Ikigai Thought for Today: Let It Go
Lessons from a Disney Villain
Audio Narration by David Marlow
You can hear the energy and passion when Santino Fontana shares his story.
If that name doesn't sound familiar, you may know him as the voice of Prince Hans in Frozen. I heard his story when he gave the commencement address at my daughter's college graduation.
The connection to Ikigai was his incredible drive to keep going and the multiple ways he worked to express his purpose.
He has an improbable story and for this format, I'll share briefly that he struggled for a long time to get his career going.
He finally got his break to be in a play on Broadway only to be injured when, this is no joke, a stage sandbag they use to raise and lower the curtains landed on his head.
They were still in rehearsals and he hadn't even been on stage once.
He developed concussion syndrome and spent years recovering before getting a break by doing voice work, which of course is different from stage acting.
Here is what he said about being the unique you...
"Be limitless, definitionless. Be a pain in the ass for whoever has to write your obituary."
Santino kept going, kept looking for different ways to live out his Ikigai. The voicework led to what is likely his most famous role, the despicable Prince Hans, and opened other doors.
He ultimately made it back to Broadway and his career is now going on his own terms.
🌀 Here’s what I want you to think about. What do you take from Santino’s story? What would you do if, after years of struggle, your dream came crashing down?
What would it mean to be limitless, definitionless; so unique it was difficult to write your obituary?
Quest Well
Powerful thoughts today, David. Making meaning of “what is” has taken me being knocked flat on my back for the past 4+ years. While I never imagined I would be in this place, I am grateful for the insights.
"What would it mean to be limitless, definitionless; so unique it's difficult to write our obituary?" - - This flies in the face of a lot of marketing advice we get as professionals to "niche down" and be focused on one thing. I believe it is a Both / And. We CAN demonstrate our expertise through generalism, and the wide openness we embrace through the rest of our life, while still focusing its practical application for others to benefit from. Doing whatever it takes to impact the most people possible.