Show Description

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in Worryland—constantly overthinking, stressing about tomorrow, and rushing through life? You’re not alone! But what if you could step into Wonderland instead? A place of curiosity, presence, and belief in impossible things?

In this episode of The Disney Magical Mindset, we’re diving into three powerful lessons from Alice in Wonderland that can help you stop worrying and start living:

✨ Alice’s Big Lessons – Why you can’t go back to yesterday and why that’s a good thing. And, how to stop choosing to be confused! 
🐰 The White Rabbit’s Reminder – How to slow down, stop rushing, and be present.
😸 The Cheshire Cat’s Perspective – What’s actually worth your energy (hint: not everything is urgent!).

Worry won’t change the future, but being present today can change everything. 

Listen now and take your first step out of Worryland! 

Show Notes

Hey friends, welcome back to the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast. My name is Ruben, your Disney Magic Mentor, and if you’ve ever felt stuck in a cycle of worry, overthinking everything, stressing over the past or rushing to the next thing, does this sound familiar? Because it does to me, then this episode is for you and for me too. One of my favorite Disneyland rides is Alice in Wonderland. There’s something so magical about following the white rabbit down, down down the rabbit hole and discovering this whole new world of imagination. But here’s the thing Alice would have never made it to Wonderland if she hadn’t first dreamed of a world of her own, a place where cats and rabbits reside in fancy little houses. You get it and wear shoes and hats and trousers. You can sing along. By the way, if Alice had been too worried about tomorrow, she never would have chased the white rabbit. Today she would have missed her adventure entirely. And that’s exactly what happens to us. When we let worry take over, we miss the magic happening right now, this very moment. And today I want to give you three simple ways to stop living in worry land and start living in wonderland, because, let’s be honest, most of us spend way too much time trapped in worry land, running in circles asking what if instead of what’s next, and that what if? Game. You got to stop playing it because it will keep you trapped in worry land. But Wonderland, that’s where we want to be. This is the place of curiosity, wonder and believing in the impossible, in impossible things, like Walt Disney. So today, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to take a deep breath. Are you ready? Let go of stress and come with me as we step into wonder Wonderland. Are you ready? Here we go.

The first lesson that we get from Wonderland you know, living in Wonderland and not Worryland comes from Alice, and it’s a big one. In fact, it’s kind of a two in one. So you get like the twofer right, the two for one here. And one of the first big lessons that I learned from Alice is about letting go of the past, which is so hard to do sometimes, but she says it in such a way that it really makes sense. Here’s what Alice says I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person. Then Go, alice, isn’t that powerful. I mean, really, how often do we obsess over the past, wishing we’d done something differently, said something better or taken a different path, constantly playing that what if game. Remember that, what if game? That keeps you in worry land.

Yeah, here’s the truth, though, and this is what Alice says, and she says this so powerfully and I resonate with it you are not who you were yesterday, and that’s actually a good thing, like the mistakes you made. Guess what? They helped you grow, and I know this to be true because I’ve made plenty mistakes, and it’s often those mistakes that creep up again, that try to remind me of the past. But I have to reframe it right. I have to look at it from this perspective that Alice shares, because I’m not that person. I’m not that person. I was 10 years ago. You’re not that person. You were a year ago, right, and so to dwell on something in the past that we can’t change, go back. In other words, all we can do is focus on what we can do today. We can’t control the past anymore, and so to spend my time harboring over something that I can’t change from the past is going to do me no good. If anything, it’s going to keep me planted in worry land and cause me to get anxious and upset and hurt and broken because of stuff that has gone on in the past. I can’t dwell on something that I can’t change. I can only change what’s today, what’s right now, this moment. Guess what? The choices you regret. They led you to where you are now. The lessons you learn which is often lessons from falling flat on our face, right, guess what they do? They shape you into a wiser version of yourself, and the only way they can shape you into a wiser version of yourself is if you actually learn from those mistakes. Do you understand? So, instead of living in worry land, constantly second guessing yourself, you got to start living in this moment and start believing that what you can control today will actually change your tomorrow.

And let me speak about tomorrow just for a second, because that’s another thing that we can obsess over. I know I have as well. In fact, that was probably one of my biggest challenges is I’m the type of person that likes to think so far in advance, like I’m thinking next year. You know, I’m thinking what’s gonna happen in three months from now? And then it just hit me. If I continue to live this way Now, that’s not to say we don’t have goals and dreams and aspirations and we have things that we’re planning right that we’re looking ahead like visioning for the future. That’s all good, but what I have discovered is sometimes I stay in worry land because I think about all the things in the future that can go wrong instead of go right. And here’s what hit me when I worry about tomorrow, I miss out on living today. And worryland is a thing of the past, or worryland is a thing of tomorrow, but wonderland is right now. It’s living life to the fullest, it’s embracing this moment. And the thing about life it is so beautiful.

The other day I was driving and I was just reflecting on life. Do you ever do that where you just think back to certain times and days and memories? And the other day, last week, I posted these awesome, fun, vintage old school back in the day photos of me and my wife at Disneyland. And it just it hits you that life goes so fast. You know one day you’re in your teens, walking in Disneyland with your girlfriend and the next thing you know you’re married, you got two kids and living the best life.

And I just I realize about life, all I have is right now. I want to live today with everything I’ve got, because the truth is is tomorrow is not mine. Tomorrow is not promised, so for me to worry about something tomorrow that may not even happen, I am giving myself. I am adding extra stress and worry to something that may not even take place. So why am I going to do this and give myself something that is not even true or may not even happen? And you and me have got to stop this. We have to stop adding unnecessary stress, making ourselves sick and worried about something that may not even come true. Research shows that 75 to 98% of mental, physical and behavioral illness comes from one’s thought life. A study by the American Medical Association found that stress is a factor in 75% of all illnesses and diseases that people suffer from today. The American Institute of Health estimates that 75% to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related problems. We got to get out of worry land because we’re making ourselves sick.

You see, when you live in worry, it’s hard to dream. When you live in worry, it’s hard to build your magic kingdom. When you live in worry land, you can’t live in wonderland. It’s impossible. You can’t do both. You can’t live in worry land and then live in wonderland. It’s impossible, you can’t do both. You can’t live in worry land and then live in wonderland. You’re either going to be in one land or the other and you get to decide. You get to choose which land you want to live in because, remember, you are always moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts. So if your thoughts are constantly on worry and fear and anxiety, well, guess what’s going to happen, guess which direction you’re going to be going in. Your life is going to be going that way. But if you live your life in wonderland right, if your thoughts are on joy and happiness and imagination and curiosity and what could go right, and not living in the what, if, but what now? Guess where your thoughts are going? You get to manifest that beautiful wonderland in your life and it will follow you. That’s a huge lesson from Alice.

And there’s one more that I want to share with you, kind of like a part two, 1a, 1b, if you will, about this simple way to stop living in worry land and start living in wonderland. Here’s what she says. Here’s the other quote I wanted to share with you. I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it. It is so easy to overthink things. But here’s what I know about you. You know what to do. You know what to do. Give yourself more credit.

I think one of the things that causes us to live in worry land is we overthink things. We often get confused about stuff that we actually know what to do. We think we don’t, but we do, and I want to show you how. I came across this from Donald Miller, who writes a book called Business Made Simple, and he says that successful people do not live in confusion, they live in clarity. And it’s not because they see the world clearly and the rest of us don’t. The truth is, we all see the world fairly clearly. We just choose to be confused. So if we’re gonna live in wonderland, right, and we’re gonna stay there and not live in worry land, we have to choose to not be confused. So if we’re going to live in wonderland, right, and we’re going to stay there and not live in worry land, we have to choose to not be confused. And here’s what I discovered.

There are usually one of three reasons that we choose to be confused. This is what I discovered from the book. The first is I’m people pleasing, so the reason why you or me are confused about something or a decision or something we have to do is because we’re worried about what people will think or whether people will still like me or like you if you do what you know you need to do. That’s the first reason people choose to be confused. The second is I’ll lose face. I’m worried about what other people often strangers will think of me if I do the right thing. Have you been there before? You’re just worried even about strangers. What are they going to think of me if I do the right thing? And then number three, which is the biggie right, it’s usually all of us. We’ve felt this before. We choose to be confused because we’re afraid, because of fear. I fear the financial or physical consequences of doing the right thing. And so here’s where we’re going to live in Wonderland, not in Worryland.

In times of confusion, just name the thing that’s making you confused. What is it? And you will discover that when you name it and you claim it, it will speak to you and you will begin to feel and to see well, what is it? Is it because I want to please people? Is it because I’m losing face, or is there something that I’m afraid of that’s causing me to be confused? And I love this question that you can ask yourself, when you’re in the situation that seems confusing. And here’s the question If I were a different person, if you were a different person looking at this from the outside, what would be the obvious right action to take? If I were a different person looking at my life from the outside, what would be the obvious right action to take? And the answer to this question will often reveal what needs to happen if we’re not held back by the chosen confusion. Stop choosing to be confused, because when you choose to be confused, you live in worry land instead of wonderland.

All right, those are some big lessons from Alice, powerful lessons about how to live in wonderland instead of worry land, and I want you to see them as kind of a 1A and 1B packaged into one. They’re so good. I wanted to give you like this power combo from Alice about the past and the future that we worry about, and then, of course, about overthinking things or choosing to be confused. That’s going to change now. Now here’s the second lesson I want to share with you about living in wonderland instead of worry land, and the funny thing is is that this one, it comes to us from the white rabbit, and so this is one of those lessons that we want to learn from the white rabbit what not to do? Right, because we know the famous words from the white rabbit is I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late, right, we know this.

This is something that you probably can recite in your sleep, in your dreams, and the thing about this truth from the white rabbit is he may have been late, but rushing and running or hopping or doing whatever he did didn’t necessarily get him there quicker. In fact, when you look at the white rabbit, you see someone who’s anxious, who’s worried. You know all that rushing does him no good, and this is why it is so important that we have to get this truth. You have to stop rushing and be present. And I know it sounds familiar because I know exactly what that’s like to run, to feel hurried, to feel like there’s no time, like have you ever felt like this in your life, where you’re rushing through life, you’re stressed because you feel behind, worried that you haven’t accomplished enough fast enough. You feel like you get to the end of your day and you’re like what did I just? Do you ever been there before? That’s the trap of worry land Believing that you’re running out of time when you really. You just need to slow down. Slow down and focus on the present moment. Because here’s what rushing does it steals the joy from today. It makes you miss the little moments that matter. It keeps you feeling overwhelmed instead of aligned, like the white rabbit Just think of the white rabbit.

Wonderland isn’t about rushing. It’s about curiosity, about enjoying the journey. I want you to take three deep breaths with me right now One, two, three. Then ask yourself what’s one thing I can fully enjoy in this moment. Maybe it’s your morning coffee, a walk outside, conversation with someone you love, or walking right down the middle of Main Street, usa.

Finally, if you’re going to live in Wonderland instead of Worryland, you’ve got to take some advice from the Cheshire Cat. Know what’s worth your energy. Here’s what the Cheshire Cat says Haste makes waste, so I rarely hurry, but if a ferret were about to dart up my dress, I’d run. What a curious piece of advice. In other words, not everything is urgent. Not everything needs your stress, your energy or your panic. Sometimes we treat every little thing like an emergency, don’t we? I’ve been there. I do that still at times. The email. You forgot to send the text. You haven’t responded to the what if that keeps playing in your head? That’s the broken record. You actually have to stop. This is the time you got to let that record go, and you know what else is not worth your energy.

That often can be stressful and zap your energy or fill you with anxiety. It’s your phone, right, am I right? I mean, how many times do you spend there on your phone? And then sometimes it just fills you with anxiety or stress or makes you worry just being on your phone, and sometimes you’re what we call doom scrolling. You’re just scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. You feel the pressure of having to produce content and do things or see what others are doing, and sometimes the best thing we can do is actually just pull away from our phones and not allow it to run our lives. In fact, you have the power to parent your phone. So, parents, you know what I’m talking about. You got kids. You parent your kids.

Some of us maybe most of us, need to learn how to parent our phone. The average millennial is on their phone nearly four hours a day, and most adults ages 35 to 44 watch two to three hours of TV a day. Combined, that’s almost a full-time job, and just think of what we could do if we got 10% of our time back, or 20% or even 5% of that time that we’re just wasting. And this one really hits home because I’m on my phone. It’s what I do. I share content, I love to inspire and encourage other people with my social media and I love being part of this beautiful, awesome, magical community. But I also love the peace in my heart and in peace of mind and I love to live in wonderland and not in worry land. And I know one of the things that causes me to live in worry land is when my phone parents me and I don’t parent my phone. So we’re going to talk about this I’m going to bring this up in another episode because I’m doing research on that the power of our phones and the way that it zaps energy and takes life from us and the hours that we spend on it and how it just consumes us and really contributes to our worry and our anxiety.

So remember, not everything is urgent, not everything needs your stress, your energy or your panic. Parent your phone and you’ll see that your world will be a wonderland. So most things can wait right. Most of your worries. There aren’t life or death situations, and the trick is knowing the difference. This is what the Cheshire Cat tells us.

If we rarely hurry, guess what? You’ll know when it’s time to run. You’ll know when it’s time to move, and there are moments, there are times yes, absolutely. When you got to run, you got to move, you got to go quicker or faster. Whether your life’s in danger and you got to run, and you’ll just know or you’ve got this deadline that you got to reach or faster, whether your life’s in danger and you got to run, and you’ll just know or you’ve got this deadline that you got to reach, or maybe there’s this goal and you’re so close and maybe you got to stay up all night or wake up super early. You will know the difference the next time you feel overwhelmed. I want you to ask yourself is this a ferret up my dress moment? Is this a real emergency or am I just caught up in unnecessary stress? And most of the time, it’s not as urgent as you think.

So, as we wrap up today, are you living in wonderland or worry land? If you’re feeling stuck in worry land today, remember these important things. Number one 1A, 1b Remember we learned from Alice Let go of the past and stop trying to control the future, and then trust yourself. Remember, stop overthinking things, stop choosing to be confused. You know what you need to do. Number two stop rushing and be present. The white rabbit is a prime example of that. And then, number three, know what’s actually worth your worry, what you actually need to spend your energy on. Thanks to the Cheshire Cat, because Wonderland isn’t just a place, it’s a mindset. And the more you practice these steps, the more magic you’ll bring into your life, and that’s what I want for you. Thank you so much for joining me down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland.

I hope that this message was encouraging and it spoke to you. If it resonated with you, please would you share this episode with someone. Let’s help get the magic out there. I would love for you to reach out to me and let me know how it spoke to you. Please leave a positive review. That would mean so much to me, as we continue to share this magic with others. And if you haven’t done so yet, hit that follow button, subscribe to this podcast and let’s continue to experience the magic together. Remember, don’t let worry steal your wonder. Go out there and be the magic. You know why? Because you are the magic, the magic lives in you.