Tag: Lane 8

Motivation Is Like A Meal

Motivation is like a meal.  Seriously.  But we all forget.

Should an Annual Conference’s motivational effects last all year?

Should monthly meetings keep teams inspired all month?

Weekly meetings?  Will the excitement last all week?

Daily meetings?  All day?

After breakfast, most humans are ready to be nourished again at lunch. Even after two decent meals, most are ready for a third meal in the evening.

We even throw in snacks to help sustain us. Why?

Because motivation, inspiration and excitement begin to subside within hours, just like meals.

Do you have any idea what this means to you and me as effective leaders?

It’s Hard

It’s hard to say a lot in only a few words.  It seems my blog posts have gotten three to seven sentences too long lately.

Studying Disney the way I have since I was a child watching Walt Disney on TV in the early 1960’s, has taught me to always be evaluating service and product delivery.  Always.

In turbulent times, it’s even more challenging to be proactive – everyone is insanely busy.  Daily evaluating gives way to just surviving.

Every single day, our son sees me check GoDaddy web statistics.  He knows which days are great and which are average. The last two have been average, after a record setting day.

He just turned nine and I’ve already put him to work.  Walt Disney’s father, Elias, put Walt to work early with a newspaper delivery business.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.   Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

PS.  Oh, and one more thing, what is now considered an “average” day, used to be “record breaking” day. Funnier still, it was the same for Walt Disney.  Still is, actually.

Excellence Is Not A Risk Free Journey

Excellence is not a risk free journey.  Nor is excellence guaranteed, even if you work desperately hard.

I know first hand.

And what I have learned, and in many cases, relearned, is that the road to excellence has no finish line.

We are never at a place where we are finished.

These are lessons Walt Disney learned and worked to his advantage.

Now, I’m teaching our son the key insights of a brilliant man – Walt Disney.

Walt Disney’s ideology taught me how to go from one push up a day ten years ago to the 2009 WMA Masters Track and Field World Championships last week.

My son has seen me apply so many Disney strategies to getting and staying healthy, that he is also inspired to be excellent.

Who wouldn’t want that for a child?

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

PS.  Tomorrow, an insight on the recent change in direction here at jungle jeff.  Some of you have commented and I’ll share a sneak peek tomorrow.

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:

  1. One push up per day, for one week
  2. Run one mailbox per day for one week
  3. Second week, add one push up per day
  4. Second week, add another mailbox per day
  5. 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 🙂