The other day, I came across a little story that reminded me a bit of the 1989 movie, "Field of Dreams," starring Kevin Costner. The movie
was about a man (Costner) who wanted to build a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield. He had a vision of something he wanted and believed in and so planned accordingly, adhering to the
famous line in the movie, "Build it and they will come." His family, friends and society would not stand in the way of his endeavor.
The little story in reference was actually an ad about some product or service that I can't even remember; it
was the story that stayed with me. It was about a man who lived by the side of a road and sold hot dogs.
According to the story, he was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he read
no newspapers. He believed in what he did--selling good hot dogs. Business was grand. He had built a good business, and the people came. No one could stand in the way of his endeavor.
Soon, he put up signs along the highway telling people how good his hot dogs were. On occasion,
he would even stand on the side of the road, often shouting, "Buy a hot dog, Mister?" And people bought. And bought. And bought.
Business boomed. He increased his meat and bun orders to accommodate all his customers. In his planning, he bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. Business was so good he pursued getting his
son home from college to help him out. But then something happened.
And this is where the movie and the story diverge.
His son said, "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio? Haven't you been reading the newspapers?
There's a big recession. The European situation is terrible. The domestic economy is even worse. We're being badly affected globally."
Whereupon his father thought, "Well, my son's been to college, he reads the papers and he listens to the radio, and he ought to know."
So the man cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down his road signs, quit advertising, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs.
And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight.
"You're right, son," the father said to the son. "We certainly are in the midst of a great recession."
While the ending of the story isn't the same as the ending in the movie, the message of following your vision and actively planning
accordingly--"Build it and they will come"--is the same. Now, take a minute and hold a vision of your needs, your wants, your life, your future, your plans in your mind. Add a generous dose
of "if you think it, very often it will happen." While we can usually see how we can apply this in our own personal lives every day, do we look to see how it also impacts other aspects of
our lives along our journey?
In today's economic downturn, many wants, needs, lives, futures, and plans, including those of companies and businesses, might
be built, salvaged, destroyed, or closed based on whether we "build it" for them to come or whether we think the economy, for example, will be bad for us or our business, so it ends up proving
to be so. Whatever we plan for will most certainly have an effect on us, in life or in business. While choosing the positive route may sometimes hold challenges, planning for a positive outcome
might just be the only thing that will be the difference in whether we hold on and ride the wave out or fold up and go home.
-article written monthly by staff employees
March's Monthly MANTRA: