The Catfish — How Challenges Make Us Stronger

Back In the 1800’s, fish breeders began breeding the common carp for color in Japan, by the late 19th century, a number of color patterns had been established, this new breed of brightly-colored fish became known as the “Koi” — stemming from the Japanese word that means “carp”.

These fish were well adapted to aquarium life but were especially bred to have better advantages over the common pond fish: They were tolerant of extreme cold and could also survive in low quality water. This made them quite popular in Japan and they soon caught the attention of sojourners and westerners.

The breeders then began exporting them en-masse to Europe and North America as demand grew, but they soon discovered a challenge: After the long trips on cargo ships and the small tanks in which they were held — they arrived at their destination brittle and weak, and had lost much of their multi-color scaling. Little activity had caused their conditioning to weaken.

This caused several trade issues in the industry but the breeders quickly devised a solution: To put the Koi-fish in the same tank as a Catfish, then increase the size of the tanks.

This worked like magic.

The catfish kept the weaker Koi on edge and made the stronger Koi fitter. By the time they arrived at their destinations, they were a beautiful exhibition of the species — with strong healthy bodies and well conditioned scaling.

Read more in my new book! The Trials And Triumphs of Hyperachievers