The Walt Disney Company, which reported more than $38 billion in revenue in 2010, was started by a high-school dropout who loved to draw and had a passion for learning. Walt Disney founded an empire on fantasy and risk taking. While he was at it, he built fantastical amusement parks, developed a brand recognized by children and adults all over the world, and created an educational foundation for future entertainment innovators.
Not a bad legacy for a man who, after his first studio went belly up, placed his career in the hands of a cartoon mouse. So for this month’s sit-down with a legend, we “heard from” the founder himself.
Q: You like to draw. Lots of kids like to draw. How did you go from being a kid who likes to draw to a man who revolutionized an industry?
A: “Somehow I can’t believe there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy, and the greatest of these is confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.”
Disney was born in Chicago, Dec. 5, 1901, and grew up on a farm in Marceline, Mo. He was fully engaged with the four Cs that would become his professional philosophy well before he went to high school. In 1911, Disney spent his Saturdays taking courses at the Kansas City Arts Institute, and after the family returned to Chicago, he took courses at the Chicago Institute of Art.
At 19, he and a friend founded Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. Not long after opening the commercial art business, Disney needed money. So he started working full time at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, and Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists folded.
Then, when he was 20, he founded his own studio, Laugh-O-gram Films. Despite a talented staff, the studio’s high overhead and minimal profits forced him to close. In 1923, He moved to Los Angeles, where he and his brother Roy founded the Disney Brothers Studio.
Q: Your career was saved by a mouse. When you were facing bankruptcy, how did you decide to put your faith in one little idea?
A: “Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a means to an end. He popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad… on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner. Born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organization to its present dimensions and for extending the medium of cartoon animation toward new entertainment levels. He spelled production liberation for us….
“All we ever intended for him or expected of him was that he should continue to make people everywhere chuckle with him and at him. We didn’t burden him with any social symbolism; we made him no mouthpiece for frustrations or harsh satire. Mickey was simply a little personality assigned to the purposes of laughter.”
Before the mouse hit the big screen, Disney and his brother Roy were creating cartoons for Universal Pictures, including the increasingly popular Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. But when Disney asked for more money from Universal and didn’t get it, he parted ways with the studio and was forced to leave Oswald and most of his animators behind.
Disney transformed his beloved black-and-white-faced Oswald character into Mickey Mouse and made three cartoons before finding a distributor. Steamboat Willie was released in 1928. Not only was it one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound, it made Disney a household name and is still recognized as one of the best cartoons ever made.
And in 2006, after a long life under various owners, Oswald returned home. The Walt Disney Company purchased the rights to the character.
Q: In Disneyland, you created a living, breathing fantasy world. How did you do it?
A: “When we consider a project, we really study it—not just the surface idea, but everything about it. And when we go into that new project, we believe in it all the way. We have confidence in our ability to do it right. And we work hard to do the best possible job.”
Disney gathered inspiration from everything and nothing escaped his eye. By the time he was ready to bring his ideas to fruition, they’d been perfected. Disneyland is a prime example. The roots of the theme park lay in Electric Park, an amusement park in Missouri that was 15 blocks from the Disney family home. The train that ran behind his home lived in Disney’s imagination for years, along with the sense of comfort and freedom it brought. When he was finally ready to realize Disneyland, Disney reached into his childhood memories and brought forth the idea of a train, which circles the park.
From a design standpoint, Disney started working on his fantasyland when he was a kid. It wasn’t until the late 1940s that he got serious about it. After visiting an Oakland, Calif., amusement park, Children’s Fairyland, Disney decided he wanted to build something similar where his employees could play with their children.
While Disney knew what he wanted and several employees volunteered to work on the project, financing was a major issue. Confident in his idea, Disney mortgaged everything he had, including his personal insurance, to procure the $17 million needed to build the park. Five years later, in 1955, the characters, places and designs Disney had been dreaming about since he was a child were realized in the grand opening of Disneyland.
Q: Out of all your accomplishments, what would you say has been your greatest reward?
A: “Well, my greatest reward, I think, is that I’ve been able to build this wonderful organization. I’ve been able to enjoy good health…and also, to have the public appreciate and accept what I’ve done all these years. That…that is a great reward.... Happiness is a state of mind. You can be happy or you can be unhappy. It’s just according to the way you look at things, you know.”
Disney wasn’t one to listen to naysayers. In fact, one of his greatest successes—the creation of full-length Disney movies—was resisted by two of his most trusted confidants, his wife, Lillian, and his brother Roy.
By 1934, Popeye the Sailor had surpassed Mickey Mouse in popularity. Disney knew the studio needed to develop something else to engage its audience. Though his wife and brother were against it and industry experts predicted that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would mark the demise of the Disney Studio, Disney pushed ahead with its production.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the first animated film in English and Technicolor. The movie went on to earn more than $8 million in 1938, making it the most successful moving picture produced that year.
The success of Snow White allowed Disney to build a new Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif. Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan soon followed in an era now known as the “Golden Age of Animation.”
Q: Looking back, is there anything you’d do differently?
A: “I do not like to repeat successes. I like to go on to other things.”
Disney collected ideas like many people collect excuses, waiting for the perfect opportunity in which to use them. He had plenty of competitors and setbacks, but regardless of his failures or letdowns, he never stopped believing he could make things bigger, better and more enjoyable for children of all ages.
by Ivy Hughes
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Why Happiness Matters
“Tell me about your mother.”
Anyone who has been in therapy at any point during the past century has likely heard that request, now a go-to punch line for an entire industry of mental health. Starting with Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s, exploring one’s past for hidden or repressed hurts and psychoses has been the therapeutic model for attaining emotional well-being. Freud’s idea of the “talking cure” remained unchallenged for decades.
But focusing on why people are miserable—and reliving that misery one 45-minute session at a time—in order to get happy became, well, depressing for many in the mental health field. “For every 100 [scholarly] journal articles on sadness, there is just one on happiness,” bemoans Martin Seligman, Ph.D., in his 2002 best-selling book, Authentic Happiness.
That’s why, in 1997, when Seligman was elected president of the American Psychological Association, he made it his mission to change the focus of the influential organization from diagnosing and treating disorders to cultivating happiness, creating an entirely new field of research and practice called Positive Psychology. He encouraged APA members to change the question at the heart of their work from “Why are we sad?” to “How can we become happy?” Instead of trying to fix people’s weaknesses, Seligman wanted to encourage their strengths. Grant and research money followed his passion.
Though critics contend that Seligman’s approach is not so new and bears much resemblance to the humanistic psychology championed by William James in the late 1800s, Seligman’s work gained momentum. Over the past 20 years or so, he and his colleagues have amassed a formidable portfolio of data on what makes people feel content.
Happily, there’s plenty of good news in their findings: First of all, we’re already pretty happy. Second, we can control how cheery we feel. No matter how often our mothers hugged us when we were young or whether grumpiness is in our genes (and it may be to some extent), we can still make ourselves a lot happier.
And you should. Not just because it feels good to be happy (duh!), but happy people are healthier, live longer and do more good for their families, businesses, communities and ultimately, the world.
So what are you waiting for?
Happy Together
For researchers to measure increases in happiness, they needed to know how happy we already are. Turns out, humans are a surprisingly upbeat bunch. In 1985, Ed Diener, Ph.D., author of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, created five simple questions to assess overall happiness—the Satisfaction with Life Scale—which has since become a universal survey used in most happiness research. The majority of people in economically developed countries fall in the average to above-average score groups, meaning that they are generally satisfied with their lives. “People are in a good mood on average 80 percent of the time,” Diener says.
The Gallup Global Well-Being poll, devised in part by Daniel Kahneman, Ph.D., a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist and a premier researcher in the study of happiness, had similar findings. Almost all of the 155 nations examined experience above-average levels of positivity. Even among people in very unfortunate circumstances—those who had experienced hunger or homelessness or who had been assaulted or robbed within the past year—the overwhelming majority claimed to enjoy their lives. On the day these “hardship” participants were polled, 62 percent said they “laughed and smiled a lot yesterday,” which was consistent with the results of the non-hardship participants.
Happy Genes
How can anyone who has recently experienced hunger or homelessness maintain such a sunny disposition? It’s called the “set-point” theory of happiness. We all have a set range of happiness due to our genetics that we naturally return to after events—a job loss or promotion, say—that briefly move the needle in one direction or another. In 1996, a landmark study of 4,000 sets of twins—The Minnesota Twin Family Study—found that identical twins had very similar levels of happiness across their lifetimes, whether they were raised together or apart, suggesting a strong genetic component to emotional well-being.
“An adopted identical twin has as much chance at being similar in temperament to the twin he never met as he does to his adoptive family,” explains Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project. The study determined that 44 to 52 percent of our happiness is inherited. Scientists since have debated the precise ratio, but almost all research shows that up to 50 percent of a person’s well-being is genetically determined. Common sense suggests the same. “We all know people who seem to have been born Tiggers and others who were born Eeyores,” Rubin says.
Happy Returns
But if so much of our happiness is predetermined and we’re already pretty jovial, is it worth your time striving for even more? You bet your booty! Check out the following facts:
❉ The happier people are, the healthier they are. When we’re content, our bodies secrete chemicals including oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin, which help modulate our immune systems, thereby enhancing our health, says Deepak Chopra, M.D., co-founder and chairman of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. An aggressive immune system can contribute to autoimmune disorders while a depressed immune system can lead to infections and certain types of cancer, he explains. Positive moods also have been shown to reduce death rates in patients with HIV, renal failure and certain types of cancer. One study found that postsurgical physical recovery among coronary bypass patients was quicker for optimists, as was resumption of normal activities after hospital discharge. People with high self-reported levels of happiness (known in the research world as subjective well-being, or SWB) have been shown to weigh less and have lower blood pressures and incidences of cancer.
Though the exact ways in which mood can alter health have not been fully defined, studies have found people with depression or anxiety to be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. And excessive amounts of the “stress hormones” adrenaline and cortisol—released during negative states such as sadness, fear and anxiety—increase heart rate and blood pressure over time, triggering a host of other health problems.
❉ The healthier you are, the longer you live. Several studies that follow participants over a significant length of time have concluded that high SWB is closely connected with longevity. “The results leave little doubt that subjective well-being can predict longevity,” Diener wrote in his meta-analysis of dozens of health and happiness studies, published last year in Applied Psychology.
❉ In addition to longer lives, the greater health of happy folks makes them more fertile. And happy people’s cheerfulness rubs off on their offspring, in part thanks to genes, but also because happy people engage in happiness behaviors—such as expressing gratitude, showing appreciation and connecting with others—which their kids mimic.
❉ People with high SWB make more money, too. Why? Happy people are very positive, and positivity has a strong causal link to higher incomes, perhaps because people who see the glass half full tend to see and be more open to opportunities, to be easier to work with and for, and more likely to find creative solutions and less likely to give up. Studies have found that employees with high SWB are also less likely to lose their jobs. So while more money doesn’t necessarily make you happier (see the discussion of salaries below in “Happiness Roadblocks”), more happiness just might make you more money.
❉ Satisfied individuals have more harmonious marriages and are less likely to get divorced. Oh, and they have more sex, too.
❉ But being happy isn’t just fun for you; it’s good for your community and the world at large. One study out of Michigan State University last year found that communities across the United States with higher life satisfaction had greater life expectancies, with lower levels of mortality from heart disease, homicide, liver disease, diabetes and cancer.
Articles by Patty Onderko
Anyone who has been in therapy at any point during the past century has likely heard that request, now a go-to punch line for an entire industry of mental health. Starting with Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s, exploring one’s past for hidden or repressed hurts and psychoses has been the therapeutic model for attaining emotional well-being. Freud’s idea of the “talking cure” remained unchallenged for decades.
But focusing on why people are miserable—and reliving that misery one 45-minute session at a time—in order to get happy became, well, depressing for many in the mental health field. “For every 100 [scholarly] journal articles on sadness, there is just one on happiness,” bemoans Martin Seligman, Ph.D., in his 2002 best-selling book, Authentic Happiness.
That’s why, in 1997, when Seligman was elected president of the American Psychological Association, he made it his mission to change the focus of the influential organization from diagnosing and treating disorders to cultivating happiness, creating an entirely new field of research and practice called Positive Psychology. He encouraged APA members to change the question at the heart of their work from “Why are we sad?” to “How can we become happy?” Instead of trying to fix people’s weaknesses, Seligman wanted to encourage their strengths. Grant and research money followed his passion.
Though critics contend that Seligman’s approach is not so new and bears much resemblance to the humanistic psychology championed by William James in the late 1800s, Seligman’s work gained momentum. Over the past 20 years or so, he and his colleagues have amassed a formidable portfolio of data on what makes people feel content.
Happily, there’s plenty of good news in their findings: First of all, we’re already pretty happy. Second, we can control how cheery we feel. No matter how often our mothers hugged us when we were young or whether grumpiness is in our genes (and it may be to some extent), we can still make ourselves a lot happier.
And you should. Not just because it feels good to be happy (duh!), but happy people are healthier, live longer and do more good for their families, businesses, communities and ultimately, the world.
So what are you waiting for?
Happy Together
For researchers to measure increases in happiness, they needed to know how happy we already are. Turns out, humans are a surprisingly upbeat bunch. In 1985, Ed Diener, Ph.D., author of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, created five simple questions to assess overall happiness—the Satisfaction with Life Scale—which has since become a universal survey used in most happiness research. The majority of people in economically developed countries fall in the average to above-average score groups, meaning that they are generally satisfied with their lives. “People are in a good mood on average 80 percent of the time,” Diener says.
The Gallup Global Well-Being poll, devised in part by Daniel Kahneman, Ph.D., a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist and a premier researcher in the study of happiness, had similar findings. Almost all of the 155 nations examined experience above-average levels of positivity. Even among people in very unfortunate circumstances—those who had experienced hunger or homelessness or who had been assaulted or robbed within the past year—the overwhelming majority claimed to enjoy their lives. On the day these “hardship” participants were polled, 62 percent said they “laughed and smiled a lot yesterday,” which was consistent with the results of the non-hardship participants.
Happy Genes
How can anyone who has recently experienced hunger or homelessness maintain such a sunny disposition? It’s called the “set-point” theory of happiness. We all have a set range of happiness due to our genetics that we naturally return to after events—a job loss or promotion, say—that briefly move the needle in one direction or another. In 1996, a landmark study of 4,000 sets of twins—The Minnesota Twin Family Study—found that identical twins had very similar levels of happiness across their lifetimes, whether they were raised together or apart, suggesting a strong genetic component to emotional well-being.
“An adopted identical twin has as much chance at being similar in temperament to the twin he never met as he does to his adoptive family,” explains Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project. The study determined that 44 to 52 percent of our happiness is inherited. Scientists since have debated the precise ratio, but almost all research shows that up to 50 percent of a person’s well-being is genetically determined. Common sense suggests the same. “We all know people who seem to have been born Tiggers and others who were born Eeyores,” Rubin says.
Happy Returns
But if so much of our happiness is predetermined and we’re already pretty jovial, is it worth your time striving for even more? You bet your booty! Check out the following facts:
❉ The happier people are, the healthier they are. When we’re content, our bodies secrete chemicals including oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin, which help modulate our immune systems, thereby enhancing our health, says Deepak Chopra, M.D., co-founder and chairman of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. An aggressive immune system can contribute to autoimmune disorders while a depressed immune system can lead to infections and certain types of cancer, he explains. Positive moods also have been shown to reduce death rates in patients with HIV, renal failure and certain types of cancer. One study found that postsurgical physical recovery among coronary bypass patients was quicker for optimists, as was resumption of normal activities after hospital discharge. People with high self-reported levels of happiness (known in the research world as subjective well-being, or SWB) have been shown to weigh less and have lower blood pressures and incidences of cancer.
Though the exact ways in which mood can alter health have not been fully defined, studies have found people with depression or anxiety to be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. And excessive amounts of the “stress hormones” adrenaline and cortisol—released during negative states such as sadness, fear and anxiety—increase heart rate and blood pressure over time, triggering a host of other health problems.
❉ The healthier you are, the longer you live. Several studies that follow participants over a significant length of time have concluded that high SWB is closely connected with longevity. “The results leave little doubt that subjective well-being can predict longevity,” Diener wrote in his meta-analysis of dozens of health and happiness studies, published last year in Applied Psychology.
❉ In addition to longer lives, the greater health of happy folks makes them more fertile. And happy people’s cheerfulness rubs off on their offspring, in part thanks to genes, but also because happy people engage in happiness behaviors—such as expressing gratitude, showing appreciation and connecting with others—which their kids mimic.
❉ People with high SWB make more money, too. Why? Happy people are very positive, and positivity has a strong causal link to higher incomes, perhaps because people who see the glass half full tend to see and be more open to opportunities, to be easier to work with and for, and more likely to find creative solutions and less likely to give up. Studies have found that employees with high SWB are also less likely to lose their jobs. So while more money doesn’t necessarily make you happier (see the discussion of salaries below in “Happiness Roadblocks”), more happiness just might make you more money.
❉ Satisfied individuals have more harmonious marriages and are less likely to get divorced. Oh, and they have more sex, too.
❉ But being happy isn’t just fun for you; it’s good for your community and the world at large. One study out of Michigan State University last year found that communities across the United States with higher life satisfaction had greater life expectancies, with lower levels of mortality from heart disease, homicide, liver disease, diabetes and cancer.
Articles by Patty Onderko
20 Rules for a Joyous Life
Few of us escape feelings of fear and self-doubt as we go about our lives. But the good news is that we can learn how to create within us a wonderful sense of confi dence and peace of mind as we face all situations in our lives. Here are 20 rules to help us handle the challenges, accomplish what we want and create a beautiful and satisfying life.
1. With eyes of gratitude, notice all the beauty around you.
2. Smile as you recognize the many blessings in your life.
3. Joyfully say thank you to all who contribute to your life.
4. Pick up the mirror and ask, “How can I be more helpful here?”
5. Commit to putting more love into everything you do.
6. Know that you count—and act as if you do.
7. Feel joy in the knowledge that your life has meaning.
8. Take a deep breath and cut the cord to any unhealthy dependency.
9. Let go of blame, stand tall and take control of your reactions to all life experiences.
10. Learn something valuable from all life experiences— good or bad.
11. Do your best and let go of the outcome.
12. Act responsibly and lovingly toward yourself and others.
13. Rise above your fear, and focus on all you have to give to the world.
14. Let go and allow the river to carry you to new adventures.
15. Be patient and trust “It’s all happening perfectly.”
16. Quiet your mind and trust that your inner wisdom will lead you wherever you need to go.
17. Relax knowing you can handle all that needs to be handled.
18. Reach out and invite others into your life.
19. Always choose the path with the heart.
20. Touch the world with love wherever you go.
1. With eyes of gratitude, notice all the beauty around you.
2. Smile as you recognize the many blessings in your life.
3. Joyfully say thank you to all who contribute to your life.
4. Pick up the mirror and ask, “How can I be more helpful here?”
5. Commit to putting more love into everything you do.
6. Know that you count—and act as if you do.
7. Feel joy in the knowledge that your life has meaning.
8. Take a deep breath and cut the cord to any unhealthy dependency.
9. Let go of blame, stand tall and take control of your reactions to all life experiences.
10. Learn something valuable from all life experiences— good or bad.
11. Do your best and let go of the outcome.
12. Act responsibly and lovingly toward yourself and others.
13. Rise above your fear, and focus on all you have to give to the world.
14. Let go and allow the river to carry you to new adventures.
15. Be patient and trust “It’s all happening perfectly.”
16. Quiet your mind and trust that your inner wisdom will lead you wherever you need to go.
17. Relax knowing you can handle all that needs to be handled.
18. Reach out and invite others into your life.
19. Always choose the path with the heart.
20. Touch the world with love wherever you go.
Take Control of Your Life, Your happiness is in your hands
We can’t do it all, so we do most things poorly—on a good day. And we’ve lived like this for so long that we don’t even realize how very far we are from reaching our potential!
Most times, we’re just reacting, as though we’re being jerked to and fro by some gigantic remote-control device. We’re trying desperately to keep one thing or other from crashing and burning. And we’re doing well just to make sure the kids are off to school wearing matching socks, and we don’t forget the big proposal on the kitchen table after working on it most of the night, and we’re getting most of our bills paid before they’re 30 days overdue.
Goal-setting? Forget about it. Attitude? Do you really want to know? Happiness? Come on!
And what about managing our money and taking control of our income? How’s that possible when we live paycheck to paycheck? As for our relationships—who would know? We hardly see each other or talk.
The signs of a life out of control may seem subtle: Your kids are growing up before your eyes, yet you hardly know them; you dread going to work at a job you’ve had for years; you want to say “no” before you even hear the question because saying “yes” means adding something to your plate.
Does any of this sound familiar? Is it normal to live a life out of control? Does it have to be?
The first step toward regaining control is examining your life and determining where you have problems. So take the self-assessment quiz that follows. Then read the insights offered by some of the best-respected experts and thought leaders.
You can change your attitude so you’re open to opportunities, so you feel it’s possible to chart your own course and drive your life forward. You can set goals—and you can reach them! Despite the economic chaos, you can take control of your income and start your own business. You can build wealth. You can reconnect with your family. And you can be happy.
Is Your Attitude Your Challenge?
1.Do you believe that now is the perfect time to seize opportunities?
2.Do you feel confident that your future is full of prosperity?
3.Do you believe that you have the skills and abilities to meet your goals?
4.Do you look at the challenging people in your life as teachers rather than enemies?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You have a winning attitude that inspires others and keeps you on track to your goals. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you may have a great attitude when things are going your way but struggle to stay positive in challenging times. Check out Jim Rohn’s advice for changing your attitude to change your life.
Are You Pursuing Your Goals?
1.Have you written down your long-term goals?
2.Have you written down a few things you want to achieve by the end of the year?
3.Have you developed specific steps to meet your larger goals, plus a way to measure your progress?
4.Do you meet your goals regularly and set new ones?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You are a champion goalsetter. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you could be settling for status quo instead of reaching for your dreams. Read Brian Tracy’s advice on goal-setting and achieving.
Is Your Life Fulfilling?
1.Do you feel like something is missing from your life?
2.Do you neglect your hobbies or interests in favor of daily tasks?
3.Do you find yourself watching the clock, waiting for the day to end?
4.Do you fill your downtime with mindless distractions like too much TV?
If you answered YES to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You balance your personal interests and passions with your responsibilities to stay happy and fulfilled. If you answered YES to 2-4 questions, it’s time to make a change and bring the joy back into your life. It’s never too late! Read Deepak Chopra’s advice on creating happiness.
Do You Need a Relationship Checkup?
1.Do you opt out of family activities because of work?
2.Do you think you’re too busy to connect with old friends?
3.Has your social life dwindled down to your spouse or co-workers?
4.During stressful times, do you avoid “burdening” others with your problems?
If you answered YES to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You’re doing a great job of making relationships a priority in your life. If you answered YES to 2-4 questions, don’t let another day go by without refocusing your daily life on what’s truly important: people. Read Richard Eyre’s advice on relationships.
Do You Have a Grip on Your Finances?
1.Do you know where your money goes each month?
2.Are you allotting money each month to your savings goals?
3.Do you feel in control of your credit card spending?
4.Are you on track to build wealth with your income?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! Your money management skills are in top form. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you could be creating unnecessary financial stress and keeping yourself from achieving true wealth. Read Dave Ramsey’s advice on money management.
Do You Control Your Income?
1.If you face a layoff, do you have an alternate income source?
2.Do you feel you have just as much control over your financial situation in an economic downturn as you do in a boom?
3.Do you have a plan for building wealth?
4.Have you taken steps toward starting that business you’ve always dreamed of owning?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You understand the secret to building wealth is owning your own business. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, there has never been a better time to take control of your life and your income. Read Robert Kiyosaki’s advice on entrepreneurship
Most times, we’re just reacting, as though we’re being jerked to and fro by some gigantic remote-control device. We’re trying desperately to keep one thing or other from crashing and burning. And we’re doing well just to make sure the kids are off to school wearing matching socks, and we don’t forget the big proposal on the kitchen table after working on it most of the night, and we’re getting most of our bills paid before they’re 30 days overdue.
Goal-setting? Forget about it. Attitude? Do you really want to know? Happiness? Come on!
And what about managing our money and taking control of our income? How’s that possible when we live paycheck to paycheck? As for our relationships—who would know? We hardly see each other or talk.
The signs of a life out of control may seem subtle: Your kids are growing up before your eyes, yet you hardly know them; you dread going to work at a job you’ve had for years; you want to say “no” before you even hear the question because saying “yes” means adding something to your plate.
Does any of this sound familiar? Is it normal to live a life out of control? Does it have to be?
The first step toward regaining control is examining your life and determining where you have problems. So take the self-assessment quiz that follows. Then read the insights offered by some of the best-respected experts and thought leaders.
You can change your attitude so you’re open to opportunities, so you feel it’s possible to chart your own course and drive your life forward. You can set goals—and you can reach them! Despite the economic chaos, you can take control of your income and start your own business. You can build wealth. You can reconnect with your family. And you can be happy.
Is Your Attitude Your Challenge?
1.Do you believe that now is the perfect time to seize opportunities?
2.Do you feel confident that your future is full of prosperity?
3.Do you believe that you have the skills and abilities to meet your goals?
4.Do you look at the challenging people in your life as teachers rather than enemies?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You have a winning attitude that inspires others and keeps you on track to your goals. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you may have a great attitude when things are going your way but struggle to stay positive in challenging times. Check out Jim Rohn’s advice for changing your attitude to change your life.
Are You Pursuing Your Goals?
1.Have you written down your long-term goals?
2.Have you written down a few things you want to achieve by the end of the year?
3.Have you developed specific steps to meet your larger goals, plus a way to measure your progress?
4.Do you meet your goals regularly and set new ones?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You are a champion goalsetter. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you could be settling for status quo instead of reaching for your dreams. Read Brian Tracy’s advice on goal-setting and achieving.
Is Your Life Fulfilling?
1.Do you feel like something is missing from your life?
2.Do you neglect your hobbies or interests in favor of daily tasks?
3.Do you find yourself watching the clock, waiting for the day to end?
4.Do you fill your downtime with mindless distractions like too much TV?
If you answered YES to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You balance your personal interests and passions with your responsibilities to stay happy and fulfilled. If you answered YES to 2-4 questions, it’s time to make a change and bring the joy back into your life. It’s never too late! Read Deepak Chopra’s advice on creating happiness.
Do You Need a Relationship Checkup?
1.Do you opt out of family activities because of work?
2.Do you think you’re too busy to connect with old friends?
3.Has your social life dwindled down to your spouse or co-workers?
4.During stressful times, do you avoid “burdening” others with your problems?
If you answered YES to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You’re doing a great job of making relationships a priority in your life. If you answered YES to 2-4 questions, don’t let another day go by without refocusing your daily life on what’s truly important: people. Read Richard Eyre’s advice on relationships.
Do You Have a Grip on Your Finances?
1.Do you know where your money goes each month?
2.Are you allotting money each month to your savings goals?
3.Do you feel in control of your credit card spending?
4.Are you on track to build wealth with your income?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! Your money management skills are in top form. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you could be creating unnecessary financial stress and keeping yourself from achieving true wealth. Read Dave Ramsey’s advice on money management.
Do You Control Your Income?
1.If you face a layoff, do you have an alternate income source?
2.Do you feel you have just as much control over your financial situation in an economic downturn as you do in a boom?
3.Do you have a plan for building wealth?
4.Have you taken steps toward starting that business you’ve always dreamed of owning?
If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You understand the secret to building wealth is owning your own business. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, there has never been a better time to take control of your life and your income. Read Robert Kiyosaki’s advice on entrepreneurship
The Likability Factor
How to leverage relationships and be the provider of choice
Have you ever called a supplier or service provider with a question and gotten passed around the company from one person the next? Or maybe you’ve met with a product rep, and he acted as if he was anxious to get on with his day and get you out of the office?It’s that kind of experience that led retail consultant Rick Segel to write Becoming the Vendor of Choice
. “I was just mad as hell and couldn’t take it anymore,” he says. “Sometimes I felt like shaking vendors and saying, ‘Don’t you get it?!’ ”Segel worked in retail more than 25 years before starting Rick Segel & Associates, so he knows what it’s like to work with vendors who have no concept of an effective relationship. And the problem is pretty pervasive. For most providers, “it’s more about the lowest price and the best product,” he explains, but even with those advantages over the competition, you can lose customers (or fail to get them to begin with) if you don’t have the “likability factor.”
In his book, Segel writes in depth on how to make the customer relationship about more than just purchasing merchandise. “You don’t want to do business with people you don’t like,” he says, “no matter the price, incentives or product. If Al Gore or Hillary Clinton were more likable, they could have been president,” he adds.
Are you buying it?
If not, consider the Apple Store. “Nothing has ever come close to it in the history of retailing,” Segel argues. “Imagine bringing people to the store to teach them how to use the product.” No other computer company manages relationships the way Apple does, and that’s why the company has a devoted fan base.
Does Segel’s argument hold water in an age when experts claim there is no such thing as customer loyalty? Absolutely. “Relationship-building applies to any industry,” he says. “Today the key word is ‘free.’ What kind of creative, innovative and educational things can you come up with to make your customers loyal?”
Offer education and expertise. If you can offer advice on your industry or related products for free or as a value-added service, do it. Remember the Apple store. Customers will flock to you if they feel they’re getting a product as well as an education in using it to improve their lives.
Use the web as a history lesson. Feature success stories of specific businesses you serve, how they use your product and service, and how their success could apply to other businesses.
Recognize your customers. Offer competitions and awards that honor them for their business and thank them for their loyalty.
Become a networking resource. Bring your customers in similar industries together to compare best practices. They may not know each other, but you know all of them. Help them get connected to learn from one another.
by Rick Segel
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Four Things Your Business Can Learn from The Avengers
Every projection about this summer’s blockbuster The Avengers severely underestimated its earning potential. As the No. 3 top-grossing movie of all time, only behind Avatar and Titanic, The Avengers has currently grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide—a number that continues to grow more than a month after its release.
So what made a seemingly normal comic book movie into the year’s biggest hit? And how can you apply that to your business? Here are four takeaways we gathered from The Avengers’ success:
1. Reward your true fans. Let’s face it. The geeky comic book fan is a small and special subset of the movie-going population. Many Batman or Spiderman fans grew up watching the TV shows, might have flipped through a comic book or two, but they couldn’t tell you what Superman’s birth name is (for the curious, it’s Kal-El). You would think this translates to a tuned-down version when creating a movie for the masses, but instead, they didn’t shy away from pleasing the fanatics. The dialogue is filled with nerd-speak and insider references to things like Chitauri or the Tesseract. It excited hardcore fans and leisure fans didn’t mind. If anything, the geeky terms were less of a turn-off and more of an appealing touch to the comic book flick. While it sometimes seems necessary to cut time with old and trusty clients in an attempt to attract new ones, never forget your loyal fans. Consistently reward your devoted fan base, and the new ones might be motivated to join in on the insider fun.
2. Think big picture. Five years ago, Marvel Studios planned to package, develop and market four of their superheroes so that they could eventually create a “super movie” featuring all of them. Marvel’s President of Consumer Products Paul Gitter explains: “We took the superheroes — Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk — that we felt were the most relatable, relevant and aspirational to build into one package. Every Marvel movie since 2008 was created with the full intention of this super franchise.” What about your business? Are you thinking of the big picture or are you just focusing on the sales you can make for the week? Marvel Studios was willing to wait five years to create six different movies with various cliffhangers and lead-ins to essentially put all of their eggs in one basket for The Avengers. And it worked. Which also leads us to...
3. Take risks. Believe in someone unlikely. Having come from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fame, director Joss Whedon was a risk. Sure, he had directed cult classic TV and sci-fi, but he wasn’t an industry staple in the world of action movies, and he certainly wasn’t someone who first comes to mind when heading up a movie worth five years of work. Joss Whedon turned out to be a fantastic risk; the dialogue and directing was praised by critics. Having achieved cult-level status in the world of geekdom definitely didn’t hurt, either. (Another example of Reason No. 1 of this list; San Diego Comic Con fans rejoiced when Mr. Stan Lee himself announced Whedon as The Avengers director.) Having indie art house film actors Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) instead of seasoned action stars was a risk that was also well-rewarded; they ended up being two of the most memorable characters. Everybody has to start somewhere. When was the last time you took a chance with someone?
4. Place Strategy. As featured in the June issue of SUCCESS, marketing expert Dan Kennedy explains place strategy—the idea that an increase in clients and sales comes from where you are. Redefining a target market and physical or medium relocation are all ways that a business can find better opportunities than before. Probably without even knowing it, The Avengers employed great use of place strategy. Their release came at the perfect time, with no other rivals at the box office, either before or after their box office debut. The only other competing action movie out on opening weekend was the dystopian flick The Hunger Games, which, at the time, was going on its 7th week at the movies. It’s notable that The Avengers was released right before the start of summer, crushing Battleship on its debut weekend, and well before the highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman releases could threaten its earning potential.
And if all else fails, here’s what comic book legend Stan Lee said about the success of The Avengers at Dallas Comic Con: “Want to know why The Avengers was so successful?... I have a small cameo role in every movie. But they’re kept very short! So if you turn away for even a second, you’ll walk away from the movie thinking, ‘Hey! I didn’t see Stan Lee! I guess I have to go see The Avengers again.’… And that’s why it was such a hit.”So what made a seemingly normal comic book movie into the year’s biggest hit? And how can you apply that to your business? Here are four takeaways we gathered from The Avengers’ success:
1. Reward your true fans. Let’s face it. The geeky comic book fan is a small and special subset of the movie-going population. Many Batman or Spiderman fans grew up watching the TV shows, might have flipped through a comic book or two, but they couldn’t tell you what Superman’s birth name is (for the curious, it’s Kal-El). You would think this translates to a tuned-down version when creating a movie for the masses, but instead, they didn’t shy away from pleasing the fanatics. The dialogue is filled with nerd-speak and insider references to things like Chitauri or the Tesseract. It excited hardcore fans and leisure fans didn’t mind. If anything, the geeky terms were less of a turn-off and more of an appealing touch to the comic book flick. While it sometimes seems necessary to cut time with old and trusty clients in an attempt to attract new ones, never forget your loyal fans. Consistently reward your devoted fan base, and the new ones might be motivated to join in on the insider fun.
2. Think big picture. Five years ago, Marvel Studios planned to package, develop and market four of their superheroes so that they could eventually create a “super movie” featuring all of them. Marvel’s President of Consumer Products Paul Gitter explains: “We took the superheroes — Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk — that we felt were the most relatable, relevant and aspirational to build into one package. Every Marvel movie since 2008 was created with the full intention of this super franchise.” What about your business? Are you thinking of the big picture or are you just focusing on the sales you can make for the week? Marvel Studios was willing to wait five years to create six different movies with various cliffhangers and lead-ins to essentially put all of their eggs in one basket for The Avengers. And it worked. Which also leads us to...
3. Take risks. Believe in someone unlikely. Having come from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fame, director Joss Whedon was a risk. Sure, he had directed cult classic TV and sci-fi, but he wasn’t an industry staple in the world of action movies, and he certainly wasn’t someone who first comes to mind when heading up a movie worth five years of work. Joss Whedon turned out to be a fantastic risk; the dialogue and directing was praised by critics. Having achieved cult-level status in the world of geekdom definitely didn’t hurt, either. (Another example of Reason No. 1 of this list; San Diego Comic Con fans rejoiced when Mr. Stan Lee himself announced Whedon as The Avengers director.) Having indie art house film actors Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) instead of seasoned action stars was a risk that was also well-rewarded; they ended up being two of the most memorable characters. Everybody has to start somewhere. When was the last time you took a chance with someone?
4. Place Strategy. As featured in the June issue of SUCCESS, marketing expert Dan Kennedy explains place strategy—the idea that an increase in clients and sales comes from where you are. Redefining a target market and physical or medium relocation are all ways that a business can find better opportunities than before. Probably without even knowing it, The Avengers employed great use of place strategy. Their release came at the perfect time, with no other rivals at the box office, either before or after their box office debut. The only other competing action movie out on opening weekend was the dystopian flick The Hunger Games, which, at the time, was going on its 7th week at the movies. It’s notable that The Avengers was released right before the start of summer, crushing Battleship on its debut weekend, and well before the highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman releases could threaten its earning potential.
Seeds of SUCCESS
seeds@success
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)