Show Notes

Welcome back to the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast. My name is Ruben, your Disney Magic Mentor, and I’m here to help you dive into the principles, inspiration and mindset that help Walt create the happiest place on earth. I want you to know that you can use the same magic to build your dreams too. Now, this weekend is a special one because it kicks off the 70th anniversary celebration of Disneyland. Now, disneyland didn’t open until July 17, 1955, but Disneyland is kicking off the fun and celebration a few months before.

70 years, Can you believe, since those gates first opened in 1955? Seven decades of magic, dreams, memories, millions of lives changed forever. There is no place like the happiest place on earth. There is no place like Disneyland. And here’s the wild part I want to tell you right now it’s crazy to even think about it Walt Disney built Disneyland in one year. That’s right. You heard me right. Did you hear that In one year, walt Disney built Disneyland? He broke ground in July 1954 and opened the park in July 1955.

I want to pause here just for one moment, because that’s not just a cool fact, that’s a wake-up call for you and for me, and we’re going to dig deep into this powerful magical mindset lesson today coming to us from Walt and Disneyland. Now let me be clear. The concept of Disneyland right of this happiest place on earth that Walt dreamed up, it actually took many years. In fact, walt will tell us and he said when he was with his daughters there, as they were riding the merry-go-round at Griffith Park, he mentioned how the development of this dream took about 15 years. So there’s so much to say even about that. I’m not even going in that direction. But it’s so powerful to just think about how our dreams actually take time that we can’t give up and we can’t stop just because we feel like it’s taking forever. I’m going to talk about that in just a moment, but I wanted to just clarify so we understand that the actual concept, the idea that the actual concept, the idea the development of Disneyland took about 15 years is what Walt says, but the actual groundbreaking, you know, building, creating. When Walt broke ground there in Anaheim, it took one year. So again, before we dive in, because here we go, I want you to just let that sink in One year for Disneyland to be built. This is our wake-up call let’s go.

Most people don’t have a vision problem. Let me say that again, most people don’t have a vision problem. You know what you want, like you see it. You know what I mean. You can look ahead and you’re like, oh yeah, you know what you want, like you see it. You know what I mean. You can look ahead and you’re like, oh yeah, that’s what I want, that’s the goal, that’s the desire. This is the problem we all have. Most people don’t have a vision problem. It’s that they have a perception problem.

I want to clarify and distinguish the two, because when you think of your dreams or goals or purpose, it’s so easy to think or perceive them as far off, like it’s way down the road. In other words, I see it, but it’s far away. One day, maybe I’ll get to it Someday, yeah, eventually. And guess what? When you perceive your dreams or your goals as far away, you start acting like they’re far, far away. And this is I know this to be true because I’ve been there, and I have to remind myself of this, because it’s so easy when you’re dreaming and when you’re thinking ahead and you can see it, you could see it because you can feel it and and and, like it’s, it’s in you, but it is so easy to perceive as if it’s far away. And when you start perceiving that it’s far away, guess what you do? Because remember, we’ve said this before you’re always moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts. When you perceive it as far away, you start to procrastinate, you act like it’s far away. I mean, it’s real simple when it’s far away, when you perceive it as far away, you start believing it’s far away, you act like it’s far away. You put off the hard decisions, you dabble instead of committing. You wait for the right time, perfect time, let me just wait for the perfect time. And guess what happens? You keep waiting and waiting and waiting, and in doing that, you unknowingly push the dream even further away. And this is where we’re going to break it today. We’ve got to stop that. You have to stop that. I have to stop that kind of perception. Because when I look at Walt and I see Disneyland being built, remember, in one year Walt didn’t perceive Disneyland as being someday. Everyone else around him thought someday or no way. Right, it’s going to happen. But Walt treated it like it was happening next year. Because it was, because it actually was happening next year. Remember that one year he took to build.

And so what would happen if we start living our lives when it comes to our dreams and our goals and our ambitions, as if they were happening next year, you see how it changes things and stop just seeing it as far off, because if you keep seeing it as far away, you will live and take action as if it’s far away. But what happens when you really believe, no, it’s happening tomorrow, it’s happening next month, it’s happening next year. Ooh, it changes so much for your life. Imagine if you treated your dream that way, if you treated your goal that way. Imagine if you stopped saying one day or someday, my dream will come. You know, I switch it up there, snow White fans and you started asking what, if it needs to happen next year, what would I do differently today? And I’ll tell you what you’ll do differently today, differently today. And I’ll tell you what you’ll do differently today.

When you believe that it’s happening, like in a few months or it’s happening next year, you start getting desperate or hungry. You start to have this focus, like this intense focus, because you know it’s happening. You know exactly what I’m talking about, like if you were to get a phone call today as I’m recording this podcast and I got a message from my daughter’s school or my son’s school that says, hey, you need to come because your kid had a seizure and my children are prone to seizures. So of course there’s extra caution. You best believe that I would drop everything. I would drop everything in that moment to go and make sure that I would drive safely but fast to get to my kids school, take them to the hospital. Whatever I needed to do, I’m going to be there because there’s this hunger, there’s this desperation, there’s this laser-like focus that I need, because I know that it’s necessary, it’s coming, it’s right here, it demands my attention.

And somehow we miss that when it comes to our dreams and our focus and the things that we want to accomplish are happily ever after. We think that it’s far away. And in that, one little pivot, that one little mindset shift, will change everything. When you start to believe that it’s here, when you start to say, no, you know what? What if it happens next year? What would I do differently today if I know that it’s coming next month? Would you keep saying you’re too busy? Would you scroll past your potential and say, well, maybe I’ll do it later? Or would you wait for someone else’s permission? And you know the answer, because I know the answer because we’ve all been in similar circumstances before. Or would you and me because I want to believe that you would, that we would do this Would you wake up? Would we wake up and say, no, it’s time to get to work?

Walt didn’t have time to waste, did he? He had one year. You know, when he broke ground for Disneyland, he had this vision, he had a deadline. He had obstacles tons of them and if you know Walt’s story and the building and creation of Disneyland, you know he had tons of obstacles. But you know what else he had. He had urgency, he had desperation, and urgency creates clarity. Urgency creates action. Urgency turns intentions into movement. So this one pivot when you stop saying maybe or someday and you start acting like it’s happening tomorrow, I promise you it will change your story because your mind will start moving you in the direction that you need to go, to take action, to do the things that are going to move you closer to the dream that is not far away, but that is happening in a year, in a month, in six months. Yes, let’s operate under this paradigm shift, this magical paradigm shift. All right, how are you feeling? Yeah, let’s go. We’re going to take this even deeper. Let’s go a layer deeper.

We often think that successful people are just more talented, more lucky or more connected. And listen, there are some people who are just, and you know this, and that’s why I love again this is another podcast for another day staying in my lane, knowing what my gifts are and where my talent is. But I want you to know, I want to remind you today that there is no secret of these successful people that is not for you to attain. I want to tell you right now that if there is a secret, which is not really a secret because it’s yours, it is just easy to believe that because someone is successful, that somehow they have an advantage or that they’re luckier or they just know certain people, and I want you to know that if there is a secret, it’s this, which I don’t really think it’s a secret, but it’s just that successful people do consistently what average people do occasionally. Do consistently what average people do occasionally. There it is.

So when I look at Walt Disney, guess where would you put him? Would you put him as someone who’s doing consistently the things that needed to get done, or would you say, no, walt is just kind of doing stuff occasionally. You know the answer and this is what separates the successful from the average, from those who actually accomplish and build their happiest from the average, from those who actually accomplish and build their happiest place on earth, from those who don’t. It’s this right here. So I want you to say with me, wherever you are ready, say it loud and proud, because this needs to stick in your heart Successful people do consistently what average people do occasionally. That’s it, that’s the recipe, that’s the magical mindset. This is what Walt did, what he offers you and me when we see Disneyland and we walk into this beautiful park and we are prepared to celebrate 70 years. It is this right here. This should be a reminder that it doesn’t require you to be this amazing creative genius, although that’s helpful and we look at Walt and we know he was that but it’s that successful people do consistently what average people do occasionally, not once in a while, not when it’s convenient.

Consistently, walt showed up daily, no doubt about it. He faced criticism, he faced tons of budget problems. I mean, he, I’m sure, faced creative blocks at some time, but he kept going daily and that’s the secret, which, again, is not really a secret, but that’s it right here. Because when we’re consistent just like he was consistent guess what? We get to walk down Main Street, usa. We get to ride the Matterhorn, we get to experience fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle. Because of his consistency, guess what we get to build our memories. But now it’s your turn, and now it’s my turn. Thank you, walt.

I’m just so moved by Walt’s story and his willingness to keep pushing through the pain, the doubters, the frustrations and to just show up every day. And that’s what it’s going to take. And you know what? Showing up every day is not pretty. Showing up every day and doing things consistently, when you go kind of unnoticed and no one sees what’s happening behind the scenes. It’s not fun sometimes, but it’s this kind of action that pushes you forward to your happily ever after.

Now let me say something that might be a little hard to hear, but I say this because I care about you. Some of you I may know, some of you I don’t, but I believe in you. And what I’m about to say, I’m saying it because I genuinely want your success. I genuinely want you to live this magic, because you are the magic I want you to see, I want to see this happiest place on earth, your Disneyland, come to life, and so I want to say something right here. Please just lean in for a sec.

The only thing standing in the way of your dream is you. The only person standing in the way of my dream is me, is Reuven your excuses, your busyness, your fear of failure, your negative thoughts that whisper who are you to do something big? Right, it’s you. You’re the person who stands in the way. I’m the person who stands in my way. But here’s the truth you get to keep whatever you defend. And if you keep defending your excuses, guess what? You get to keep them. If you keep defending your limitations, you’ll stay within them. If you keep defending that your goal, that your dream is so far away, guess what? You’ll live and you’ll do the things as if it’s far away. But if you choose to defend your dream, if you today say you know what? No, I’m going to defend this dream, I’m going to do whatever it takes to fight for this dream, to protect it, to prioritize it, to fight with everything in my soul, then guess what? That’s what you’ll build your life around. That’s what will happen to your dream. It will begin to feel like it’s possible, like it’s within your reach.

So I’ll ask you what are you defending more, your dream or your excuses? My dear friends, you’re not behind, you’re not too late, you’re not too broken. You’re just one decision, hear me now. One decision away from changing your perception and stepping into action. Just one decision, and this week I want you to just simply focus on that one decision.

I want to challenge you to just think of this question as you wrestle through some things. Just think of this question as you wrestle through some things, as you dream, as you go back and just are invigorated to follow this dream. I want you to ask yourself real simple. Here’s a question. Write it down.

Whatever you got to do, what if I had to make this happen in the next 12 months? Stop seeing your goal or your dream as happening in five years or 10 years. You start acting like it’s happening in one year from now. And what would I have to do to make it happen in one year? That’s it. That’s the challenge. That’s where you and me have to work. We have to work within this magical space, okay, and then you just reverse, engineer the steps. You just start. Don’t think about so far ahead now. You just think about that first step you gotta take, and then that second step and that third step, and guess what? Daily, every day. You just keep doing that, every single day. Remember, remember successful people do consistently what average people do occasionally. Repeat daily consistently. Repeat daily consistently Because a year from now, you’ll either be closer to your dream or you’ll still be defending your excuses, or you’ll still be defending your excuses. And listen, if Walt could turn an orange grove in Anaheim into the most magical place on earth in just one year, what’s stopping you? Come on, let’s do this. You got this. We got this. I believe in you.

I want to thank you so much for joining me on this podcast today. I hope that you were inspired and encouraged as we continue to move closer to our Disneyland. Whatever that Disneyland is for you, whatever it looks like, I want you to know that I am here to help you as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you, please. If this episode inspired you, it would mean the world to me, if you left a review, if you shared it with a fellow dreamer. If you’re not following yet, come on, hit that follow button. Let’s continue to create this awesome magic together Because, remember, the magic isn’t just in the parks. Although we’re celebrating Disneyland and I love it, we love it it’s in you and it’s waiting to be unlocked. So, until next time, keep dreaming, keep believing, keep doing and remember you are the magic, because the magic is in you.