothing!”
Sometimes, growth disguises itself as escape.
Sometimes, ambition is a mask we wear to avoid asking a harder question:
What does “enough” actually look like—for me?
“If you don’t define it before you begin, you’ll end up chasing a horizon. The goal posts keep moving forward. Enough is knowing when more adds nothing” – Milan
We’re told to dream big, to build, to position ourselves, to keep pushing. And that’s not inherently wrong. At all at all, it’s a big part of what Jisike is about as well.
But how & where do we draw the line between growth and grasping?
Between building a life and bulldozing through one?
What if the “more” we’re chasing is only useful when we know what it’s for?
What if success isn’t in the scaling, but in the stillness it buys us?
What if “enough” isn’t a finish line, but a feeling we keep postponing?
Consider today less of an answer session, and more of a question, and a personal invitation to pause.
To define “enough” before the world does it for you.
To measure progress not just in metrics, but in meaning.
By all means, please and please, keep going—but know why you’re going!
And maybe, just maybe, learn when to stop. Or at least, pause.
Keep Breathing.
Jisike!💪🏾