Tag: Risk

Excellence Is Not A Risk Free Journey

Excellence is not a risk free journey.  Nor is excellence guaranteed, even if you work desperately hard.

I know first hand.

And what I have learned, and in many cases, relearned, is that the road to excellence has no finish line.

We are never at a place where we are finished.

These are lessons Walt Disney learned and worked to his advantage.

Now, I’m teaching our son the key insights of a brilliant man – Walt Disney.

Walt Disney’s ideology taught me how to go from one push up a day ten years ago to the 2009 WMA Masters Track and Field World Championships last week.

My son has seen me apply so many Disney strategies to getting and staying healthy, that he is also inspired to be excellent.

Who wouldn’t want that for a child?

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

PS.  Tomorrow, an insight on the recent change in direction here at jungle jeff.  Some of you have commented and I’ll share a sneak peek tomorrow.

Is Disney afraid to take risks?

Is Disney afraid to take risks?

Not in a million years.  Walt Disney was the ultimate “envelope-pusher”.

Pushing the envelope is a phrase used when someone goes where no man or woman has gone before. Faster, higher, longer, deeper, more difficult, whatever.

In ten years of traveling regularly, I’ve never seen In-Flight Internet access.

Until yesterday.

It worked GREAT.

It was easy to create an account at www.gogoinflight.com .  Seems like gogo inflight is pushing the envelope.

The world is changing.  Fast.

I’ll bet if Walt Disney was alive, he’d love the speed, and, the breeze in his face.

I know I sure do.  Carpe diem, jungle jeff  🙂

Did I do it?

Indeed! Did you?

Yesterday, I promised to do what I do every day. I also gently asked you to “plant a seed“. Remember? A small seed to take daily, calculated risks to move your great, and maybe impossible, goal forward.

Technology is the way. Period. End of story!

To me, it isn’t one of the issues facing businesses today, it is THE issue!

Last night, reflecting back on the day, it hit me!

LinkedIn is: A 24-hour virtual meeting. A virtual business card. A remarkable tool with unlimited power to market your business.

You can pop in and out of the virtual 24-meeting at any time to see who’s there and what they’re talking about.  There are a ton of smart people using it.  In fact, there are currently 38,000,000.  That number is projected to mushroom to 300-400 million soon.

Studying the Disney organization since I was a kid, it has taught me to instinctively understand that the next great idea can come from anyone in our organization.  Or even anyone, anywhere in the world.

All we have to do is pay attention, which is hard at today’s busy pace.

Make this a great day to pay attention.  Carpe diem, jungle jeff  🙂

Scary thought?

If you would have asked me a dozen years ago if I’d ever thought I’d be a public, motivational speaker, I’d have told you, “Not in a million years“.  It was never on my radar, nor was it ever a childhood dream.

You know the scary part?  And by the way, when the scary thought starts creeping into my consciousness, I have to immediately distract myself.  Otherwise, I might get sick.

The scary part is that everyone expects public speakers to be smart and funny.

Smart and funny.

Are you kidding me?

Do what you fear and the death of that fear is certain.  Public speaking also boosts self-confidence.  Self-confidence boosts your leadership thinking.  And that, as they say, could very well be money in the bank.

So today, I’m going to do something I fear, like taking calculated risks to move a great idea forward.  It’s risky because the goal seems impossible to many people.  But that won’t stop me.  Will it stop you?

Carpe diem, jungle jeff  🙂

What’s the paradox of risk?

Why take a risk? Aren’t risks dangerous?  “Yes, and”.

Risks can lead to breakthroughs.  Risks can catapault a product or service into market domination – into brand recognition so great, it makes the product or service a household name.  Risks can enhance your career.  We can even argue that rewards are directly proportional to the risk involved.  Not always, but mostly it’s so.

Why not take a risk? And the obvious, biggest reason?  What if we fail? This makes it hard to be risky.  What a paradox.

Risks can catapult us or destroy us.

Will this paradox frighten us or challenge us?

Will we act, or retreat?

Will we “walk the talk” or feel the guilt of hypocrisy?

Will we lead or follow?

These questions can only be answered by you and me, individually, in our own realities.

My personal reality is I’m insanely busy.   Additionly, I don’t like to fail.  Do you?  It really makes me look bad in front of my boss, my boss’s boss, my peers, my Customers, my finance manager, etc.

Today, I promise to take risks.  Whether they be small, medium or large, I vow to take them today.  And tomorrow.  And all week.  All year even.  How about, “until I die.”

Walt Disney was the consumate risk taker.  My 35 years as a business professional have inspired me to ask, “What would Walt Disney do?”

As the Mastercard commercial catch phrase states, “What’s in your wallet?’

Make it a GREAT day!  Because if you don’t who will?

Hey everyone, I’ve enjoyed having you read this.  I hope you’ve enjoyed being had.  Now that’s classic Jungle Cruise “humor”.   Or not.  🙂  Respectfully, jungle jeff