Finding Dory: The Scene That Took 2 Years To Make – Legends Report

By Sukh Singh, Associate Partner, Lighthouse International

Have you ever tried to achieve a goal, like losing weight, getting in shape, or developing an idea into a business? But instead of achieving the desired result, the goal – and you – peter out after a few weeks or months? How has the passion just…vanished?

We see it everywhere – people giving up on their dreams because…

It’s too hard

I’m too busy

No one believes in me

I don’t know what I’m doing

So what is it like when someone, in fact an entire team, do not give up? That is exactly what happens with companies like Pixar, who, as you’ll see, had a team spend 2 years working on a scene for the upcoming film Finding Dory. A scene that lasts just a little over a minute…(wow)!

Busting The Myth of Discipline:

Most of us can look at what goes into this scene and think, wow, those guys are disciplined! If only I was that disciplined!

So how do you become more disciplined?? There is a HUGE myth around discipline, that it’s about getting things done and doing what you said you’d do – that it’s about following through.

The truth is, that this myth is only a fraction of what Discipline really is. And while I can’t explain everything here in this one small article, what I can tell you, is where it starts and how it grows. I’m warning you though, I’m about to use a big, fluffy word…

Have you ever heard the term, Labour of Love? Well, that’s because Discipline is born out of Love.

There, I said it.

Not out of the Hollywood “Oh Jack I love you” ‘love’, but the love of an animator who really cares about the character they’re creating. The love that surges through you when you see the body of a child washed ashore and you feel moved to act. The love of a parent who stays up through the night, while their child is in critical condition in hospital. The love of a child who wants to honour their parent, who died from an illness…

Creating a Labour of Love

When something is a labour of love, you take care over it. You look after the details. You commit to it. You work on it for hours and days at a time – however it doesn’t do it by itself!  Often we action most things because of deadlines, urgencies and because someone else is watching, right!? 🙂

If you want discipline, then instead of treating things like tasks, as means to an end, something to just get through…start turning them into mini labours of love. It will totally transform your experience and the results you get!

There are many different ways you can do this, and it is a constant evolving process. To be mindful, is to slow down and actually experience your activity, rather than doing the work, while your mind is thinking about something else. In addition, when we are grateful for the opportunity and remind ourselves daily, of the ‘why’ that underpins the action, there are indeed lots of little ways, that will turn something from a task, into a labour of love.