The Hannibal Barca Approach to Achieving Your Goals

“We will either find a way, or make one.” – Hannibal Barca

Hannibal Barca–known to most just as “Hannibal”–was a military commander from Carthage, North Africa, widely known as one of the most talented commanders in history. At the age of nine he accompanied his father—Hamilcar Barca, who commanded the Carthaginian army—to Spain where the elder Barca soon defeated the many tribes of Spain and established New Carthage.

At the age of twenty six, after the death of his father and his brother-in-law who had succeeded him, Hannibal was named commander of the army.

Saguntum was a province of New Carthage inhabited by Greeks. The Greeks attacked some of the tribes in New Carthage, and the Romans–who ruled Italy–sided with the Greeks and declared themselves protectorates of Saguntum. Hannibal attacked Saguntum in 218 B.C., thus beginning the Second Punic War. While the Romans prepared to invade New Carthage, Hannibal was preparing his own strategy to attack Italy.

The Mediterranean Sea was the shortest, least treacherous, and the obvious route to take to get from New Carthage to Italy. However, Roman supremacy of the sea was well recognized throughout the ancient world. Therefore, Hannibal crafted a different plan, one that was completely unforeseen by the enemy and which, to this day, is recognized as one of the most famous feats in military history.

With thirty-seven elephants, Hannibal’s army climbed through the Pyrenees, across the Rhone River Valley, over the Alps, and into Italy, launching a surprise attack and conquering northern Italy.

Below you will find two examples of people who followed the Hannibal approach to achieving goals and forged their own path toward reaching their objectives, despite facing major hurdles and obstacles.  I hope this will inspire you to create your own path to reach your intended target, despite any roadblocks you may encounter along the way.

Comfort Restaurant Creates Alternative Currency for Renovations

Comfort Restaurant, a tiny organic cafe located in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York—decided to expand to a second location in 2007.  Renovations to get the new space ready have been going on for about a year.

However, due to the credit crisis, the owner—John Halko—has been unable to raise the cash required to finish the renovations and open the new restaurant. With currency unavailable from traditional sources—namely, getting a loan from a bank—John turned to his community.

John is going to sell VIP cards to people in the local community who love the restaurant’s food and who want to see the new restaurant flourish since it would bring more activity and commerce to the tiny downtown area of the city. For every dollar a customer spends on a card, they receive the equivalent of $1.20 worth of credit at the restaurant. So if someone spends a thousand dollars ($1,000.00) on VIP cards, they get one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200.00) worth of food.

John gets the cash he needs to open the new restaurant, he gets the money cheaper than if he were borrowing it from a bank, and investors get more food for less money. Also, investors are more likely to eat at Comfort—where they’ve already spent a large chunk of money—than eat elsewhere. Since they feel they’ve made an investment in the restaurant, they’re also more likely to promote it to their friends.

Instead of simply halting the project because he couldn’t get the money to finish the renovations through a loan, John created a local currency to raise the cash he needs.  What project do you have on hold due to a lack of funds?  Can you think of any alternative, non-traditional ways to raise the money you need?  (Source: Comfort Dollars – Boing Boing; October 3, 2008).

The Bodacious Way to Pay for a Trip

When she was in her early twenties, the author SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy), who has written books such as “The Bodacious Book of Succulence: Daring to Live Your Succulent Wild Life”, “Living Juicy: Daily Morsels for Your Creative Soul”, and “Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper”, wanted to experience living in New York City.

At the time she was living in Minneapolis and she became intrigued by the subject of obscene phone calls.  She ran an ad in the newspaper that read, “If you make obscene phone calls, call me” and  began conducting research for her book by interviewing the callers.

SARK then rode her bicycle all the way to New York, with her best friend in tow, and when she got to New York she managed to get interviewed by The New York Post about her “book”. She also had a meeting with Doubleday’s senior editor to present her book proposal and he arranged for them to stay in empty penthouse apartments while they finished writing the book.

Unfortunately, both SARK and her friend proceeded to spend their time in New York City partying instead of writing, and the Doubleday editor cut them off.  However, even though SARK had almost no money when she got on her bike in Minneapolis, she found a way to have her outrageous adventure in New York.

What adventures are you postponing for lack of money or other obstacles?  Follow SARK’s lead and find creative ways to get to where you want to go, even if it means getting off the well-trodden road.

Conclusion

In what area of your life have you hit an obstacle or a roadblock that you’ve allowed to stop you from moving forward? Here’s a quote from Randy Pausch–author of “The Last Lecture” (YouTube Video)–on hitting brick walls:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!”

If you want something badly enough, either find a way or make one. In my next post I will list and explain some creativity techniques you can apply to generate alternative solutions when faced with a situation in which you need to respond creatively. Until then, when faced with an obstacle, ask yourself: what would Hannibal Barca do?

(“Mont Blanc – Monte Bianco”; courtesy of Sir Francis Canker Jones)

(“Monopoly”; courtesy of unloveable)

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere:

• “5 Creative Ways to Get Around Roadblocks”

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