jeff noel – Page 52 – Disney Creativity and Innovation Keynote Speaker

Everyday dwelling

We think, we move, we feel, we contribute, we dwell.

Everyday prioritizing accumulates into a life.

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This website is about our HOME. This is the fifth of five daily, differently-themed blog posts about: (1) mind, (2) body, (3) spirit, (4) work, (5) home. To return to Mid Life Celebration, the site about MIND, click here.

Were you born to do this?

teddy bear on track and field lane 8 — You know this photo and the story behind it. Lane 8, worst lane, in the finals, at the world championships. Not caring if you finish last. Why? You can come in last which means you are the eighth fastest human on the planet.

What do you think you were born to do?

Have you ever asked yourself this?

Have you ever been asked this?

Either way, do you have a ready and convicted answer?

When you can say, repeatedly, “yes!”, you are a leader who is striving to change the world.

Even if it’s only “your world”.

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Trust yourself

priority mail envelop — Yesterday, January 10, 2025. Third year in a row doing this. Doing what? Mailing in our annual homeowner’s dues through Priority Mail, including USPS tracking, and delivery confirmation. The mailbox is on our vacant homeowner’s lot and there’s no proven mailbox checking frequency. Additionally, i use a Cashier’s Check. If you don’t trust someone or something, you can over-focus on what you can control. Simple as that.

Began spending a lifetime in the wilderness, since my parents first let me leave the house without limits. Maybe 8-10 years old. However, there was one parent-imposed limit in the early years — NEVER cross the road. The road is Route 116 that runs past our subdivision to Spring Grove.

Early on i was mostly a lone explorer.

But i read everything i could about plants, animals, and wilderness-danger preparation and avoidance.

Fast forward to today, add on 400 days of hiking inside Glacier National Park (GNP).

No one recommends solo hiking inside GNP. However, several years i was there alone.

Hiking like i mean it. Alone. In the wild. No cell signal. No people. Late season as Grizzly Bears engage in hyperphasia.

Steep cliffs. Unpredictable weather. With just a “kiddie” day pack for essentials. A kiddie daypack offers better comfort, but also less room for essentials. The ultimate test for “only carrying what is absolutely necessary”.

Then the rest comes down to this, trust yourself, your experience, your knowledge, your abilities, your preparedness.

Insight worth noting: You prepare for worst case scenario. Because if it happens and you planned intentionally, you can manage through adversity. If caught without an essential, you could die.

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What if it all burns?

65-second video: ABC Evening News with David Muir snippet.

33-second video: USA Leadership gathering.

What if it all burns?

Unthinkable.

Also, people are saying Jimmy Carter is the greatest ever “former-President”.

Side note: Have never heard Jimmy touted as the “greatest” President. But what he did after his presidency is what earned this unofficial distinction.

Ps. Jimmy Carter’s eulogy is where i gleaned the previous two paragraphs.

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In Disney’s home

Disney leaders at a January 2025 reunion — L-R: Vicky, Sheryl, Stephanie, John, Debbie.

Last night while on LinkedIn i see this post. Wow! Pursuit Collection joins NYSE January 7, 2025. Pursuit runs hospitality operations in and next to Glacier National Park.

For most of my 30-year Disney career, work was my top priority.

Luckily, i consistently put physical health second.

Leadership at Disney demands your best, your 100% commitment, your sacrifice. It’s not a blatant ask. It’s subtle, subliminal, invisible, and generally unspoken.

So i was decently able to stop, or at least slow, the physical ramifications of the inherent physical neglect on exercise, nutrition, and sleep.

i hope future Disney Leaders (and leaders everywhere) will work in an environment that makes health a priority over work.

Ps. It’s kinda fun to do the impossible. -Walt

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