Uncategorized – Page 10 – Disney Brand Loyalty Keynote Speaker

Without Passion

“Without passion, a person gambles with their future”. — jeff noel

This morning as I checked Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it hit me. There’s a person who Tweets about cooking. “Miss D”, I’ll call her, has a passion that is so clearly visible that I had to tell her it inspires me.

It doesn’t inspire me to cook.

Then what?

It inspires me to be inspired – with big dreams.

Yesterday, I purchased a Macbook for our son’s ninth birthday this week. He doesn’t know he’s getting it. In fact he won’t be expecting it because he knows how expensive they are.

But I’ve been planting seeds. “You should think of ways you can make money”.

So tell me, when is it too early to challenge a child to be thinking about earning money? How crazy is it to encourage children to look at ways other than cutting grass, raking leaves, or doing chores?

Disney’s best leaders are the ones who have passion so clear and so deep, that their team believes anything is possible.

At home, it’s the same way for me. “I believe if your goal isn’t impossible, you’re not reaching high enough”. — jeff noel Carpe diem! 🙂

jungle jeff, Jack & WMA

People who know me, know that when I come to the fork in the road, I take it.

Seriously, of the many labels thrown my way – status quo, normal, conservative – these themes are not.

Like many people, healthy living is important and action is required. After a dreadful cholesterol report a decade ago, an exercise routine began:

One push up per day, for one week
Run one mailbox per day for one week
Second week, add one push up per day
Second week, add another mailbox per day
Third week, well, you get the picture

Now here we are, ten years later, by practicing what I preach, guess where that’s led?

The World Master’s Athletics (WMA) Track & Field World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Seriously.

Reporting live from Lahti, Finland, August 7, 2009. Make it a GREAT day. It’s up to you. If not today, when? Here’s to our health – carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

You Did That On Purpose, Didn’t You?

“No! Do what”?, I ask, stunned.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you”, is the cry we’ve heard growing up, as our friend fumes about something we actually didn’t do on purpose.

In a much softer example, people often wonder why I use lower case letters in my name?

“Are you just not careful enough”?

Nope. I’m not only careful, but also purposeful.

I’m teaching our son the value of doing things “on purpose”.

If you don’t do important things on purpose, you are faced with two probable outcomes:

What you decide to do happens by default
What you do isn’t as good as you are capable of

Humility is a very important value for my family. Being human automatically predisposes us to not be humble.

To combat the human tendency to get sucked into society’s norms and “keep up with the Jones’s”, I purposefully use lower case, in a simple act of habit.

It grounds me, so to speak, in a critical success factor.

Walt Disney taught me this – being purposeful. The Disney Organization doesn’t want to risk two things happening. The same two things I worry about for my son.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

jungle jeff in Finland?

Yes. Was a zombie yesterday. Severe jet lag. Woke at 5AM here, with eight hours of fresh sleep. I’m very consciously ignoring the fact that it’s 10PM Disney World time. 🙂

Ever notice how I always, without exception, use lower case letters in my name?

Initially, most think it’s simply a typo – that I’m not actually paying attention to the little details, which Disney is famous for.

When a person consistently does something, well or not well, it’s called a habit.

The Disney organization works desperately hard to have their employees do things consistently well.

Because, very simply, if they don’t do things consistently well, the odds are staggering that they’ll trend to the opposite.

So our son has heard me preach about using his manners, for years. I never give up. Never get frustrated. I just keep focused. He’s “only” eight, but he fully understands this:

Stand two 8-year olds together. Assume one consistently uses manners. The other boy doesn’t.

Which boy will adults trust more?

Same with business. Two businesses offer customers the same product, same price point. One is service-focused. One is not.

My work here today is done. Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

Twistee Treat Tradition

Yesterday, my son (8) and I did our Friday afternoon tradition. We went to Twistee Treat for ice cream. This started four years ago.

My wife takes our son to school. I pick him up. It’s part of the structure and process we put in place to run our home.

One Friday, I suggested to our son, as we were pulling away from his school, “Let’s stop at Twistee Treat and get ice cream to celebrate a great week and kickoff a great weekend”.

We did this every single Friday for a year. A great tradition was in place to create memories for our son and help him learn a lesson for being a great parent.

Then one Monday afternoon, on a whim, I said, “Let’s get some ice cream to kick off a great week and celebrate the great weekend we just had”.

So now, for the past three years, it’s every single Monday and Friday.

Once, just to be the antagonist (with a purpose) I am, I said, “Let’s skip Twistee Treat today. Missing one day won’t hurt”.

He said, “Daddy, would you cancel Thanksgiving”? “No, of course not”, I replied.

He said, “Exactly, it’s a tradition. You don’t cancel traditions, they’re too important”.

Now, I ask you, “What opportunity do you have to start, and execute a simple tradition with your loved ones”?

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂