One month

Well, it’s been exactly one month since I bid farewell to my dear friends at the Walt Disney Company. It’s been a wonderful adventure, and I thought I’d jot down a few notes about the whole experience.

I can say out loud now, that I left the company a little earlier than originally planned. My wife and I had set a goal to have our affairs in order for me to give notice by the end of October. It’s a date we picked fairly arbitrarily, but it was our way of drawing a real line… an actual point in time to hold ourselves accountable. We had talked a lot about our next adventure in life, we made plans for the next step in our personal and professional lives, but it just never seemed to happen. The time never seemed just right, so we didn’t pull the rip cord.

There were a few times we were sure we’d be pushed into making the move. First it was when we decided to move several states away from Disneyland to start our family. We worked up plans and were ready to go, but I was given the opportunity to work remotely (which was truly a pleasant surprise). After that we had a nasty round of layoffs. I was sure, as the only remote employee in our entire global division, that I would be on the chopping block. So we dug up our plans, polished them off, and were ready to strike out on our own. By some miracle I was spared and I went on working for Disney from 700 miles away. Plans were shelved again in favor of a regular paycheck, and I went back to the grind.

Each time it felt like we were on the edge some something big. We prepared ourselves mentally & emotionally… and when things just stayed the same it was almost a let-down. We were ready to make a big jump, a big move. We got our ducks in a row to make something happen, and it kept fizzling out.

Finally, I reached a point that it was clearly time to move a different direction. Without bringing up topics that are entirely inappropriate for this blog, I will simply pull from a post I wrote exactly one month ago: I needed to take the chance to spread my creative wings a little more independently.

It was earlier than we planned, but there were a few big influencing factors that made us sure the time was right. …so we jumped.

So here we are, one month later. What have we learned?.

• Plan for the worst, but hope for the best.
  This old saying has so much wisdom packed in it. Our own experience took us from plan A, to plan B, to plan C, back to plan A, some shuffling through several ad hoc plans, and finally finding some traction with plan J or K. Almost nothing has gone according to plan, but it’s all turned out damn fine.
• Be ready to punt at any time.
  I don’t make many sports references in life, but this one seems to fit. It’s one that I learned in my time planning and executing large events. Sometimes you watch the perfect plan turn to crap right in your hands. It might have been your fault, or it might have been factors totally out of your control. You just have to be real with yourself, and be comfortable when it’s time to kick the hell out of the old plan and come up with something new.
• A deal ain’t a deal until somebody’s signed a contract.
  We had several projects lined up. Big projects. The kind you spend months just planning. We had commitments, and had actually started some work. But those projects fell through, and I didn’t have a signed contract to back me up. I learned my lesson. Contract + deposit = a deal.
• Make new friends, and make sure they know what you do.
  I know, I know, it’s Networking 101, but that doesn’t make it any less important. I had some projects fall through, but happily I’ve been able to fill that gap in my schedule by letting some online friends know what I was looking for. A few messages on Twitter… and a great new client was in the door.
• Stop and smell them roses
  No matter how awesome you are, going out on your own is stressful. There’s a lot to think about. Make sure to take the time to appreciate what’s important and why you made the move. The world is one big beautiful place. Don’t let a day go by without appreciating it.

To wrap this up I will just offer one more little tid-bit. If you’re thinking of chasing a dream, DO IT ALREADY! Be smart, get your stuff together, and chase that damn dream. I chased a dream to Disneyland, and it was truly truly wonderful. Now, my loving wife and I are chasing a new dream. So far, it’s been truly truly wonderful.