Disney Magical Mindset Podcast

This Is How You Actually Start (Walt Disney's Advice For A New Year)

• Ruben R. Rios • Episode 53

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How many times have you said, “This is the year things change” and then stayed stuck?

In this episode of the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast, we explore Walt Disney’s advice that still challenges us today:
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

You’ll hear the powerful true story of the weekend that turned Disneyland from an idea into a sketch, and why starting before you feel ready is often the secret to making progress. And you'll also get practical steps you can take today, to go from procrastinator to dream activator! 

If you’re tired of talking about change and ready to finally take action this brand new year, then you're not going to want to miss this episode.

Helping you silence the villain in your mind and become the hero of your story!

Ruben :

Hey pals, welcome to the first Disney Magical Mindset podcast of 2026. My name is Ruben, your Disney Magic mentor. And if you love Disneyland, Walt Disney, and the idea that the magic doesn't have to end when you leave the park, then you're in the right place. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for being here. Today's episode is for anyone who's tired of talking about change and ready to finally do something about it. This is the episode of all episodes to kick off the new year, to lay the foundation for some extra pixie dust in your life, and to stop talking and begin doing. So are you ready? Cause here we go. Let me ask you something. How many times have you said next year will be different? This is the year I finally do it, or I'm working on it. Yeah, I know this because I've said this uh many times. Most of us, I want you to know we don't lack dreams. Dreams are something that are just in us. Like we we we dream, especially if you're a Disney fan, you love Walt Disney, you go to Disney Park. Dreaming is easy. It's the movement that we lack, it's it's the next steps. It's what do we need to do to accomplish the dream? And I want you to know that that as we step into this new year, there's one idea that can completely change your life if you actually live it. It's one idea. And it comes from none other than Walt Disney. Where else would we start to begin this year? And here's what Walt said. And again, it's a very familiar one. We we hear it all the time, but it's something that is just like, especially towards the end of the year, I really started thinking about this more and more and more. And that is the way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. And the reason why I want to sit here and rest in this magical space is because it sounds so simple, but it's so powerful. Because most people don't fail from lack of talent. You are very talented, my dear friends. You have so much to give and offer this world. There are so many things I can learn from you. So it's not the talent that we lack. People fail because they never move past talking. I mean, we talk too much. Even if you say I don't talk a lot. No, we we do. We we just do this internally, right? We we we say we don't talk a lot, but when it comes to the things that we want to accomplish, the goals, the dreams, like the things that we're setting out to do this year, like we it's easy to talk. It's easy to keep saying it over and over and over again. And and I think the reason why is because talking feels productive. We talk about the dream, we talk about the plan, we talk about what we'll do one day. Someday I'll do this. Like we talk about these things, and somewhere along the way, talking tricks us into thinking we're making progress. So it feels good because I'm talking about it. It feels good because I'm verbalizing it. And yeah, that's that's good and that's great. But nothing you're hoping and dreaming to do. Hear me now. For you, for your family, for your future will ever happen if it stays in the talking phase. And this is why dreams don't get accomplished. This is why we don't get to that happily ever after, because we just keep talking about it, but we actually don't do what it we need to do to get there. And I want you to know that you can do this. This is why I do what I do, because I want you to believe that you can create your happiest place on earth, that you can reimagine your happily ever after. It is possible. If it wasn't possible, I wouldn't even be doing this. I wouldn't be taking time to continue to come at it every single week to share this magic because I believe in this. I believe in you becoming the best in this one beautiful life you're given here, right? Like we can do this, and that's why I'm telling you, nothing you're hoping and dreaming to do for you or your family or your future. I I gotta repeat this, is ever gonna happen if it stays in the talking phase. Talking doesn't build momentum. You know what does? You know what does action does. That's what builds momentum. When you do the thing that you need to do to get there, don't you know like that's why it feels good when you just think of anything. You go into the gym, you you you come out of the gym, right? And it just feels good because it's action that builds momentum. It's when you when you do the thing, that that step, that next right step, and you look back, you're like, wow, check this out. I can do this. And you keep going and going and going, and you keep getting stronger and you experience more pixie dust in your life and more magic because you keep doing the things that you need to do to get to where you're going. You keep looking back on, well, hey, if I could do it there, I can do it now. And I'm saying all this, like I'm also living this with you. And you've heard me say this before. Last year, when 2025 started, I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about podcasting. And the reason I keep bringing this up is because I built momentum by going after something that I really at that point didn't know much about. But now you talk about podcasting, it's one of my favorite things. I enjoy this, I love this. It be it be it comes easy, it's natural, it's something. Why? Because of the action, because I stopped talking about wanting to do a podcast, and I'm like, I'm just gonna do it. I'm gonna go for it. And look at where we are today. I get to share this magic with you, hero, a year later. Uh, because again, talking doesn't build momentum, action does, action does. And you know this, my friends, I'm not telling you anything, anything new. That's why Walt didn't just dream Disneyland, he built it. So, yes, it starts with the dream. Yes, it starts with him talking to people and writing things down, but it goes nowhere if he doesn't take action. This is what makes the dream a reality. Wishes are great, but wishes will only get you so far. It's the action, it's the steps, it's actually doing what you're dreaming about, what you're talking about. In fact, Walt Disney also said this a person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. Okay, Walt.

unknown:

All right.

Ruben :

You see, Walt didn't wait until everything was clear. He started early and he let clarity come through action. In fact, that's that's often the dilemma, is we're always waiting for something to be clear. I won't start till there's clarity. I won't go after that thing until I know for sure. And I'm here to tell you that it's the action that actually brings about the clarity. Because if you keep waiting and you keep talking about it, how are things gonna get clear? You gotta start, you gotta fall, you gotta get back, you gotta uh up, you gotta learn, right? It's the it's the action that creates the clarity. And this is what we see the mindset that shows up powerfully in the story of how Disneyland actually began. Which I can't wait for this amazing uh, you know, documentary that's coming out here in a couple weeks on Disneyland, Walt Disney. It's gonna be so good on Disney Plus. I want to take you through something that maybe will actually come come up in the documentary, and that is to the weekend that changed everything. In fact, I don't I don't think I've ever shared this story. It is so powerful, so encouraging, so motivating. I I hope this really just inspires you to believe that that this is your year. This is our year to crush it, my friends, for our dreams to become reality. September 1953. Walt and Roy are finally ready to approach bankers in New York to fund Disneyland. Yes, because Walt didn't have the money, didn't have the money, all the money that he needed to fund the $17 million project called Disneyland. And there was just one problem. Disneyland doesn't exist yet. You know where it exists in Walt's head. Like most, like all of our dreams. That's where they exist, right? Before you talk about it and share it with other people, it starts there. And and Walt knows that talk won't work with bankers. And he and he said this those businessmen don't listen to talk. He said, You've got to show them what you're going to do. So Walt Disney he calls uh one of his buddies, former Disney studio artist Herb Ryman on a Saturday morning, and he invites him over. No warning, no plan. So when Herb arrives, Walt says, We're gonna build an amusement park. I mean, just imagine that. You hear this from Walt Disney, we're gonna build an amusement park. And Herb says, All right, well, what's the name? Disneyland, Walt says. And he explains that Roy is leaving for New York in less than two days and they need a drawing. Oh man, this is this is so cool. And so, of course, Herb's like, You're you're crazy, Walt. There's no way. And so he refuses. He's like, it's too rushed, it's too risky, but Walt begs him. Walt's like, Herb, this is my dream. What if what if I stayed with you and and we work on it together and we just don't stop, we just keep going, Herb. And and for the next 42 hours, my friends, they work nonstop. Nonstop. Walt walks through the park in his mind. He goes for Main Street, the hub, fantasyland, frontierland, and then Herb begins to draw, Herb begins to sketch the original drawing, Disneyland, that is still recognizable today. In fact, if you go into the opera house on Main Street, you'll find some cool concept art of Disneyland, like from the very beginning stages, and you can see what it was, like that lost weekend with Herb and Walt Disney, and you can begin to see the transformation, the progression, the growth, all from a sketch to what it became on opening day. It is so fantastic. I'm always inspired because it wasn't perfect, it wasn't even finished when Walt Disney took this dream to the bankers. Oh my goodness, it's so good. But it was started. It was started, which means readiness comes after you start. It always seems like we want to wait to be ready, but you're really realistically, you're never gonna be ready. Readiness happens when you get going, when you take action. That's when you feel ready. That's when you gain momentum. That's when you begin to start taking the necessary steps to go to where you need to go. Like Walt Disney. He didn't have it all together, right? He didn't know what it was exactly gonna be like. He just called his friend up and he said, Hey, we need to do this drawing. I need to show these guys something. And together that weekend, they were able to sketch a dream. And then, as you know, the rest is history. Again, it wasn't perfect, it wasn't even finished, it was started. You've got to start. We have to stop talking about it and just do it. This is the year to make it happen. There's an author and speaker by the name of John Acuff. He writes a lot of amazing books. And in one of these books, he says the starting line is the only line you completely control. Isn't that powerful? You don't control the finish line, you only control the start. And most people never start because they're waiting to feel ready. And Walt didn't wait. That's what I love about his story. I mean, I love that that it's such an inspiration in Disneyland and the creation and opening day in 1955, and you know, the stories that we hear from that day of how it was uh what was defined or described as Black Sunday because it seemed like an a failure, but but obviously we we we know that wasn't true. Um, and that's another podcast for another day, but I I think we sometimes forget this moment. Yeah, this moment where Walt doesn't wait. He started with a sketch, a friend who he called and begged and was like, you know, sharing that dream and said, I need your help. We got 42 hours, man. Let's use this weekend. I I need to give them something. A sketch that wasn't complete, but that became the catalyst for what would become Disneyland? A sketch? Are you are you kidding me? Come on, wow. This is what I'm talking about. Yeah, this is the kind of action that I want you to feel. You don't have to have everything down, you don't have to feel ready. You just got to stop talking and do it instead of believing that I always have to be ready or not going after that dream or that goal or that ambition because I'm afraid of what people think. No, you're too valuable and important to pay too much attention to what other people think of you because they're gonna say things, they're gonna think things, they're gonna have their opinion anyway, and you can't change that. But I tell you what, you can change. Stop living in fear of other people's thoughts about your dream. This is your dream, this is your story. You get to write the chapter of your life, you get to, you get to keep pressing forward to that happily ever after. But you can't get there if you keep waiting to be ready, if you keep talking about it, if you keep just hoping that it's going to happen today, you get to change your life. You get to you get to commit to making the daily decisions that are going to get you closer. And if you fall and if you fail, so you get back up like Walt Disney. And now you have a story to tell, and now you have lessons to learn instead of getting to the end of the road, looking back and wishing you would have started 15 years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, instead of wishing and hoping and looking back and feeling like, darn, why didn't I do this? Yeah, that's not gonna be us. No, because your happily ever after doesn't start at the finish line, it starts here at the starting line because you don't control the finish. You don't. You can only control the start, and you get to decide today if this is the day that you start, that you stop making excuses and you start, that you stop talking and you start doing. Come on, I believe in you, let's go. I believe in you, and I say this with all my heart, and I get so passionate about it, and I and I and I just get so excited because I want you, I want you to experience the life you always wanted. And you can do this today. And I'm gonna be here to cheer you on along the way. Okay, before we go, I want to give you some practical steps that you can take today to quit talking and begin doing. Are you ready? Here's the first thing. So I want you to think of that dream, the goal that you have this year, the ambition, the resolution that you set out to say, hey, I want to do this. I want you to think about it. All right, you got that? Okay, here's the first thing. Here you go. What can you do today? What is one action that you can take today? Not perfect, not not having everything just forward, just moving forward, just one thing, one step that you can do today to make that dream, that goal, a reality. Just one thing. That's all I want you to do, alright? And then check this out. Number two, it's simple. The second thing you're gonna do is you're gonna do this one thing every day because consistency beats intensity. And I want you to think about this. If you did this one thing every day for the next 30 days, what would change? I want you to envision, I want you to just see the future in the present. That feeling that you get of where you'll be in 30 days from now, I want you to feel that right now. What do you feel? How does it make you feel if you were to do that one thing every day and in 30 days you start seeing progress, you start seeing change, you start seeing what it's like because you spent 30 days every day working towards it. All right? You got that? Okay. And then here's a third thing I want you to do. I want you to list your excuses. Yep, I know. But I want you to do this. I I want you to list the excuses you've been using to delay this dream and be honest with it. And and then and then I want you to ask yourself, what do I do when all my excuses are gone?

unknown:

Woohoo!

Ruben :

Yeah, when they're all gone, when you no longer have any more excuses, what do you do then? Yes, because that's the mindset you've got to have, because those excuses they're always gonna be there, but that's where you have to shift that perspective, switch into that magical mindset so that you can push through those excuses that keep trying to push you back and to keep you from to the going to the finish line, right? Okay, and then the last thing you're gonna replace those excuses with actions. Right next to each excuse, I want you to write the action you'll take instead. So, yeah, you've got your excuses, but then I'm gonna put my action because what you're saying is you're writing it down and you're declaring that actions are greater than excuses. Because excuses want to excuse my dream from becoming a reality. And I'm not, I'm not with that. We're not with that. So I'm going to release myself from those excuses by believing that dreams are built on action, not intention. I want to thank you so much for joining me on the very first podcast episode of this new year, 2026. And listen, if you want this year to be different, if you're ready to stop talking and start building, start doing, I want you to know you don't need to wait to be ready. You can hear all these motivational mindset talks and listen to all these great, you know, motivational speakers. It's good. I love this. This is what I love to do, right? And there's amazing, amazing speakers out there and people who just do amazing talks that inspire. But what you need the most is movement, and that's what I'm here for. Like that, that friend, that that that brother, man, that's just like here to say, hey, let's do this, let's create our happiest place on earth. And that's why I want to invite you to my free. I'm so excited for this first time ever Disneyland Mindset online workshop that's beginning at the end of this month, and we'll take these ideas. And some other ideas and take them deeper, turn inspiration into action and kickstart your year with clarity, confidence, that little extra pixie dust, and that inspiration you need to believe that you don't have to be in a Disney park to dream big, to feel the magic, to live the magic, to experience the magic, right? Because Disneyland didn't start perfect, it started with a decision, and now it's your turn. I'd love for you to join me for my first ever Disneyland Mindset online workshop coming to you later this month. I'm so pumped, so excited to share this with you, to engage together, like online, live. It's gonna be so cool. And then I'll give you some more details for that. And then I want to let you know of a brand new one-page action worksheet that I put together that will take everything we discussed today and give you a framework, a worksheet that you can that you can do on your own by yourself. You can use this every single day that just will help you spark that magic, that extra pixie dust, and get you to go from from making excuses to making magic, from being a procrastinator to being a dream activator. And you can go to the description right now in the podcast, this podcast episode, and you can find the link there to sign up and to get your free one-page action worksheet. I really appreciate you taking time to listen to this podcast today. I hope it was inspiring and encouraging. Thank you for being here. I want to wish you a happy, most magical new year. Remember always keep dreaming, keep believing you are the magic because the magic is in you.