By Spence Finlayson
NASSAU, Bahamas – A number of years ago my brother Roosevelt Finlayson , a management development expert would take a group of Bahamian corporate managers to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida to attend the world famous Disney Institute which has been helping to transform organizations through customer solutions grounded in the time-tested success and insights from the Walt Disney Company.
On one occasion he invited me to do one of my now legendary motivational presentations for the group of managers at Disney. It was an awesome opportunity because I was always inspired by Walt Disney story.
As a matter of fact, I read the best- selling book by Neal Gabler, “Walt Disney .The Triumph of The American Imagination over and over again, always coming away with more interesting and motivational nuggets.
So as we search for inspiration, I believe that Walt Disney provides us with a virtual cornucopia of positive inspiration, motivation and education. Disney said “when you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”
This is where the power of belief comes alive. When you believe in something with all your heart all your mind, the universe shifts to accommodate you and give you what you ask for. I encourage you to place an order with the universe and the results will be nothing short of amazing. Life pays in exact wages, what you withhold from life, life withholds from you.
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, and was one of five children.
After Walt’s birth, the Disney family moved to Marceline, Missouri.
He had an early interest in drawing and art and at age seven he sold small sketches and drawings to his neighbors. Instead of doing his school work, Walt doodled pictures of animals and nature. His knack for creating long lasting art forms took shape when he talked his sister Ruth into helping him paint the side of the family’s house with tar.
Although, Walt Disney, wasn’t the typical Hollywood mogul. Instead of socializing with the ‘who’s who’ of the Hollywood entertainment industry, he would stay home and have dinner with his wife, Lillian and his daughters, Diane and Sharon. In fact socializing was a bit boring to Walt Disney. His talents were first used in a silent cartoon entitled Plan Crazy. However, before the cartoon could be released, sound was introduced upon the motion picture industry. Thus, Mickey Mouse made his screen debut in Steamboat Willie, the world’s first synchronized sound cartoon, which premiered at the Colony Theater in New York on November 18th, 1928.
His drive to perfect the art of animation was endless. On December 21st, 1937, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, the first full length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles, The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Depression, the film is still considered one of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry.
He said “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”.
A few years ago I created and hosted my first motivational television program called The Possible Dream which was shot at the Carnival’s Crystal Palace Resort & Casino in Nassau, Bahamas.
The theme of my show was that all dreams are possible and if you pursue your drams with courage, conviction, and dogged persistence, you would be successful in achieving your dreams.
Another one of Walt Disney’s powerful quotes that I really like is “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
I find that a lot of people just simply talk about their goals but do nothing in the way of making those goals a reality. I call them chief members of NATO, not the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but No Action Talk Only.
Walt Disney was full of new ideas and he consistently tried to come up with new ones throughout his lifetime . He knows what it’s like to talk about something and then switch to doing.
Walt Disney’s dream of a clean and organized amusement park, came true as DisneyLand Park opened in 1955. As a fabulous $17 million magic kingdom, soon had increased its investment tenfold and by the beginning of its second quarter-century, had entertained more than 200 million people, including presidents, kings and queens and royalty from all over the globe.
In terms of pure inspiration, try to imagine a world without Walt Disney.
A world without his magic, whimsy and optimism. Walt Disney transformed the entertainment industry, into what we know today.
He pioneered the fields of animation, and found new ways to teach and educate .His optimism came from his unique ability to see the entire picture.
His views and visions came from the fond memory of yesteryear and persistence for the future.
A pioneer and innovator and the possessor of one of the most fertile and unique imagination the world has ever known.
Walt Disney could take the dreams of America and make them come true. He was a creator, an imaginative, and aesthetic person.
Even many years after his death we still continue to grasp his ideas and his creations, remembering him for everything he has done for us.
Being from the Bahamas, Disney World in Orlando was a must do holiday vacation. Many Bahamians still fly into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami and rent a van or car and drive to Orlando to of course visit Disney World and to shop.
In searching and seeking for inspiration, this particular quote from Walt Disney always did it for me, “If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started by a mouse.”
He never forgot how he started and had an appreciation for how amazing it was that he built Disneyland off a cartoon mouse. It really is true that if you can dream it, you can do it because history if filled with people who have proven it time and time again.
It only takes one good idea that can make you a very wealthy person.
Walt Disney was a pioneer in the field of television programming beginning television production in 1954 and was among the first to present full-color programming with his Wonderful World of Color in 1961.
I can vividly remember watching this program with my young neighbors and being totally fascinated.
Walt Disney is a legend, a folk hero of the 20th century and his world wide popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents; imagination, optimism, creation and self-made success in the American tradition.
Walt Disney did more to touch the hearts, minds and emotions of millions of persons than any other person in the past century.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curios and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths” said Walt Disney. We need to become child like with a great sense of curiosity. When you stay curious you will never run out of things to be curious about and life will grow to fit your new interests. And so I say to you; keep dreaming because dreams do come true.
Walt Disney started a fledgling company that now is the proud owner of the following: Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, LucasFilm Ltd., Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Records, Disney Music Publishing Co., Disney ABC Television Group , ABC Television Network, ABC Digital, ABC Entertainment, ABC Family, WLS -7 Chicago, KFSN 30 , California, KTRK-13 Houston, KABC-7 Los Angeles, WABC-7 New York City, WPVI-6 Philadelphia, KGO-7 San Francisco, Disney Channel, ESPN , Disney Games, Disney Interactive Studios , Disney Mobile, Disney Consumer Products, Walt Disney Parks , DisneyLand, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, DisneyLand Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, Marvel Entertainment just to name but a few.
Spence M. Finlayson is the founder & CEO of The Phoenix Institute For Positive Development & Empowerment, a Human Resources Development firm based in Nassau with a global reach. He can be contacted at his email at [email protected] His website is www.thephoenixempowerment.com
