Once upon a time (not another bloody farm story!), in an enchanted forest where the animals talk like humans do (you happy now?), there lived a big bad wolf who was the big boss man of the forest.
The wolf has a lackey in the fox. The fox never fails to seize every opportunity to please and suck up to the wolf. It’s not all altruistic. By siding with the wolf, the fox can gain from the scraps that the wolf throws at him from time to time…
One day, while both of them were searching for prey to ease their hunger pangs – they have not eaten anything for 2 days now – they spotted a rabbit nibbling at the carrot patch some 20 metres away.
The fox said confidently, “Boss, I see dinner! I will catch the rabbit for you. No need to trouble yourself for this small prey.”
The wolf looked at the fox and then spied at the rabbit and smiled, “Don’t bother… I bet you can’t catch it.”
The fox was not offended. He just gave the wolf a wry smile and gave chase to the rabbit immediately. The fox thought to himself, “The silly old wolf thought I don’t know. He is using reverse psychology on me to spur me on!”
After 10 minutes of fruitless chasing in circles, the fox finally gave up and walked sheepishly back to the wolf.
“How did you now I can’t catch the rabbit?” asked the fox and he tries to catch his breath.
The wolf patted his front paw on the fox’s shoulder and laughed, “My young friend, you ran for dinner; but the rabbit ran for his life!”
Both of them had a good laugh despite their growling stomachs. And off they went searching for “less motivated” prey.
Acknowledgement: This story was inspired by La Papillion’s comment in a blog quoting Star Wars' Jedi master Yoda: There is only do or do not – there is no “try”.
Can you see the link between the fox and the rabbit and the below pairs?
1) A salaried worker and an entrepreneur?
2) A part-time trader trading for extra pocket money and a full-time trader trading for a living?
3) An investor investing to protect his wealth versus an investor investing to grow his wealth?
The ancient Chinese in their infinite wisdom have 2 idioms for it:
破釜沉舟; 背水一战
So would more safety nets help or hinder our journey towards financial freedom?
Singapore Man of Leisure (welcome to my blog; just google it!)
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