Getting Out the Door: The Secret to Unsticking Your Goals, Dreams, and Success

Last week, my wife Lyndsey graduated with her master’s degree in criminal justice. She completed the entire program in exactly one year. An incredible accomplishment. Yay, Lyndsey!

But before we even left for the ceremony, she had a moment that perfectly captures what it feels like to chase big goals: her graduation gown got stuck in the front door of our house. I had to come rescue her so we could get moving again and get her to the ceremony on time.

It made us laugh in the moment, but it also made me think. Because sometimes in life, we all get stuck.

Thirty years ago this month, August 1995, I finished my doctoral dissertation. No, it wasn’t on Disney. But it was on narrative criticism, and I couldn’t help but feel a deep connection to Walt Disney’s greatest desire: to be remembered as a storyteller.

Unlike Lyndsey, who powered through her degree in record time, I took three years to earn my master’s and the full six years the program allowed before earning my PhD. Two years of coursework were followed by four long years of staring at the daunting task of writing a dissertation.

The truth? I was paralyzed by the size of the project. I kept telling myself I’d start “tomorrow.” I told myself I wasn’t going to waste all those years of study and sacrifice. But the fear of the big picture left me stuck.

I was hopelessly and impossibly S T U C K.

Right when I was ready to give up and quit, I noticed a small notepad on my desk. That’s when a lightbulb went off. I didn’t know enough to write a 300-page dissertation…which, at the time, felt longer than War and Peace.

But I did know enough to fill one page.

So, I filled a page that day. The next day, I filled another. And then another. Six weeks later, the dissertation was done.

Whether it’s a gown caught in a door, a student staring at a blank page, or you facing your own big dream, getting unstuck starts with one small step.

Walt Disney didn’t build Disneyland overnight. He didn’t wait until everything was perfect. He started with a single sketch. Imperfect, incomplete, but enough for him to begin.

And that’s why Lyndsey, Ali Potter, and I created The Action Academy.

Like that notepad on my desk, The Action Academy is designed to shrink the overwhelm and give you a starting point. Not “someday.” Not “when it’s perfect.” But today.

We’ve got four months left in 2025. Don’t stay stuck. Don’t let the rest of the year become your unfinished project or lost opportunity.

Take a step. Fill a page. Start moving. Let The Action Academy help you get out the door.

Your story is waiting to be written. Click this link to get started: https://www.theactioncommunity.com