Tag: Listen

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:

  1. What you decide to do happens by default
  2. 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?

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 🙂

jungle jeff in Paris?

jungle jeff is in Paris?  Yes.  🙂

Why?

Heading to the Master’s Track & Field World Championships, representing the USA in the 400 meters, 50-54 age group – 5,300 athletes from 80 countries.

Started a healthier lifestyle ten years ago, doing one push up per day. It was a bad health report that triggered my commitment, or re-commitment you might say.

My son (8), has watched me start something important, and stay with it.  So has my wife.

Same at Disney, and probably the same at your organization.

Focus and discipline.

My son sees how it works in my personal life, and he sees me apply it as a Professional Speaker.

You know what he also understands?  And remember, he’s only a child.  It’s common sense put into common practice.

I’m teaching him there are no shortcuts.  This will save him, but certainly not spare him, from many disappointments – personally and professionally.

What does this mean to you?  I don’t know.  But I hope you do.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

Walt Disney Has Made Me A Better Person

Walt Disney has made me a better person.

Why?  How?

Great questions, to be sure.

Our son’s birthday is in August, so starting tomorrow, I’d like to begin a new chapter at jungle jeff that will help readers see how surprisingly simple Walt Disney’s philosophies are.

The goal will be to showcase some simple, no cost ways my life improved as a Dad, by adapting what Walt Disney thought was important.

I really believe it will help you see how Walt  Disney thought, in a way you probably never thought of before.

And once you understand how simple and effective Walt Disney’s philosophies are – and how they can even be applied to being a better person – the more likely you’ll be to want to try it yourself.

Deal?

Great.  See ya real soon, and, oh yeah, carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

PS.  Tomorrow, I’ll tell you the Twistee Treat “tradition” story.

He Said, “You Write Like You Talk”

My friend recently told me, “You write like you talk”.

My friend reads these jungle jeff blog posts from an iPhone and was suggesting my writing has too many commas, or pauses.

And that in today’s world a lot of people don’t read that way.

I pause, often, to make certain points, to let the point resonate, to challenge the listener, and sometimes, just to think about what I’m going to say next.

There, see what I did in that last sentence?

I feel comfortable with my style.  It’s the way I talk.  It’s who I am.

So I asked my friend, “Ever notice my paragraph structure”?

“One or two sentences”, he responded immediately.

I asked if he knew why, and paused.

Then I said, “Because I’ve read a ton of blogs and most of them overwhelm me with what I’ll have to invest to figure out what the writer is trying to say”.

I’m not sure if he got my point.

Maybe you didn’t either.

Will you be back tomorrow to hear the other intriguing things we talked about?

If not, I wish you the best of everything.  Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂