For years you’ve been led to think of the fish, planted with the pilgrim corn, as fertilizer.
But the power of the fish came from using it in an untypical way.
Just like many misconstrued social “facts”, the story of the first pilgrims and the first “Thanks Giving” is much more harrowing than the grade school version I remembered.
This year, while preparing to pass down pilgrim facts at our traditional Thanksgiving feast, I uncovered a fascinating fact about Native American survival in the harsh and unfertile soil around Plymouth.
The Native Americas called it the “Three Sisters”
We all know about the “Indians” helping the pilgrims’ plant corn by placing a dead fish in the ground and then putting corn seed on top.
And that part is true.
Native Americans did indeed place dead herring fish in a mound with 3-4 corn seeds.
If you tried this with the same soil at the same historical time, your crop would have FAILED, and you would not have a Thanksgiving story.
As a matter of fact, you would be dead!
Why? Because it’s a “day trader’s tactic” and without knowledge of the “Three Sisters” you would bet set up for failure!
(Sound eerily like trading stock? Read on my friend, the similitude to finance goes root deep in this one…)
You see, most of the passengers on the Mayflower were from the city – places like London or Holland, where eating vegetables was something the poor did.
According to modernfarmer.com, most of the passengers were not skilled in gardening, let alone farming.
Yeah, I know, strange oversight, right?
Well, not really, you see the Mayflower was headed to the Virginias were there was a trade outpost and the passengers had been given the rights to settle as part of that trade outpost.
As a matter of fact, some passengers were out for a quick buck and brought more shoes and clothing to sell, than they did seeds to sew.
The problem was the winter winds kept the ship from going south and they were stuck finding shelter in Cape Cod.
They spent most of the winter in the Mayflower – hungry, cold, and their teeth were falling out from scurvy.
Half of the passengers and crew died that winter in 1620.
As it turns out, a Native American man, who had learned English after being sold into slavery, is the only reason we have Thanksgiving!
His name was Squanto, and after returning back to his home after escaping slavery in Spain, he taught the pilgrims the lifesaving “Three Sisters”.
I doubt that Squanto knew that the “Three Sisters” would one day become what we know as the AIS Triangle. However, the principles remain.
For the Native Americans, corn or “maize” was the staple.
Maize actually means “that which sustains us”.
It was the fruit of leveraging their #1 Asset.
But neither corn nor your abilities, are growable without nutrient-rich soil.
Just like you need your career or business in order to give you space to expand and thrive, the corn needs nutrients.
You’re thinking the dead fish, right?
Well a little bit, but not really.
The second “sister” is beans.
That’s right, how cool is this?
After the corn grew one hand-width height, it was time to plant beans.
They were planted in the same mound as the corn.
As they grew, the beans climbed the corn stalks for support.
In return, the bean plants deposit nitrogen into the soil. It’s a must for healthy corn!
Same goes for you! Your business and/or career is supported by YOU and your abilities.
Without YOU your business would crash to the ground.
In return, your business gives you drive, finances, passion…
Now, if it wasn’t for those damn weeds.
Ever felt like your business or career was choking you?
If not, it’s because you have planted your third “sister”.
For you, it’s your Vault! Guaranteed, Protected, & Liquid.
For the Native Americans, it was squash & melons.
The big leaves of the squash and melons kept the weeds from attacking and choking out the corn and allowed the beans to work.
Just like your Vault is your protection from anything that invades your peace of mind and also allows for your beans (IE: business) to grow more efficiently.
Oh, and that fish?
Its main job is to hold water next to the plant’s roots when it gets hot outside!
Otherwise, there would not be enough liquid to build a nice, juicy, refreshing melon.
And yes, I am going to link that to financial liquidity. LOL
The fish is just a tool, a tactic.
For years you’ve been led to think the fish was the fertilizer.
And, yes, you can squeeze some nutrients out of a dead fish.
But the power comes from using the fish in an untypical way.
A nutrient water sponge made for liquidity during the hot months.
If you don’t plant the squash and melons then it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference if you put the fish by the corn!
Many typical financial planners are quick to suggest tactics based on hearsay and often misguided social traditions.
IE: Fish + Corn = Thanksgiving
That is a shortcut that would have killed the pilgrims.
No fish, no squash,
No squash, weeds kill the beans,
No beans and the corn won’t grow,
No corn, no Thanksgiving
We use traditional financial models the way they were originally meant to be used.
Tried and True.
And we avoid the gambling game of risk as if our lives depended on it.
Why? Because they do.
A Vault at Vault AIS™ is the only place where you can leverage all three attributes of successful finance.
Your Thanksgiving Corn, Beans, and Melons.
#1 Asset, #1 Investment, and #1 Strategy.
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Vault AIS™