Congratulations! You made it! The year 2022 is through…oh-ooh (think Taylor Swift), and now we are on to 2023. Before we get there, however, I have a quick question.
How were your holidays? Did you have a good Christmas, a great Hanukkah, a fantastic New Year, and/or any other celebration during this recent season that I might be forgetting? (Festivus for the Rest of Us, anyone?)
One of my favorite moments came on Christmas Eve when I realized a special homemade gift I had created with my sister, Deena, during Thanksgiving, and that I was giving that night had shifted during storage and needed readjustment before being wrapped and delivered.
Panicked, I sent a photo of the situation to my sister in Dallas with the caption “Help!” Her response was amazing, and not because she told me what I needed to do to fix the problem at hand. More importantly, she knows I don’t do “arts and crafts” and recognized that my mindset was the biggest challenge. “Here’s what you need to do to fix this, and don’t think about it…just do it!”
Don’t think…just do!
To be fair, she may have stolen this idea from last summer’s blockbuster movie, Maverick. I saw it six times in the theatre, and the only person I know who saw it more than me was, well, Deena! And in my signature Wisdom of Walt keynote presentation, I share with audiences that you can “always overthink, but you can almost never over-act.”
The year 2023 will be big for Disney as the company celebrates its Centennial Anniversary. A lot will be made about the founding of the Disney Brothers Studio, by Walter Elias Disney and Roy Oliver Disney, in Los Angeles, California, way back in October 1923. We must remember, however, that this celebrated story only comes following failure and financial ruin. The studio, which today is the largest entertainment company anywhere in the world, was Walt Disney’s second studio. His first, Laugh-O-Grams Studio in Kansas City, went bankrupt after only eighteen months.
Faced with the choice of giving up and staying stuck in Kansas City or going all in…Walt Disney decided to go all in by boarding a train for California with forty dollars, a single suitcase, and a one-way ticket. The final push came from Roy, who was already in Los Angeles and recovering from tuberculosis in a Veterans Hospital. He wrote to Walt, “Kid, I think you should get out of there. I don’t think you can do any more of it.”
Don’t think…just do!
As we move into this New Year, and into this Centennial Celebration, I want this story and idea to encourage, motivate, and inspire you over the next twelve months. What train must you board now to be where you want to be by the end of the year? How are you going to go all in…with your goals, your life, your business, and your relationships? The upcoming year has a total of 525,600 minutes, and chances are, you will find yourself stuck for a second or even a season. When that happens, and it inevitably will, what’s your plan? Go ahead and shift your mindset now.
Don’t think…just do!
Jeff uses the magical story of Walt Disney, Disneyland, and Walt Disney World to challenge you to think bigger, expand your expectations, and to never stop dreaming!
Jeff works with clients across the United States to build engaging keynotes and workshops for corporate conferences, team meetings, and sales events. Book Jeff for your next event.
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