Shut up and teach

Led Zeppelin album back cover
Led Zeppelin album artwork, back cover, Led Zeppelin (untitled 4th album).

Now that you are 21, the hope is you learn without me saying a word.

dad

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

Dear Chapin…

post it hand written note from father to son
Most important to remember, “i love you.” Second most important is this post-it note.

Every month Martín’s parents took a trip to see Grandma and came home on the same train the next day. 

One day the child said to his parents:

′′I’m already grown up. 

Can I go to my grandma’s alone?”

After a brief discussion, his parents accepted.

They stood with him as he waited for the train to exit.

They said goodbye to their son and gave him some tips through the window. 

Martin repeated to them:

′′I know. I’ve been told this more than a thousand times.”

As the train was about to leave, his father murmured in his ear:

′′Son if you feel bad or insecure, this is for you!”

And he put something in his pocket.

Now Martin was alone, 

sitting on the train as he had wanted,

without his parents for the first time.

He was admiring the landscape out the window. 

Around him some unknowns pushed themselves in. 

They made a lot of noise.

They got in and out of the train car. 

The conductor made some comments about him being alone.

One person looked at him with eyes of sadness.

Martin was feeling more uneasy with 

every minute that passed. 

And now he was scared.

He felt cornered and alone. 

He put his head down, and

with tears in his eyes,

He remembered his dad had 

Put something in his pocket.

Trembling, he searched for what his father had given him.

Upon finding the piece of paper he read it:

′′Son, I’m in the last train car!”.

That’s how life is,

We must let our kids go

We must let them try new things. 

But we always like to be

In the last car, watching,

in case they are afraid 

or in case they find obstacles and don’t know what to do.

We want to be close to them.

as long as we are still alive. 

(Adapted from Unknown author)

(note, this isn’t adapted by me…entire piece copied and pasted)

Insight: Everything i have taught you, written, and written some more for you, recorded for you, done with you, equates to me sitting in the last train car.

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

Luck and unlucky won’t go away

young boy
All these years later, you have everything you need.

You are unlucky that you’re shy, you’re lucky to have me to help you.

dad

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

Best time to worry at work

four adults at a cafe
Before starting Mid Life Celebration, LLC in 2009, the idea of flying to Australia just to meet Nick seems inspiring and “necessary”. Abandoned the crazy idea. Why? Found less expensive inspiration. Imagine the surprise bumping into Nick in Winter Garden, Florida, not far from Disney.

Pencil or a broom?

What?

One career is built using your thoughts.

One career is built using your presence.

One career is paid in exchange for your value.

One career is paid in exchange for your time.

Become remarkably different than the others who do what you do; become a thought-leader who transforms dogma and tradition. Make the way you ‘think and do’ exponentially more valuable than industry standard.

Become dependent on longevity to increase your wages; receive yearly increases until you max-out your wage cap, then hope for occasional cost of living increases.

The time to worry about which choice to make is before you have to worry about which career path you’re on.

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

2021 Disney Keynote Speaker firsts

couple gazing into each other's eyes
These two share 66 years of Disney Service and Leadership.

2021 Disney Keynote Speaker firsts…this is an “intermission” in my unpacking last night’s intensely-painful event.

Deep breath.

Exhale.

And remember that writing is as cathartic a daily exercise as any other option.

Here goes a remarkably simple, uneventful story. Yet this story illustrates a dramatic leap in my artistry as a professional speaker. And it happened just four months ago. This is significant in the 23-year arch of a prolific speaking career.

Here goes:

Grateful that risk taking yields growth…

Let’s review the Disney Keynote Speaking firsts from 2021: 

Walked from home to Disney Convention Center, to speak.

1st Disney speech – in 2,000 speeches – delivered without slides.

1st time using conference A/V staff to role-play a story.

1st Disney Keynote delivery in jean shorts.

1st time in Walt Disney World’s 50-year history a Disney conference speaker walked from their house to speak at Disney.

Bonus 1st: 1st time in 23 years with a 16-month (Covid) public-speaking gap.

All firsts happened in one day. Would have been ridiculously easy to take no risks. Just do what you always do – what works – since 1999. Without multiple risks of failure on this day there’d be no growth. And because none of the risks failed, it was an epic growth day.

None of these firsts required a checklist. All of these firsts required an unexplored frontier.

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.