Motivational Wisdom From A Chef Rat - Part I

There's a new management breed springing up in high Paris society led by a motivational talking rat who happens to cook.

If you don't believe me, watch Disney's feature-length animation film, Ratatouille. The movie takes place in Paris and is about a rat named Remy who dreams of becoming a gourmet chef.
Only problem is he's a rat! Go figure. Remy has a highly developed sense of smell and a keen appreciation for food. He yearns for a better life and desires to raise himself out of a meager existence of living in sewers and scrambling for crumbs and rotten cheese.

Ahh, but it's not to be, mon ami. You see, he eees after all a rat! And responsible rats have to look after themselves. So Remy's Dad puts his talent to use by making him the Chief Sniffer. Remy's sole job is to sniff all the rotten food and human leftovers day in and day out to make sure there's no rat poison in the food for his Dad's rat colony.

Yuk! Talk about one stinking job! I'm treading on dangerous ground here, but can't we all relate to this story on some level? I mean, sometimes we just fall into doing work that's less than desirous and not even close to what we're really, really passionate about in our hearts.

Sometimes we just settle for far less than the best we deserve in order to 'make a living' or meet other people's expectations of us. Pretty soon we fall into a rut - a routine - and get cozy.
Welcome to the Rat Race! The never-ending treadmill of constant busyness. A dream stealer disguised as a golden ladder to nowhere.

Ratatouille is a story about one rat's dilemma to either play it safe by sticking to his normal rat routine and winning the approval of his friends and family or enter the forbidden human world and risk everything in pursuit of his dream to become a gourmet chef in the most prestigious restaurant in Paris.

We can all learn from Remy's adventures and wisdom. I certainly did, and I'd like to share with you some insights I took away from the movie:

> LOOK UP!

After being chased away by a gun-totting human and being tossed and turned in a raging river, Remy gets separated from his friends and family and ends up shivering, stranded and feeling utterly lost in a dark, cold gutter. This is what mythologist Joseph Campbell would call 'the approach to the inner most cave.'

Remy spends days in this gloomy dungeon paralyzed by fear and never venturing out. In this moment of darkness and delirium, a mentor figure appears in his imagination - the late Auguste Gusteau, France's culinary genius.

Gusteau gently encourages Remy to look up and venture out! And so, with some trepidation, Remy climbs up the drainage pipes and enters a brave new world. He is shocked to see the magnificent city of Paris unfold before him with its shimmering lights and the Eiffel Tower beckoning him forward.

All these years Remy has been scrounging around underground with his fellow rats while getting occasional peaks of his hero Chef Gusteau work his culinary magic on TV in glamorous Paris. Now, hungry and tired and being stranded for days in some dingy gutter, he realizes that he's in the very heart of Paris - at the doorstep of Gusteau's famous restaurant!

So what's the application here?? I mean, it's not like we're living in some kind of rat hole! (Sorry Remy). Well, first of all, it's important to realize that with each seed of failure and loss there's an equivalent seed of new hope and opportunity. And second, when we get into a rat of a rut, it's important to look up and venture out.

How do we do that as humans? One of the fastest and most memorable ways to 'look up' and develop a higher perspective is to once in a while upgrade some of our routine experiences: flying first class instead of economy, staying in a five star luxury hotel, joining a pricier, more exclusive business or fitness club, or attending a prestigious auction or art gallery.

Upgrading some of our experiences serves the multiple purpose of sending a message to our subconscious that we value ourselves while opening up higher learning and networking opportunities and developing friendships with people that can help us grow.

Of course, you don't always have to shell out big money to accomplish this. You can offer to volunteer and help out at these types of establishments or events; you can join an online newsgroup at one of the higher brow establishments such as Washington Post, New York Times, or Harvard Business Review and participate or eavesdrop on some of the conversations; you can read a biography; or - if you can muster up the courage - you can ask to meet with someone you admire to learn how they became successful.

I used this last strategy once when I was working at a bookstore quite a few years back. Harry Rosen, world renowned men's clothier, once walked into the store looking for a Kiri Te Kanawa opera video. Of course, as Murphy's Law would predict, we didn't have the video and he left the store promptly.

I then wrote a letter to him saying I tried various suppliers but could not find the video but really admired his success and was wondering if he could give me a tour of his head office and share with me how he became successful in his field.

A couple weeks later I got a reply letter back from his secretary to call and arrange for a time to meet with Mr. Rosen. I ended up meeting him at his penthouse office and getting a brief tour. He showed me his architectural design concept for a new store he was opening up in Chicago and we spent close to an hour chatting. (Actually, he was doing most of the chatting while I was listening and taking notes).

I later learned that there were a number of very important people wanting desperately to meet with him and that they'd be lucky if they even got fifteen minutes with Mr. Rosen.

One thing I never did get a chance to do is watch that Kiri Te Kanawa video...
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About the Author
Sharif Khan is a freelance business writer, copywriter, book consultant, and author of the leadership bestseller, Psychology of the Hero Soul (http://www.HeroSoul.com). If you need help with an important writing project or ongoing assignment and would like a no-cost, no-obligation quote, call 416-417-1259.