Walt Disney’s Birthday

Walt Disney was born December 5, 1901.  Yesterday, if Walt Disney was still alive, he would have been 108.

Some people actually live that long.  Walt Disney did not.  Not even close.

Walt Disney’s death on December 15, 1966 shocked the world.

It didn’t shock The Walt Disney World Resort, because construction for Walt Disney World hadn’t begun at the time of Walt Disney’s death.

Walt Disney World, or, EPCOT – Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow – as it was called at the time of Walt Disney’s death, did not open until October 1, 1971.

People can only begin to fantasize about what the World would be like if Walt Disney were still alive.

Transform Yourself Tip

The number one thing I learned about transforming myself?

It’s probably not going to be what you expect.

I mean, really, what does anyone expect would be required?

Let’s be clear, what I share is what works for me.  In no way, shape or form, should anyone think I’m telling others what they should do. The person I’m talking to in this post is the one in the mirror.

The number one way to transform yourself is to do a small group of interrelated tasks:

  1. Your transformational goal must be for others
  2. You must want to be transformed more than anything, ever
  3. You must prepare for criticism, as others search for your faults

Do these three interrelated tasks, and stay humble.

PS.  And by the way, you will also need to tap into a level of courage and determination you have never known before.

Here’s Why I’m Right

The title here will ruffle some feathers and simultaneously, get others to cheer.  Why?  Because, as the 1960’s psychedelic rock band The Doors summed up in one of their songs, “People are strange.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  You get the point.

So how does working seven days a week lend itself to balance?

First, the big picture intent is to NOT work seven days a week.  When the early pioneering Americans had a vison to become farmers, they spent countless hours clearing the land.  We can’t even comprehend the hardships they endured.

Every time I fly and look out the window, I imagine America, long before it was tamed – covered with trees and forests for as far as the eye can see.

What I’m doing now, working seven days a week is this:

  • Working to become a world-class professional speaker
  • Establishing processes to teach our son “life’s big four”
  • Preparing a metaphorical “hurricane disaster plan”
  • Preparing for the responsibility that comes with aging parents
  • Figuring out how to become a speaker, author, mentor of choice
  • Working to hear, “Well done”

The reason some succeed over others, is that successful people outwork the others.  This shouldn’t surprise anyone.  It’s a basic survival of the fittest, of the smartest, of the most creative, etc.

So, in summary, I’m clearing a hostile land, cutting down trees, digging up roots, making piles to burn, removing boulders, caring for sick animals, hunting for food, building shelter from the seasonally harsh climate, dealing with the emotional loss of my home state or mother country, protecting my family from wild animals and unknown diseases.

So really, if you don’t come from a lineage of hand-me-down success or riches, you have got to out work the competition.

Don’t beleive me?  Try and do it any other way.

A Reader Asks

Received an email from a jungle jeff blog reader, seeking clarification on the “Don’t Bother” blog post from last week. The reader’s email challenged my thinking, in a good and healthy way.  By the way, thank you for that.

Do you give obsessive diligent consideration to your work?

Most people, myself included, probably rush to, “Of course!”

May I audaciously suggest we (again, myself included) don’t do nearly as well as any of us think we do?   Huh?

Exactly. Huge.  Here’s what I mean.

This is simple, and also “dangerous”, because there is a human flaw in most of us. We are conditioned to judge others on what we see them do. It happens without even trying.

What’s complex, and perhaps arguable (but I argue it isn’t), is that we overwhelmingly judge ourselves on our intentions.

Huge difference here.

You see, I perceive my approach to balance as better than anyone else I observe, and yet others….

What others may think is that I preach balance, but lack balance, and therefore am a phony. This thought crosses my mind daily, “Am I a hypocrite?”

Do you ever catch yourself privately asking, “Am I a hypocrite?”

Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll dive a little deeper on this.

Fear Not, Seriously

“We are so vain that we even care for the opinion of those we don’t care for.” Marie von Ebner Eschenbach

How is it with you?  I mean, if you really gave earnest consideration, what’s your honest answer?

Well for me, it used to be true; however, reading, writing and thinking at an accelerated pace for the past nine months, has heightened an awareness that there are people who will never change. Duh, right?

Okay, so I’m stupid a little slow sometimes.

This is no secret.  But I’ve always held out hope that people would change.  Now, I’m convinced, not that they won’t change, but that it no longer matters.

And the day this epiphany came, it was glorious.

I’ve learned to move on, to be strong, and to focus on transformational personal change – not in others, but in the mirror. It’s hard as hell, of course, but I will not stop.  Doing the impossible will take everything you have.

And there are people out there, they might even be reading this now, who will think it’s crazy.  Who cares So.