“I started working on that (animated short) in the garage
while I was still working for the film studio.” Walt Disney
Great Beginnings Start in the Garage
Walt Disney started creating his animated shorts in his garage while he still had a day job.
The world was forever changed because of his unwavering commitment to bring his ideas to life.
You dream about changing the world for good. And yet you aren’t making any headway on your master plan.
You have this secret hope that you might receive a FedEx package with an invitation inside that reads,
You are cordially invited to begin doing the work of your dreams;
Please report to duty on Monday morning.
Come on?
Instead of waiting for that mythical invitation to pursue your life’s passion,
you should start working in the garage today.
It is the best hope you have.
How am I so sure?
This summer my family and I were in San Francisco and we visited the Walt Disney Family Museum (Read more on the museum).
Listen to the podcast interview.
On the wall there was one quote that lured me to quickly write it down.
I started working on that …..in the garage.
In the early 1920’s Walt Disney was working in Los Angeles, CA for a film studio.
- His name was not yet in neon lights.
- His dreams had not yet been realized.
- While he still had a day job.
- While he was putting food on the table.
- While he was a freelancer trading hours for a day’s wage.
-
He was secretly working in the garage on his best stuff.
Walt Disney altered American family history because he started tinkering in the garage.
I think you should start altering the trajectory of your future by creating in your garage.
Why your best work is born in the garage?
1) No one is watching.
That’s right. No one is over your shoulder watching you work asking if you are done yet. You have the opportunity to work on your craft without anyone else witnessing your creation.
2) There is no pressure.
You don’t have a deadline. You are free of obligation to deliver a finished work. There are no customers tapping their toes waiting on your final product.
3) Your livelihood does not count on it.
When decoupling your livelihood from your craft there is an immense amount of pressure relieved. So what if you mess it up? So what if it sucks?
So what if you start over 52 times?
Paying your mortgage is not tied to the result.
4) You will never have more passion than you do right now.
Never again will you be so unadulterated in your view of this project.
The purity of your passion is like that of a Hawaiian black sand beach
just after a volcano erupted virgin lava onto her shore.
Yep that damn sexy.
Think of the welled up desire that you have to pour out onto the paper, the sculpture, the wood, or the guitar strings.
When else will you possess this poetic a prose?
5) The rent is cheap
The garage looks pretty affordable compared to a two-year lease for an office. Pause and appreciate the luxury of being nimble, thrifty and dynamic.
Once you hire a bunch of people and start spending all of your time meeting with attorneys and accountants everything changes.
Bonus advice: You already have a Thing
A good friend advised me that the best time to start working on your next thing is right now while you have a thing.
Isn’t that great advice?
The garage is perfect.
The garage is the perfect figurative or physical place for you to start honing your craft.
Where would the world be if Walt Disney had not started tinkering with animation in his garage?
Where will we be if you don’t start in your garage?
Other compelling nudges for you to start:
Start doing the job you wish you had.
Do you feel like you are playing for the farm team?
What do you think you have to loose?
