different – Page 2 – Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker

Take solace in being different

Hidden Disney Mickey — Easy to spot if you have an eye for it. And i’m not talking about the fish, but rather the mouse.

Take solace in being different.

As you grow and develop your brand, the most effective methods for marketing your brand will become clearer.

But remember this clarity builds only as long as you stay true to challenging conventional wisdom, which is, after all, the DNA of your brand. And that’s a big risk because it requires constantly going against the grain.

Most antagonists are frowned upon.

Get used to it.

Learn to thrive on it – knowing the world needs people who .think .differenty

That’s you.

It’s grueling work, noble work, and quite often, breathtaking work.

Best in your category or a category of one?

You’ll be making thousands of decisions in your lifetime. Your clear, concise, and compelling vision will guide you as long as you don’t back down.

__________

This website is about our mental attitude. To easily leave this site to read today’s post on jeff’s physical health website, click here.

On April Fool’s Day 2009, jeff noel began writing five daily, differently-themed blogs (on five different sites). It was to be a 100-day self-imposed “writer’s bootcamp”, in preparation for writing his first book. He hasn’t missed a single day since.

Who doesn’t like crazy?

Clarity is not always easy.

Clarity often comes after an extended wait. It was about six years before .think .differently came to me as a brand differentiator.

The beautiful truth about being an entrepreneur and interfacing with other entrepreneurs is that there’s no perfect, one way to do things.

There are thousands of recipes for success, tips, tricks, hacks, etc. Much of it is free.

At the end of the day you must ask and answer one simple question:

What do you want to be that is different from the rest?

Be the best in your category?

Become the category?

If you wish to be different you must remember that this will frustrate people who expect some semblance of normalcy.

My friend couldn’t find my blog at my speaker site.

Here’s my reply to her email where she asked, “Do you have a blog?”

The posts often contain useful business info, but i am not writing for an audience. i thought that was the point (gain followers) before i began writing, but i eventually came to realize that i was the one who needed changing and improvement, not others. It’s analogous to posting gym workouts. No one really cares what you do. But you must do the work because it’s critical and because it makes you healthier.

i intentionally do not promote my blogs.

Crazy, i know.

i like crazy.

i think it’s rare, and valuable.

PS. Lower case i’s are intentional. A reminder in humility. i am small. A servant. It’s easy to forget. And once we forget, it’s hard to regain.

__________

On April Fool’s Day 2009, jeff noel began writing five daily, differently-themed blogs (on five different sites). It was to be a 100-day self-imposed “writer’s bootcamp”, in preparation for writing his first book. He hasn’t missed a single day since.

This website is about our mental attitude. To easily and safely leave this site to read today’s post on jeff’s physical health website, click here.

What it would look like mentally with no photo or content

__________

On April Fool’s Day 2009, jeff noel began writing five daily, differently-themed blogs (on five different sites). It was to be a 100-day self-imposed “writer’s bootcamp”, in preparation for writing his first book. He hasn’t missed a single day since.

This website is about our mental attitude. To easily and safely leave this site to read today’s post on jeff’s physical health website, click here.

Most ambitious person at Disney Institute?

i love the classroom button — In the classroom, or on the stage, i’ll hold up my ambition to transform others against any other speaker anywhere. Unafraid. Confident. Driven. And nearly invisibly, humble.

Most ambitious person at Disney Institute?

Last week at Gold’s Gym i bumped into a 20+ year Disney Cast Member with a diverse and acclaimed resume. He has helped Disney Institute on some big projects, yet we never worked together – we know the same people though.

He is feeling stuck in his career and is looking to enroll in an advanced degree.

i offered him an alternative thought.

Shared with him (because the conversation led us to this) that a new leader at Disney Institute (DI) became my boss and in our very first one-on-one meeting, i said, “We need to address the elephant in the room. Thirty years at Disney, 15 of them at DI, and i remain a facilitator. Why?”

He, with two Master’s degrees, wasn’t clear on where i was going with the point, so i continued, “Generally we think of ambition as climbing the ladder vertically – a tangible measurement. But i have chosen a different path; to stay at the lowest level. But make no mistake, i’m the most ambitious person on our team.”

Insight: Not everything that can be measured matters and not everything that matters can be measured.

__________

This website is about our mental attitude. To leave this site to read today’s post on my physical health website, click here.

Crazy Means Different Things To Different People

Crazy means different things to different people. What one defines as crazy, to another is simply business as usual. Yesterday was a major milestone for some people – their first (and probably last) marathon.

For others, it was a Sunday morning and an opportunity for a routine visit to a Disney Park – father, son, son’s friend…here’s how it played out. (each photo has a caption)

Driving through town to visit Epcot for a few hours.

January 8, 2012 approx 9:30am. The Disney full Marathon began at 5:30am

We watched some of the finish (4:22 - 4:40 finishing times)

Approximately 16k+ runners earned this yesterday (Jan. 8, 2012)

Very last runner at mile 25, French pavilion Epcot World Showcase, 2pm Jan. 8

Next Blog