Hungry like the Coyote

One lazy Sunday afternoon, my wife Teemy and I decided to just lie in bed and do nothing but watch TV. While this may sound like a harmless husband-wife activity, let me tell you: it isn’t. Choosing what channel and what program to watch can be a difficult, sometimes tortuous, process for us. I want to watch CNN, Solar Sports, Discovery Channel, and EWTN. (Do I hear howls of disbelief out there?) She, on the other hand, wants to watch Lifestyle Network, ETC, Crime & Suspense, and Star World, particularly Oprah. From our respective lists of preferred channels, it’s clear Teemy and I hardly have anything in common when it comes to TV viewing. So, you can just imagine the battle that ensues when we both try to secure control of the remote.

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.

Hocus Focus

Coyote had a goal, and one goal only: eat the Road Runner. It was as simple as that. By identifying a clear goal and focusing on it, Coyote knew exactly what to do with his life. Every day of his life was dedicated to devising a plan in order to catch and eat the irrepressible Road Runner. That focus gave him his meaning – his purpose.

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.

The Hunger Factor

Focusing on a goal is one thing, but staying hungry to achieve that goal is another thing. That’s the next important step. We can focus on a goal all we want, but when we somehow lose our appetite – and we don’t remain hungry for the goal – all the focusing we do only leads to daydreaming. For example, let’s say you want to be a nurse. So, you focus on that. But if it stops there, and you don’t build up the hunger to achieve it, then the focus you put on that goal is useless.

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.

Try And Try Until… You Try Again

Finally, the other thing we can learn from Wile E. Coyote is to try and try – until you try again. Life is a continuous journey of trying. It never really ends – even when you have all the money in the world. Every day, we all go through trials, tests and challenges, from the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor. We try, we try, and we try again. The moment we stop trying is the day we die.

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.

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And for all those who are looking for that extra motivational boost in your life and career, check out America’s Personal Excellence Guru Jack Canfield today at the Crowne Plaza Galleria Hotel. Jack Canfield, co-creator of the phenomenal Chicken Soup for the Soul series, will be in Manila for the first time for his ITD MegaGuru Event on Personal Excellence and Organizational Success.

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.

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Thanks for your letters, folks! You may e-mail me at rodhnepo@yahoo.com.