What the story of the fisherman really does is put us in touch with our dissatisfaction. We all have dissatisfaction, and getting in touch with it is a good thing. Identifying aspects of personal and professional dissatisfaction is critical, and if the work-life balance conversation has done anything it has certainly helped people to get in touch with their dissatisfaction. But once we are in touch with it, we usually tell ourselves that it is unavoidable or that radical changes would be required to improve our lives in any meaningful way. More often than not we tend to fantasize about some impossible version of the fisherman’s life as the solution to our dissatisfaction, but do nothing about it.
You can do something about your dissatisfaction, and you would be surprised at how the simple process outlined in this book, consistently applied to your life, can transform a drowning sense of dissatisfaction into an incredible joy for life.
Living a more satisfying life is possible. Experiencing a deep sense of satisfaction both personally and professionally is possible— at the same time. You do not have to sacrifice personal satisfaction to have professional satisfaction— or vice versa.
You could have the life of the fisherman, and if that is what you really want, this book will help you to get it. But I’ll say it again: I don’t think you really want it. So, for you, this book will help you get in touch with your dissatisfaction, personally and professionally. It will also help you identify what matters most to you. It will help you design a life that aligns your daily activities with your values and priorities so that you can live a deeply satisfying life both personally and professionally. And that life will be even better than the fisherman’s life— for you.
What we admire about the fisherman’s life is the satisfaction it seems to bring him. We all yearn for that satisfaction.
