#3 — Go to the light.
“Let’s not forget that it all started with a mouse,” Walt Disney used to say.
He did it not to lose perspective and work hard.
But in 1931 — although already successful — he did not know that he would create a billionaire empire that would last until today.
In that same year (1931), Gilbert Seldes wrote a profile in the New Yorker of a young man in his thirties named Walt Disney.
And in that profile, he gives a lot of information about the beginnings of the animation genius.
Still, above all, when reading it, one extracts excellent spiritual lessons, perfectly applicable today.
Here are three of those valuable lessons I have learned after reading Walt’s profile.
1. The Power of Loyalty
Loyalty is a rare virtue when everyone sells out to the highest bidder. It is rare to find people willing to burn bridges and fight side by side for a project.
But Disney was fortunate to surround himself with loyal people like his brother Roy Disney, the entrepreneurial genius behind his successful empire.
Both Roy and Walt knew how to get rid of many things to bet on the Mouse’s business.
They lived in a modest house, drove a regular car, wore ordinary clothes, did not go to parties, and everything they earned (and they made a lot) they reinvested in the company.
Because it is well known that dreams are not fulfilled only with nice words, ideas must be supported with hard work and sacrifice.
Lesson: I know it is not easy, but you can not be an army of one soldier. To grow in this life, you need to have loyal people by your side, and in this way, you will grow materially and spiritually.
2. Sometimes, you will have to do what you hate to achieve what you want
Walt Disney was born in 1901; his father was middle class and did not have it easy; he moved several times with his family and tried to apply for a cartoonist, but he failed.
But did Walt get discouraged?
Not at all; he did what the old-schoolers know how to do, “whatever it took.”
And so Walt worked as a commercial artist, and with what he earned, he could save to launch his first cartoons.
This teaches us four lessons,
- In life, there is no such thing as the right time.
- You can’t find luck; you have to look for it.
- You have to find a way to finance your dreams, even if this way has nothing to do with them.
- You must maintain focus because you often work on something that is not your dream, accommodate, and forget about the goal.
3. Go to the light
Walt didn’t have much acceptance initially, and his creative projects repeatedly failed, leaving him broke.
Until, at the age of 22, he had enough and decided to go to the Mecca of cinema.
His brother Roy, who thought he had months to live after the war, accompanied him. Between the two, they had about 300 dollars at the time.
Once in Hollywood, they borrowed 200 dollars more to make their first film while they lived with only one meal a day.
The film made $1500, and that was the beginning.
After years in Hollywood, they went to New York to sell their Mickey Mouse concept, but producers and distributors told the Disney brothers that people wouldnt’t be interested in cartoons with voice and less of a mouse.
They were wrong, and on September 19, 1928, people were thrilled with the first Mickey Mouse movie.
The rest is history.
The point is that Walt knew how to approach the Mecca of cinema to learn the trade, and once he knew how the industry worked, he went to where the money was, New York.
And thanks to that audacity and not staying in the same place, he was able to make his dream come true.
Lesson: You have to go where it’s all cooking. You need to absorb the light of the people who know how to do what you need to do to fulfill your dreams. And if you don’t get close to that light, you’ll be stuck in the shadows of ignorance and won’t progress.
A virtual hug
AG
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