Retirement – Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker

Present and 2 others

Magic Kingdom Main Street after hours — Halloween, 2014.

Present, mindful, and motivated.
dad

Today’s ‘quote’ is from a recurring theme in the If Disney Ran Your Life podcast.

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Disney Retirement anniversary

Bicycling Going-to-the-Sun Road in mid-June. Road is closed to vehicular traffic. Have spent multiple Summers here working on a series of books. Work from anywhere. Write from anywhere.

Disney Retirement anniversary number eight.

It killed me to leave Disney after 30 years instead of 40.

Little did i know, retiring early was a brilliant move. Life is good like that sometimes.

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Disney Retirement eve

Kuwait City skyline — Kuwait City from my hotel room. Kuwait Towers, far right.

Eighth Disney Retirement eve, October 30, 2022.

Retiring from Disney does not mean retired.

Not retired, at all.

Like you’ve heard a dozen times, “Retired from Disney but not retired from working.”

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Why 30 years at Disney, not 40?

Disney Institute speaker retirement party — Love the juxtaposition of real photo and the reflection of the real photo. Got a photo of me taking a photo of me.

Why 30 years at Disney, not 40?

Simple.

Our son was about to enter High School.

Disney Institute (DI) was requiring (expecting) more frequent travel, to more distant locations, for longer durations.

Didn’t want to wake up in four years and our Son’s life launches him on a trajectory (like me when i graduated HS) whereby he never returns home to live.

Note: Could have transferred out of DI Delivery Operations and secured a position back in Hotel Ops. Could have stayed the 40 years at Disney and retired in 2024.

Turns out, was born to teach but never knew it until 1999, at age 40.

Turns out, was born to be a ship captain not a deck hand.

Turns out, was willing to “burn the ships” to ensure what roughly 3-5% succeed at – building a sustainable, long-term enterprise.

Hidden track: The Disney layoffs from the 2008-09 Great Recession were the catalyst for considering what a Plan B looks like.

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Disney career last day

Lifetime Disney Cast Member Jeff Noel — My last day began in the dark. West Clock 7am. October 31, 2014. Halloween. Pretty scary.

If your goal isn’t impossible, you’re not reaching high enough.
dad

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.