My grandson's cartoons and success?
Published: Thu, 02/16/23
I thought I'd tell you about a little insight I just had while sitting with my 3 year old grandson, watching one of his favorite cartoons.
Truth be told, I introduced him to the classics I grew up with from the first day my wife and I had him with us after he was born.
You may remember the old Loony Tunes cartoons: like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck & Porky Pig. If not, I'm sorry you missed out but you can watch them on Youtube.
Anyway, one of his new favorite characters is Wile E. Coyote (get it? lol). And it doesn't matter if Wile E. is going after Bugs Bunny or his main target, Road Runner; Stellan is entranced by the action.
Usually my time is being used explaining what's going on in the action, and trying to help him understand some of the wacky stuff that you and I have learned only happens in a cartoon.
But today, while having lunch with him, I realized what was causing a mild irritation for me that never occurred when I was a kid.
What, you asked was that? After all, it's just a cartoon.
I agree, and the irritation wasn't really about the cartoon. In fact, irritation probably isn't the right word. More like... "insightful."
What hit me was that, episode after episode, the cartoon had Wile E. Coyote expending a lot of energy setting up trap after trap to catch his prey. And, time after time, the plan failed miserably.
It's the same story, just with different details... all...the...time.
But what hit me today was that this story line actually depicted how the majority of people approach goal setting and execution.
And it had nothing to do with thing usually associated with failing. Things like:
- No confidence
- Lack of acting
- Planning
- etc.
What hit me was that, when each and every one of Wile E. Coyote's plans and traps failed... that was it. He was off to the next one.
And? You might ask. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
No one could fault the coyote for not trying though.
So? What's the point, then?
The point, young Padawan (I know, I mixed my similes, hopping over to a Star Wars reference. LOL)...
...the point is that, instead of figuring out why any one plan failed (weak rope, bad angling, poor timing, etc.)...
...it was immediately back to the drawing board for something completely different!
Ignoring those who just quit outright, using the cop-out phrase: "Well, at least I tried;"
THIS is what most do when their plan, technique, or whatever... fails as well.
They jump off to something else, instead of looking at what caused the problem, making the necessary tweek(s), and trying again.
After all, all the work, planning, and such were already in place. It takes less to make tweeks than to go back to the drawing board as it were!
Anyway... just thought I'd share in the hopes that the insight may help you understand what is sometimes called "planned failure."
If this sparked your interest, I'll go into it more deeply in the next one.
Until then...
In Mastery!
Dai-Shihan Miller
Bujinkan Mori no Tora Dojo
PS: If you don't want to be receiving these messages or training opportunities from me, don't be like other wussies who send me flaming emails or other such infantile crap instead of just unsubscribing. Save your energy and hostility for something or someone else. Just scroll a little bit farther down, click the link and... PRESTO!... like magic, it'll be all taken care of! Of course, I hope you stay, but only if you're serious about your training and didn't just get on my list out of curiosity and now forgot that you actually subscribed at some point (I don't send SPAM!). That's it, I'll either talk to you later, for this or something else, or... I won't ;)