Top all-time · #3133
Be More with Less
Personal blog · bemorewithless.comproductivityphilosophy
Be More with Less is a personal blog at bemorewithless.com about productivity and philosophy. Since 2013, 25 different Hacker News readers have linked it 29 times, most often “The Mexican Fisherman (2024)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (23) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog's post on the Mexican fisherman parable, a short story about working less and enjoying life, whenever threads turn to money, ambition, work or leisure.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 23 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
If you’ve been searching for a place to help you simplify your life, declutter your mind, and connect with your heart, welcome home.
Most-linked posts?
- The Mexican Fisherman (2024)22 people · 26 mentions · first linked 2017-04-21
- The Story of the Mexican Fisherman2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2014-11-10
What Hacker News says?
I spent my 30s in a VLCOL (very low cost of living) city. I’m now in my 40s and each year my sentimental feelings somehow keep growing. The small things in life: a local art museum, the local YMCA and its pickleball playing seniors, sauna, inline skating around lake paths, road cycling, local coffee roasters, a small upstart Italian restaurant, and of course my young kids. I’m absolutely in love with these things in…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “I am rich and have no idea what to do”Submitted The Mexican Fisherman (2024) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionAs someone who can sort of see things from both sides, I have opinions… I graduated from a small unknown college in the south in 1996. I moved to the major metropolitan area where I still live after graduating and by 2000, I was making around $70K. For reference, my rent was $600 a month and the 2700 square foot brand new build I bought in the burbs in 2002 was $175K. Life happened and by the time salaries for SV st…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession”Submitted The Mexican Fisherman as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI’ll give some real world numbers. Right now I make a little over $200K. I am 51, never struck it rich in tech and make the same as former intern I mentored when I was in BigTech between 2020-2023 and when they got back. They got promoted to an L5 (mid level) earlier this year at 25. We both worked in the Professional Services department. I’ve said no to opportunities that would have paid $250K - 280K that would hav…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office”Submitted Conversation Between MBA Graduate and Mexican Fisherman as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThere were tax implications. Paying the top executives a gazillion dollars wasn’t attractive because that was also a gazillion dollars given to Uncle Sam. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15161755 Another change since then was the rise of the corporate raider. Used to be that you could run a public company without profit as the primary motive. Parable of the Mexican fisherman, and such. ( https://bemorewithless.…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors”Submitted The Mexican Fisherman as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThe Mexican fisherman story [1] is what it comes down to for me. You can work a little, play a little, and generally have a good time with life and get by (Mexican fisherman), or you can start a business, work long hours, build a fleet of boats that makes a ton of money, and then sell it all someday when you retire, at which point you can work a little, play a little, and generally have a good time. (American busine…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “The one-salary experiment, ten years in”Submitted The Story of the Mexican Fisherman as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThis is less a reply and more for everyone else in the thread and page: I give you the parable of the Mexican fisherman[1]. There are some variations but the basic idea stays the same. [1] https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma...
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Are we too busy to enjoy life?”Submitted How to Create a Microbusiness that Matters as a story · 1 points
HN discussionhttps://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... "The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”"
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “So You Want to Open a Small Press Bookstore/Artist-Run Space? A Cautionary Tale”Well, there's always this: https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... I think there's a balance between technological and economic advancement and what really matters (creativity, love, friendship, leisure, no stress, etc) - and we're awful at striking that balance because we let society run on automaton.
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “14,400-year-old flatbread remains that predate known agriculture”Your old life reminded me of the Mexican fisherman story :) http://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman...
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “If money doesn't make you happy, you probably aren't spending it right (2010) [pdf]”The Story of the Mexican Fisherman https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma...
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “How much free time do you have?”I'm reminded of the fisherman story. Money is just a means to an end. Take some time, decide if you have a particular end in mind, and if you really need boatloads of money to achieve it. Otherwise, enjoy your freedom! Fisherman story - https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma...
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Ask HN: Is it okay to just bootstrap it, even when VCs are knocking?”You should read https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... (on of several instances of the story out there)
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Ask HN: Do people not have hobbies anymore?”Longer version: https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma...
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?”Every time I have a friend chasing money rather than happiness, I send them this... https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma...
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends”Sounds like you need to cut back, way back. ;-) https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... Walkable neighborhoods exist as well.
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “The benefits of not belonging”I’m saying that people who already have path dependencies and are making “enough” prioritize other things over the pursuit of money. https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... I know plenty of developers 40+ who would never give up their lives in the burbs of Atlanta (where I lived until this year) to move to the west coast. Even now, I’m almost sure that the new college grads who I work with (a…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “How to hire engineering talent without the BS”Your life journey reminds me of the parable of the Mexican fisherman: https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... Enjoy your retirement!
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Ask HN: What did you want to do before *life* got in the way?”I’m 51 and have had 10 jobs over 30 years. Those jobs have been everything from startups, to boring stable small and medium “lifestyle companies”, to boring big enterprise, to $BigTech and now I work in customer facing cloud consulting as a staff consultant. And I’ve never seen a market this shitty. Even after the dot com bust if you were a regular old enterprise dev - and at the time I had 4 years of experience as…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Ask HN: How do you balance creativity, love for the craft, and money?”I had this conversation with Dad a few months ago. He asked if I wanted to retire early and I said no. He asked why, and I told him if I could choose my week, I'd work part time on a video game project, golf 2-3x per week, get a date night with my fiancée, and an afternoon/evening with couple friends. I have all of that now (well, I golf 1-2x per week and work "full time" but on a project I like with people I like).…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Reasons Not to Become Famous”I make “enough” now that more money doesn’t have an impact on my life. I made “enough” when I was making in the $150s in 2020 that we didn’t even notice the difference when I fell into my current BigTech job where the intern I mentored got a return offer that was that much. We already had the big house in the burbs, retirement savings, etc. We are spending less per month now than we were when we already had “enough”…
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Coworkers Are Less Ambitious; Bosses Adjust to the New Order (WSJ)”I had a much longer reply. But just read the story of the Mexican fisherman https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... On a personal level, this is my life now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36767599 Do you really think I would give this up in exchange for more money and more stress?
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Ask HN: What side projects landed you a job?”Is endlessly seeking more truly _human_ nature? I'm reminded of the "Mexican fisherman" parable[0]. [0] https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma...
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “The Rot Economy”I feel like this stat is useless. Sure, it gives perspective that people in some other country don't value money, but they also aren't stuck on a computer all day doing a job they don't like. https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma... Plenty of American's making $40k/yr probably hate their lives/wish they didn't make $40k/yr.
Comment linking /the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
on “Money Is the Megaphone of Identity (2020)”
