Have you ever heard the expression “In a rut?” It is an idiom that means being stuck in a settled or established habit or course of action, especially one that is boring. Basically, it means we are stuck doing the same thing over and over again, without any new energy or perspective.
Walt Disney was a lot of things, but never was one of those things boring. Ever the innovator, and rarely a duplicator, Walt maintained an inquisitive – dare I say restless – curiosity to keep trying new things and pushing himself out of his comfort zone.
When you know a little bit about Walt Disney’s life, you’ll find this one quote tidily sums up many of the major points in Walt’s career.
Keep Moving Forward
Walt’s first truly successful creation was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. But when he made a bad deal with Charles Mintz, Walt lost his rabbit, along with most of his studio animators. With only a few loyal artists remaining, Walt picked himself up off the mat and created the most beloved and enduring cartoon character of all time – Mickey Mouse. Walt didn’t quit – he moved on (and forward).
Opening New Doors
When Walt struck gold on his Mickey Mouse cartoons, he actually got bored with his mouse and created new characters. When animated shorts had become the norm (albeit a very successful norm) Walt challenged himself to create a full-length animated feature. When Walt was tired of the same old dirty, seedy amusement parks, he set out to redefine family entertainment with his very own “theme park.”
In all of these cases, Walt bet on himself to push further than he ever had before. When I say he bet on himself, I mean that literally – Walt leveraged all the money he had (which wasn’t very much) on Mickey, and he leveraged his studio on the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. To pay for Disneyland, Walt even sold his house!
Doing New Things
Stepping back to look at all these groundbreaking innovations Walt made, it’s easy to think of him as brave. An innovator. A visionary. Yes, Walt Disney was all those things. But deep in his core, Walt was first and foremost curious.
On a visit to New Orleans in the early 1960s, Walt happened upon a mechanical bird displayed in a curiosity shop. Walt was intrigued by how it worked, and wondered if he could do something creative with it. So he bought the bird, brought it back to the Disney Studios, and gave it to Imagineer (and Disney Legend) Wathel Rogers and other studio technicians to examine. Walt’s curiosity with that mechanical bird led to the first prototype of what would become Disney’s legendary Audio Animatronics. The bird sang words, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Put it in Reverse
Let’s take Walt’s famous quote and shift it into reverse, starting with curiosity. What are you interested in? What types of things do you want to do? Get out of that proverbial rut and think outside the box. Once you get those creative juices flowing, put your plan into action and start doing new things. As momentum starts to take root, you just may find your new ideas and action will start opening doors. Once those doors are open, walk on through and don’t stop. Keep doing new things!
That’s it for today. Short. Sweet. Inspiring. Now go get curious!
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