Of course, we try to work things out. And the solution is really hinged on trying to look for a channel and program that we both like – or at least, both of us can tolerate. That particular afternoon, as I clicked the remote, I chanced upon Cartoon Network. There was a marathon airing of the classic Warner Brothers cartoon, Road Runner. When I paused on this channel, Teemy and I both said, "Hey!!" We looked at each other – and then we both laughed. We finally found a program that we both liked.
Anyone who is above 30 knows the Road Runner all too well. It was my personal favorite, and back when I was a kid, I really loved watching this cartoon. We’re all familiar with the basic plot, right? Every episode is centered on the travails and antics of a scheming, resourceful and imaginative coyote name Wile E. Coyote who, day in and day out, tries every trick in the book to capture (and eventually eat) a skinny, elusive and cunning roadrunner. It’s slapstick animation at its finest. Coyote goes to great lengths to set booby traps in order to capture the pesky little runt. He tries every possible trap, sometimes even going to the extent of drawing schematic diagrams and concocting engineering computations. He has an endless bag of tricks, and somehow manages to secure every possible gadget and weapon imaginable, from his ACME anvils to his ACME rocket boosters to his ACME desert mobiles (note: every gadget, tool or weapon he has is branded "ACME." Don’t ask me why, I have no clue).
While it is readily clear that the "bad guy" in this cartoon series is the coyote, and the good guy is the road runner, I must confess that, for this program, I’m always rooting for the bad guy. I can’t help it. I totally sympathize with the guy. I mean, c’mon, the guy is hungry. He has to eat, right? And he will stop at nothing in order to make the Road Runner his meal. He will do anything, and everything, to get his hands on this bony, irritating bird.
While the Road Runner can be dismissed as a stupid, brainless, violent, slapstick cartoon (there’s zero dialogue), there are a lot of business lessons – and life lessons – that we can pick up from the series, especially from the bad guy, Wile E. Coyote.
I know it sounds like a cliché, but I can’t overemphasize it enough. You have to have a goal. And it’s not like magic wherein your goal just pops up. You don’t say, "Hocus pocus," and poof, your goal is there. You have to work hard in finding your goal. And it’s usually lodged in the depths of your soul, your very being. My theory is that if a person has a goal, half his life problems are solved. Because life is complicated enough. Going through life – or your career – and not knowing where you are headed makes it far more complicated. After a while, you will be asking yourself, "What am I doing? Where am I going?" That’s when things can go haywire. A crisis almost always ensues whenever these questions start popping up. But when you’re focused on a goal, your every move is calculated. You know the relevance of every step you take. And that makes every day much easier to bear.
Now the question is, how do you build the hunger? Simple. Try answering the "why" question. Go back to Wile E. Coyote. His goal was to eat the Road Runner. Why? Because his stomach was growling – and he wanted it to stop.
More often than not, people use the need for money as the "hunger factor." It sometimes works, but only for the short term. Once you start getting the money you need, you will find yourself stagnating in the job that you’re in. Then things become really sticky, career-wise and life-wise. Personally, my "hunger factor" has always been my need to learn new things. That has been my fuel for my career – and life in general. And that’s why in my life, I’ve experienced being a lawyer, a media man, a marketing man, and an advertising man. It’s all part of my hunger to learn new things. And thankfully, career-wise, it has served me well. But guess what: I continue to be hungry. I make myself hungry. If I don’t, I’ll stagnate.
I have a couple of friends, Raquel Sian-Estrella, Mel Sanchez-Dumlao and Bong Benzon, owners of the great restaurant City Grille (at Tektite Towers with another one along Jupiter St. inside the IO KTV building). Raquel and Mel used to work for SM. Every day, they would eat lunch in the food court, and they would tell themselves, "We have to put up our own business. We can’t be employed all our lives." That was their goal. And their hunger factor was emancipation – and financial freedom. They came up with a Ring-O-Rice stall. It failed. Then they took over a small restaurant called M-W-F Mongolian. It failed again. They got into other businesses – they put up Inasalan sa Dalan in Tiendesitas and Emerald Ave., a bread business (twice), a retail business and concert production. It was a series of openings and closings of businesses. But they hung on. One time, there was an open space in Tektite Tower, and they went for it. And the rest is history. City Grille now has two branches, and things are looking bright for these three persevering and "hungry" entrepreneurs.
Losing the zest for life? Don’t know which direction to take? Watch Cartoon Network – and watch Wile E. Coyote at work. You’ll surely get some ideas.
And if you’re lucky, you just might get to watch the episode when he finally gets to eat the little rascal.
To date, Canfield has 60 bestsellers, with 11 that have gone to No. 1. Apart from the Chicken Soup franchise, Jack is also recognized as the world’s leading success coach and authority on peak performance. He has written such other titles as The Power of Focus, Self-Esteem & Peak Performance, The Aladdin Factor, and his newest book, The Success Principles. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most books on the New York Times bestseller list at one time.
Jack Canfield has certainly become the world’s leading success coach and authority on peak performance. A graduate of Harvard University, he is the founder and chairman of Canfield Training Group and Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprise in Santa Barbara, California.