A poor guy came to meet a monk because he was tired of living a difficult and unhappy life. While sobbing excessively, he protested to the monk about how destitute he was. After a moment of crying, he asked the monk, “The world is so unfair.” “Why can the rich live comfortably while the poor suffer?”
When the monk heard his complaint, he smiled and said, “Then, how do you think the world can be fair?”
“By allowing the rich to become as poor as I am and do the same work as I do,” the impoverished man swiftly replied. If the rich continue to be prosperous, I will stop complaining.”The monk then consented to satisfy the poor guy’s request, making the rich man’s life as miserable as the poor man who always moaned about it.
Each of the rich and poor men was then given a mountain full of coal to mine and sell in order to make a living. The monk gave them both a month to finish mining the coal from the mountain. They both then began working on their tasks. The impoverished man, who was used to hard labor, found his new work simple. He had little trouble mining a large amount of coal.
In exchange, he earned a lot of money from his coals and was able to support his family. Meanwhile, the affluent man, who was not used to hard labor, discovered that mining coal from the mountain was incredibly tough. He spent a long time mining a modest amount of coal. The rich man only obtained a wheelbarrow of coals after the sun had set.
He then sold it and bought merely a bun for dinner. The affluent man then saved the money he had left over after purchasing the bun. The poor man went to work as normal the next day, while the rich man went for a walk in the market. Soon after, he hired two poor men to work for him. Both of the poor guys were tall and powerful, making them ideal for the grueling work at the coal mine.
The wealthy individual did not work. He merely offered his new employees instructions. The affluent man amassed a large amount of coal in a short period of time. He soon sold the coals and utilized the profit to hire more employees. That day, he made far more money than the poor man who worked alone. After a month, the poor guy had not completed the duty assigned to him by the monk.
He also had no savings because he spent all of the money he earned from selling coals on great food. Unlike the poor man, the rich man now had a vast workforce and was able to extract a large amount of coal while profitably. Later, the affluent man used his profit to invest in a variety of businesses, soon returning to his previous level of wealth. Finally, the poor man gave up and stopped complaining.
The key to success, it appears, is… Success is measured not by how much you can do, but by how many people you can persuade to undertake a variety of tasks for you! You can never achieve big things on your own, thus you will need the assistance of many others. So, if you want to be successful in a short period of time, always think of unique and inventive techniques!
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