Many people feel they can’t have the life they want because of their past limitations or failures.
Maybe your family wasn’t there for you, you didn’t get the proper education, or you’ve been fired from multiple jobs or mistreated in relationships.
Many things aren’t fair and can cause a chain reaction of events that can take us far off course. Sometimes, we make bad choices and miss out on the life we want, but that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them,” Walt Disney said.
But what gives a person the courage to pursue their dreams? One factor is a positive vision of what’s possible.
The problem isn’t that people lack vision — it’s that their vision of the future is often shaped by the failures and limitations of their past. In other words, they do have a vision — but it’s a negative one.
One trait of a successful person is they don’t allow themselves to be defined by their failures or their present unfavorable circumstances.
Instead, they define themselves by a positive vision of their future.
That seems odd when you think about it. They define themselves by something that hasn’t even happened yet.
It’s easy to look at a great person and assume they had everything handed to them or that somehow life was much easier on them than it was on you.
I have many fond memories of my parents taking me to Disney World. I’ve been on the rides, seen the movies, and heard about the man who built it all, Walt Disney. I’ve driven past the Disney skyscraper in Burbank, Calif., hundreds of times; I’ve auditioned at Walt Disney Studios dozens of times.
When surrounded by all that accomplishment, it’s hard to imagine that Walt ever faced any hardship.
Most don’t know that Walt Disney was fired from his job at the Kansas City Star after his newspaper editor told him that he didn’t have enough imagination or creativity.
What if Walt Disney allowed himself to be defined by that moment, and for the next 20 years, he wandered from job to job, telling himself, “I’m not creative, I don’t have a good enough imagination …”
Instead, imagine Walt in Kansas City after Laugh-O-Gram failed, sitting alone in his office, staring at empty walls. He had no money, no plan, and no clear way forward. Perhaps he wondered if his editor had been right all along —maybe he didn’t have what it takes. It would’ve been so easy to give up then, to let the weight of failure convince him to settle for less.
But he didn’t.
He sold his camera, scraped together enough for a one-way train ticket to Hollywood, and took a leap of faith. That train ride wasn’t just a change of scenery — it was a statement of hope.
Walt was choosing to believe in a future that hadn’t been written yet, even when his circumstances told him otherwise. The rest is history.
I often wonder how many potentially great people never accomplish their vision because they believe in their failures more than in their dreams. They accept what their present circumstances are telling them instead of what their future vision could create.
If Walt Disney had been one of those people, we’d have missed out on one of the most creative minds of the 20th century.
He wouldn’t have created Mickey Mouse, one of the most beloved characters of all time. There’d be no Snow White, no Cinderella, no Fantasia — classics that redefined animation forever.
He wouldn’t have built Disneyland, the first-ever theme park of its kind, or Epcot, a visionary concept of a utopian community.
The Disney legacy wouldn’t have touched billions of lives through films, theme parks and innovations that continue to inspire the generations.
Walt Disney refused to let his failures or limitations define his future, so he became one of the most influential people of all time.
Like all great people, he focused on what could be instead of what had been.
We have the same choice — focus on what could be and take the first step toward your vision.
https://daily-journal.com/opinion/moore-walt-disney-didnt-let-early-failures-define-his-future/article_a9384ef4-d77b-11ef-80f6-3f2bcfa3984e.html