Are you hauling buckets or building a pipeline?

Are you hauling buckets or building a pipeline.

I was told this story a while back, and it has really stuck with me.

There was this man who lived in a small village in the middle of no where.  It was a great village, and life was good.  This man provided for his family by hauling buckets of water from the lake 2 miles away from his village.  Every morning he would grab his yoke with two buckets attached to it, and make the long walk to the lake.  When he made it back to the village, he would sell his water to the villagers.  Everyday his inventory would sell out, because everyone wanted what he was selling.  It was a good job, because everybody needed what he was selling, and he had amazing job security.  If he needed to make more money, he would simply make more trips to the lake and back again.  This is how he provided for his family, and supplied the village with water.

Well, another villager saw this and though "Wow, I need to take advantage of this.  That guy has perfect job security.  Everybody needs his product."  So he fastened two water buckets to a yoke, and he also made the daily 2 mile journey to the lake for water, just like the other villager.  And like the other villager, everyone needed his "product," and he was making a good living.     But, what the second villager did, is instead of making multiple trips to the lake a every day, he only made one trip to the lake.  With his extra time, he began digging a trench, and laying a pipeline.  I guess you could say he was working full-time on his job, and part-time on his fortune.  

So while the first villager was making multiple trips per day, and making more money,  the second villager only hauled one trip of water to the village a day.  This trip ensured his family was taken care of.  Then he was working nights, and overtime, creating his pipeline. He had to overcome obstacles, such a rocks in the ground, but he was persistent, and continued to work hard on this pipeline.  

Well, a few years later he finally finished the pipeline, gets it to the village, and turns on the spicket.  Now at this point, everyone in the village can come and get as much water as they need.  It is cooler, cleaner & fresher then the water he was hauling in buckets.  It is also cheaper, because less labor is now involved.  

This second villager built a literal pipeline of water, but he also build a financial pipeline as well.  Something that will pay him, and his family, and take care of their needs, for the rest of their life.   

So the question is, are you hauling buckets?  Or are you creating a pipeline?