Disney Magical Mindset Podcast

Stop Wanting, Start Deciding: A Lesson From Walt Disney

• Ruben R. Rios • Episode 64

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0:00 | 18:50

Most people spend their lives wanting things to change. Wanting more. Hoping for better. Waiting for the “right time.”

But what if that’s the very thing holding you back?

We’ll look at the life of Walt Disney from a one-way ticket to Los Angeles to a simple moment at the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round, and how his decisions built something that changed the world.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it! It’s time to stop wanting. And start deciding. The power to make your dreams and goals come true, starts with a decision. 

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

Welcome, Re-Imagineers

Wanting Versus Deciding

Walt Disney’s One-Way Ticket

Griffith Park And The Birth

Decide Today And Remove The Exit

Share It And Keep Reimagining

Ruben

Hey pals, welcome back to the Disney Magical Mindset podcast, where we learn how to unlock the magic inside of us so we can live our happiest life. And today I'm gonna try something just a little new. If you've been following me for some time on social media, you've probably seen the name that I use is at the re-imagineer. And that name actually means a lot to me. Last year, late last year, I started really zeroing in on a name that I felt would speak to everything that I wanted to do. You know, everything that I do with uh my Disney account, Disney Magic, and I I settled on something that really hit me when I discovered it. And I'm just so thrilled that I get to share this and invite you to be part of something that's really special. Uh because at Disney, imagineers are the people who take imagination and they turn it into reality. They don't just dream things up, they build them. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that's exactly what I'm doing here. That's what we're doing here. Now, I'm not an imagineer. Those people are amazing, right? Like when I think about the attractions and the things that I see throughout the parks, I'm just blown away. But then I realize, wait a minute, like I'm also like building things too. It's just uh it's a little different, you know, um, because we're not just talking about Disney magic here, we're we're not just remembering it, we're learning how to create it in our own lives. We're learning how to reimagine what's possible, how to rebuild it, how to how to step into something new. So I think it's time to start calling this what it really is. This is a community of re-imagineers. People who don't just wish for a better life, but decide to build one. That's what we're doing together. We're not just reminiscing about Disney magic, although I love it, and you know, we're learning how to create magic in our own lives. So, are you ready, reimagineers? I like the sound of that. Cause here we go. There's this idea I heard recently from David Bayer. Uh it was a podcast that my friend and mentor, Dr. Disneyland Jeff Barnes, sent to me. And when I listened to it, it just stopped me in my tracks. He talked, David Bayer, about the difference between wanting something and deciding. And the more I sat with it, the more I realized this might be the thing that that holds so many people back is the difference between wanting something and deciding. Because here's the thing: wanting something is not the path to getting it. It's actually the broadcast of not having it. Every time you say something like, I want this, I hope this happens, what you're really reinforcing is it's not here yet, which then leads to doubt and leads to feeling like you're never going to do it, right? Or you're you can't do it, or uh you're not going to accomplish what you're wanting to do. And that actually matters because your life responds to what you believe is true, because you're always moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts. And if deep down uh you're operating from, I don't have it, I don't know if this will work, I hope it happens someday, I'm not really sure if I can do this, then what do you think is gonna show up, right? Things like doubt, hesitation, overthinking, which I know we we all resonate with because we've all done this, and I know I have, and and that doubt will create resistance, and it's the resistance that keeps you stuck. So the gap between where you are and where you want to be, it just grows and it grows and it grows, and it just keeps repeating and repeating and repeating, and you stay in that same place instead of moving to where you want to go. But that's going to change right now. This was the game changer for me. It really just motivated me when I when I heard this uh from David Bayer, and it was this idea that if all you do is hope and want and wish, you actually just leave room for doubt. And and doubt is is subtle. It it sounds like I want this, but I don't have time. Or I love to, but what if it fails? Or I wish I could, but then it's always like maybe later. You know, it and so you open yourself up to doubt without even realizing it, uh realizing it by by simply just hoping for something to happen or wanting something to happen. And there's always a butt that's attached to that, isn't it? And and which is like an exit sign. That's that's what that's what you do. You're coming off an attraction at a Disney park, and when you come off, you gotta exit, right? And that's kind of what doubt is. That's that's what we're talking about here. And and most people live their entire lives right there, wanting, hoping, um, waiting for something to change, but nothing changes because they never decided. And that's the word right there. It's the decision to say, I'm deciding right now. I'm not gonna just simply want it or hope for it or wish it. I'm going to decide it. Like it there, it's so powerful. It's so powerful. And and when you think of the people who create extraordinary things, like Walt Disney, and and he was on to something, of course he was, but he he said it himself, which is something that we've heard many times. We're gonna talk about him. This idea of quit talking and start doing. And really, the essence of that was quit simply talking about it, wanting it, hoping for it, wishing for it, decide to do it. Oh, and I love the connection. I don't know why I never saw it before, but it's so powerful. It is so moving and motivating. And I hope now when you hear that quote from Walt, quit talking, start doing, you'll connect it to deciding because that's the the word that changes everything. Not just wanting, not just hoping, not just wishing, but deciding. Same thing as quit talking, start doing. Oh, Walt, man, thank you, Walt. It's so so powerful. All right. And we're gonna talk about them. I'm so excited to share this with you. Because these people that we're talking about, like Walt Disney, and if you look at anybody that you think of that is just doing amazing things, great, extraordinary things, like next level, you're inspired by them. They don't just want something, they decide. And a decision is totally different because a decision is final. Wanting leaves it open for the unknown. Hoping leaves it open for, well, maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't. But there's no, there's no but after decision, right? Deciding because it's final. There's no backup plan, there's no exit off the attraction. Like you're gonna stay on that thing until you get it done. And and once that decision is made, you know it's a it's it's happening. And and you move differently, you think differently, you act differently, you show up differently because now you're not operating from the lack or or or you know the unknown or wondering if it's gonna happen. Now you're operating from certainty, and this is exactly the mindset that Walt Disney had. I'm I'm sure of it. I'm so like, I believe this confidently with all my heart. This is the mindset that Walt Disney had. He wasn't simply content with hoping for something or wishing for something because Walt understood that wanting it was not going to make it happen. He understood that wanting something and hoping for something was just leaving the door open for doubt or leaving the exit door open and he was just gonna walk through it. But he understood that he could not build Disneyland if he just wanted it or hope for it. He understood that when he went bankrupt, he he wasn't going to just be able to stay in Kansas City, right? And just live in that. He he he knew that he he had to go for it, right? He couldn't just hope for things to get better, he couldn't just wish things to get better after the bankruptcy. He decided, and this is whoo is so powerful. Let's talk about Walt Disney for a sec. Well, we already are, right? But let's keep talking about him. Okay, so listen, taking that framework, you know, the way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. I want let's zero in on Walt and let's just like if we were to sit across from him right now, let's imagine that that he's sharing this uh secret to success, which he's got a lot. And and I know a lot of people have have talked about that. But this this idea here that I'm about to share that we've been talking through, I I really feel is one of those pivotal game-changing moments. If you just embrace this in your life, it's gonna make a huge difference. Because before the success, before Walt's success, but before the magic, before Disneyland, I I remember this. Walt failed. I mean, think of Laffogram Studios. And if you understand the history behind that, when he started, which was amazing by the way, the fact that he that he, you know, was again pursuing his dreams, started the studio, but it went bankrupt. And he had every reason in that moment to quit. Every reason to go back, every reason to play it safe, every reason to stay, to just say, well, maybe this just isn't for me. I'm no longer gonna pursue this goal and this dream of mine. But he didn't. I'm so grateful that he didn't, right? Instead, you know what he did, and and this amazes me every single time I hear about it, I read it, I'm reminded of it. Instead, after that bankruptcy, and in realizing that that chapter had closed, he he didn't he didn't stay, right? He actually got on a train to Los Angeles with about$40 in his pocket. And here's what gets me he didn't buy a round trip ticket. Come on, Walt Disney. Yeah, he he bought a one-way first class ticket because this wasn't just a purchase, it was a decision, and that's what we're talking about. It was a decision to not go back, a decision to not uh let this moment define me. It was a decision to say, I'm going to become who I know I am. And that's why when you decide like that, you stop giving yourself a way out. And so for him to buy that first class ticket, it was like, yeah, I know who I am. I'm Walt Disney. I am somebody. I'm buying myself a first class ticket. I know I don't have all the money. I got$40 in my pocket and we're going. And that's the decision to move forward and to keep going, to not look back. Because here's the difference. Those who want and those who hope and those who simply wish are the ones who are back in Kansas City, staying there, missing out on what's ahead. Because they did not decide to board the train with that one-way first-class ticket to their dreams. That's the difference. And that's why we admire Walt Disney, because in the moment when he could have given up, and in the moment when he could have simply hoped and wished for something different, for uh the ability to have this studio that we know now today as the Walt Disney Studios. I mean, think about it. For us to have Disneyland, if he just hoped for it and wished for it and wanted it, he would have stayed in Kansas City, but he boarded the train because he decided that things were going to change. And that alone made all the difference in the world. Now, this week I I had the opportunity to be at the carousel in Griffith Park where Walt Disney dreamed Disneyland. And this is one of those moments that is kind of hard to explain. You just have to be there in the environment. And it's closed right now, you know, it's not what it was. But um, there is just magic still there. I mean, just to be in the same like sacred space where where Disneyland was dreamed up and and it was born and birthed there while Walt was watching his girls ride the carousel, the merry-go-round there on the bench, he he notices something. That there's no place for for parents and kids like to come together and experience this joy together. Because up until this time, what was happening was that there was there were these amusement parks, but they weren't theme parks, and that's where Walt, you know, changes the game. And and they weren't known for what we experience today as a place where families can come together, right? And Walt's like, hey, we we gotta change something. And and I love that in that moment, right there, there was something that was birthed. This place that we called Disneyland. And it was born, watch this, not from Walt wishing for Disneyland or for simply wanting a place where families and parents can come together, kids can come together, or or hoping for it to happen. Walt made a decision. This place that like I gotta believe, like that moment that he's there in Griffith Park watching his girls, he decided, he went from like hoping and wishing and wanting to deciding that this was gonna happen. And we know, we know like the story. You know, I've I've talked about that, the beautiful documentary, you know, Disneyland handcrafted, like being built in one year, which is like again, I I did two podcasts on that. I'm so inspired by that. But it was again Walt deciding, just like he did to leave Kansas City on a one-way ticket to Los Angeles with$40 on a first class ticket, he decided there on that butt bench that Disneyland was gonna happen. So, so let me ask you something. What are you still wanting? What are you still hoping will change in your life? Because if you stay there, doubt will stay with you. But the moment you decide, everything shifts. The moment you you wake up and you're like, today, I'm deciding to go after it. I'm deciding to change. I'm deciding to write that book. I'm deciding to um start the podcast. I'm deciding to quit my job or to start a business. I don't know. I'm deciding. I'm deciding to leave Kansas City and to go to Los Angeles. You know, maybe it's true or metaphorically speaking, but I'm deciding that's what's gonna make the difference. That's what's gonna change. You you stop waiting and you start moving because you stop negotiating with yourself because that's when doubt keeps creeping in. And you're like, nah, today we're boarding that that one-way train all the way to LA. Today, I'm on a bench today, and I'm deciding to build Disneyland. Yeah, I'm telling you, ooh, that makes that's so powerful. I'm so moved and inspired by Walt Disney because he showed us what it actually looks like, using his words, to quit talking and begin doing. And when you do this, it doesn't mean that you're gonna have everything figured out or you're gonna it's gonna happen overnight. It just means that you have decided to quit talking and begin doing. You've decided to step into your dream, you've decided to leave doubt behind and step into your happily ever after. And that mental shift, that mindset, magical mindset that we talk about is what moves you forward towards your destination. Because decision doesn't necessarily remove the fear or it doesn't remove, you know, like we we've been saying, uh uncertainty or or the unknown. It doesn't mean that everything's gonna be smooth now that I've made this decision. It just removes the option to allow doubt to hold you back, right? It it removes the option to quit, and that's the difference. Because now you're not asking if it's going to happen or wanting it to happen, you're just figuring out how. You're deciding it's gonna happen, and now you're gonna work on the how. But you can't get to the how if you keep wanting and hoping and wishing. You got to decide today. So here's what I want to leave you with today. If all you do is hope and wish, you leave room for doubt. Okay. Um, but when you decide, you close that gap. You stop waiting, you stop hesitating, you stop holding back, and you start building. That's what Walt did, and that's what you can do too. You could do it. I believe in you. I'm cheering you on. I believe in this so much, I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't believe it. Because being a reimagineer isn't about where you've been, it's about what you decide to build next, what you decide to do. All right. So, whatever it is you've been putting off, whatever you've been hoping will change, make the decision. And like Walt, quit talking and begin doing. Hey, if this episode spoke to you, would you share it with someone who needs it today? And if you're part of this community, just know you're here for a reason. I'm so grateful that we're doing this together, uh, building something more, and just continuing to live the magic. I appreciate you so very much. Much love to you all. Have a beautiful day. Keep reimagining what's possible. Remember, remember always, you are the magic because the magic is in you.