I was listening to the Tim Ferris Show the other day and he said something that stuck in my mind. It was simple and brilliant.

When you feel you have to do something, ask yourself ‘why?’ three times.

Tim was answering the question, ‘If he had to build an audience from scratch starting today, what would be the best way to do it?’

Before diving into the answer, he took a step back and questioned whether ‘building an audience’ was even the right thing to do.

I love that. It’s so simple, yet so often we get fixated on what we think we should do and jump in with two feet.

Taking a step back and asking if there is a path of lesser resistance that can get us to our goal faster — can be extremely effective.

That’s where asking yourself ‘why?’ a few times can help.

Why do you need to build an audience?

You might say ‘well, I need to have people to sell to, when I release my product’

Why do you need people to sell to when you release my product?’

You might say ‘otherwise I won’t be able to build a profitable ‘passive income’ business’

Why do you need to build a profitable ‘passive income’ business?

You might say ‘So I can have freedom to travel the world and do a, b or c.’

Aaah. So, if the true goal is having the freedom to travel the world to do a, b and c — is building an audience from scratch the right way to go about it?

In fact, building an audience from scratch, creating a good product and selling it is super hard. It can take years to pull off — if you even manage to pull it off at all.

Perhaps volunteering or getting a job abroad for the next couple of years is a quicker and better way to see the world?

You could be in another country within a couple of months, maybe sooner…

Not that volunteering or getting a job abroad is the right answer. The point is, by stepping back and asking why a few times, you might be surprised what it is you actually want and the best way to get it.

I’m going to use this trick over the coming months and hopefully save myself some time.

I’ll leave you with two things that popped in my mind as I wrote this.

The first is a Louis CK, about kids asking ‘why?’. Take away: You might not want to ask ‘Why?’ too many times ☺

Lastly, an old fable called ‘The fisherman and the businessman’. I love coming back to this from time to time. It’s a reminder about living with less and also fits nicely with the path of least resistance.

Enjoy!

The fisherman and the businessman

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?”