Disney Magical Mindset Podcast

Quit Talking, Begin Doing: Walt's Wisdom for Turning Resolutions into Reality

• Ruben R. Rios • Episode 4

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Walt Disney once said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” These powerful words are a call to action for all dreamers, especially those of us who might feel like our New Year’s resolutions have already fizzled out. Maybe, you don't make resolutions, but you do make goals or have particular dreams to accomplish. 

In this episode, we’re exploring:
✨ How Walt Disney lived out this principle, building magic one step at a time.
✨ Why it’s okay to start over (even if you’ve stumbled a few times).
✨ Practical steps you can take today to restart your goals and create momentum.
✨ The power of one simple question that can empower you to conquer goals, every single time!! 

If you’ve ever felt stuck or unsure how to move forward, this episode is your reminder that every big dream starts with one small step. Tune in, and let’s get started on making 2025 your best year yet! 

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

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Ruben:

Hey friends, welcome to another episode of the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast. If you're a Disney dreamer or a fan looking for inspiration, you're in the right place. Thank you so much for being here. We're going to take lessons from Disney, the parks, the stories and, of course, walt himself, and apply them to your everyday life. I'm Ruben, your Disney Magic Mentor, and today we're tackling a topic that feels especially relevant as we wrap up January. Can you believe it? We're already at the end of January.

Ruben:

Typically around this time, people who started out the year with some New Year's resolutions discovered that the resolutions they started with didn't quite happen or didn't follow through with. And I know some of you might be thinking well, I don't make New Year's resolutions, I hear you but I'm pretty sure you have goals or ambitions that fill your heart with excitement, things you want to get done. I believe you want to be in a better place by the end of the year than where you are today. I know this to be true because you're a dreamer, a Disney fan, someone who believes in the Disney magic, in the happiest place on earth, in building and experiencing your happily ever after. It's not uncommon, by this time of the year, for a lot of us to feel like we've already failed. And if that's you, don't worry. Do you hear me, please don't worry. You're not alone and, more importantly, just like Hercules, you can go the distance. That's right. You can go the distance. You got to start believing it and here's what I want to tell you. I want you to know this I believe in you. So, wherever you are today, wherever you were yesterday, whatever you're feeling, you've got to know that nothing can stop you now, like you're going to do this, do you hear me, and we're going to do this together. This is going to be your best year yet, but we got to start believing it, and it starts today. If you haven't figured out already, walt Disney is my hero.

Ruben:

There are so many lessons to learn from this dreamer, and today I want to share with you one of his most inspirational quotes that you can keep with you and remember all throughout the year, because I can assure you you're going to need this one, this one I have in my back pocket. This is one to memorize and this is one that you're going to need to keep encouraging you and pushing you to remember this you can defend your dreams or excuses, but you can't do both. You might want to say that personally to yourself. I can defend my dreams or I can defend my excuses, but I can't defend both. What's it going to be you ready? Here we go. I'm convinced. Walt said this more than once. I wish I could tell you how many times. I'd love to know. Maybe you know, but here it is.

Ruben:

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. This is such a powerful quote from Walt. It doesn't sound like a lot. It's not even a big long quote. There are many others that are longer than this, but this is one of those quotes that is so powerful, so inspirational, so motivating. It's like a Paxi power punch that just hits you to remind you again and again. Listen, you can defend your dreams or you can defend your excuses, but you cannot defend both. So you have to decide today, like Walt, that the best way to get started today is to quit talking and begin doing today, right now, this moment. You're not going to wait another day. We're going to make it happen. Today.

Ruben:

We're going to unpack this quote and talk about why resolutions often fail or why goals seem to fail or why you struggle with some of those things in life where you're trying to accomplish stuff. And I want you to learn today by the end of this podcast. I want you to believe, to rest assured, to be encouraged, that you can hit the restart button and create momentum, disney style. And I'm going to show you how. Let's start with the hard truth and you probably know this already that most New Year's resolutions fail. They don't stick. In fact, studies show that by mid-January, about 92% of people have already given up on their goals. Maybe you started strong. You started ready to conquer the year. You were so excited about the goal, the ambition that you were ready to make happen. But life got in the way, old habits crept back in or your motivation just fizzled. But here's the thing it's okay. It's okay, all right. Do you hear me? You're not a failure. Tell yourself this you are not a failure.

Ruben:

Resolutions are tough because we often make them too big, too vague or too dependent on willpower alone. Be encouraged. You may not be where you wanted to be at the end of January, but here's what you're going to do You're going to pick it up and believe that today is going to be a great day. Today's going to be an awesome day to quit talking and begin doing. Let's just talk about resolutions for one sec. And if you're not into resolutions, just think goal or ambitions. The principle still applies.

Ruben:

And here's the thing about resolutions they're often the result of desire, not devotion. Now, you might have a desire for something, and it can be pretty strong, but it's typically shallow and fleeting over time. Devotion, on the other hand, when you have this strong conviction and you're devoted to it, or to a why, it goes deeper. And without a compelling why, you're not likely to stay consistent. All right, stick with me, because I don't want to lose you. When you know your why, you'll find a way Every single time, like Walt Disney, you have to start with why.

Ruben:

Why do you do what you do? Why do you want that goal? Why do you want that dream? Why do you want to get healthier? Why do you want to be a better person? You have to always start with why.

Ruben:

If Walt didn't have a strong enough why for building Disneyland, do you think he would have done it? All the people who told him it couldn't be done, all the obstacles that he faced along the way If he didn't have a strong enough, why? Why even go through with what you were doing? Why go through with something that you didn't believe in or you weren't devoted to? Or to go through all the hassle, the heartaches, the pain, all the frustration of trying to make this dream come true? But he had a strong enough why. His why was to create a place where families, parents and children can have fun together. He was tired of all the amusement parks that were out there. There were not places of safety and joy and happiness. Right, his why was so convicting and convinced in his heart that he had to do this right. And I'm convinced, too, that one of his whys was his childhood. He wanted to create his magic kingdom.

Ruben:

See, your why has got to be so strong, because it's that why that's going to carry you to keep doing the thing that you're supposed to do every day. It's that why that is going to keep telling you quit talking, begin doing. But if you don't have a strong enough, why then? Why go through with what you're doing? Let's think about this why do people wait until January 1 to start that goal or dream? If the desire to make a change or get healthier or exercise more or be kinder or go after that dream. If it happened back on October 9th or July 20th, why would you put off acting on it until January 1? Here's why Because you didn't have a strong enough. Why, if you did, you wouldn't have to wait until January 1 to start eating healthy or get back into shape or building your business. You see what I'm talking about. This is what I'm saying. The best time to start is now. But if you don't have a strong enough, why? Desire will only get you so far? It's that devotion to the why.

Ruben:

If you wanna grow in consistency and turn your goals into triumphs, your dreams into a magic kingdom, let's do this. Let's say this together. You have to start with why. Why do you want it? What change do you want in your life? What is that thing that you're saying today? I want to make that change. You might want to quit a bad habit or have closer friendships or more financial stability, or go after that dream, or maybe more Disney days. That's awesome and I'm happy for you.

Ruben:

But you know what I'm going to ask next? What I would ask you is why? Why do you want it? You have to start with why. If not, you'll start strong, but then you'll struggle to follow through again and again and I'm only telling you this from experience. I've been there the repeated cycle of not following through. But it has to stop. It will stop, I promise you. It will stop for you if you start with why Okay, that's enough about why I think you got it by now. Why Okay, that's enough about why I think you got it by now. What I'm about to say next is probably not something you would expect me to say in light of what we're talking about. Quit talking and begin doing.

Ruben:

But here's the second thing you're going to need to take on if you're going to be consistent and successful in your goals and your dreams and your ambitions. You ready for it? All right, setting aside the why we've got that, now You've got to plan to fail. I know it doesn't make sense, it doesn't feel good. No one likes to fail, I don't. But psychologists describe an all or nothing mindset as a harmful cognitive distortion that can actually block clear, effective decision making.

Ruben:

Too often we let this hold us back when we stumble or we mess up or we don't follow through, or we get to the end of January and feel like a failure because we didn't accomplish what we set out to do. We label ourselves as failures. We say things like I messed up, so that's it, I'm done, or I'm never going to do this again, or it's over with. But wait, there's a huge difference between striving for consistency and chasing perfection. And we are striving for consistency, we're not trying to chase perfection. That will lead you down a rabbit hole where you'll never find the white rabbit that way. Your aim isn't to be perfect. Are you hearing me? It's to be consistent. Quit talking, begin doing. Quit talking, begin doing.

Ruben:

Expect setbacks. Give yourself the freedom to learn and grow from them. Be kind to yourself. You know we're often hardest on ourselves. I know this. You know this because I feel it. But we have to remember that we are always going to get it right. You know what I mean. We have to just be open to the possibility that guess what we're going to mess up sometimes. So if you expect it, then you're more able to receive it when it does happen right. By embracing these moments of setbacks or embracing the failures that come our way, you can keep moving. We can keep moving forward and build the consistency that truly leads to success.

Ruben:

Now, walt may have not come out and said expect to fail as one of the secrets to consistency or making the dreams come true, but he certainly talked about failure. In fact, he was known to say hey, it's good to have a failure while you're young, because it teaches you so much. So he wasn't opposed to failure, and that's why I'm saying if you just expect it, well then when it happens, you learn from it, you grow from it and you keep moving forward. So here's what I want to tell you today Okay, so you're not where you wanted to be by this time this year, like the end of January. So what? It's okay, you get back up. Guess what?

Ruben:

Today's a new day and you remember that you're now moving forward, going to expect those moments when you're going to drop the ball, those times when you're going to experience some kind of failure. But what are you going to do? Because you expect it, you're like, okay, bring it on, I don't want to fail, I'm not looking for it, but I know it's going to happen at some point. So now that I'm prepared for it, I don't let it knock me down, I knock it down, you knock it down, don't let it keep you on the ground, because that's what failure wants to do. It wants to keep you there, but you're going to get back up. You're going to stomp over the failure, whatever that failure is that you're experiencing right now, that's trying to keep you in the past, and you're going to take that failure and make it walk the plank or dive off the plank, or throw it off, whatever you know it. Just just roll with me here, because the crocodile is waiting for it. Right? That toxic thought, that negativity, that failure that keeps creeping up in. You're going to let it go, you're going to drop it and you're going to stomp on it, and then you're going to fly like Peter Pan. Because that's what failure wants to do. It wants to keep you grounded, stuck, not letting go or lifting off. But that's not going to be you and that's not going to be me, because we're striving for consistency.

Ruben:

Quit talking and begin doing. That's it, simple, right? Quit talking and begin doing. And what we've said, the way we do this, is we have to start with why, and then we have to expect failure, as difficult as that is. And here's the last thing we have to do If we're going to see this statement from Walt come true in our own lives. And here it is. We have to take action one step at a time. That's the doing part. We've already addressed the why. We've already addressed the failure, but here's the action now. We can't just keep talking about it. You can't just keep listening to all these different podcasts. It's time to start.

Ruben:

That used to be me, too, and, believe me, I still soak up so many podcasts. I love reading books, I love reading and listening to different podcasts, but there came a point in my life where I was like listen, ruben. You can keep on reading and listening and I still do, but you know, you know what you need to do. So, rather than keep on hoping for the next great podcast or the next great book to help me, it's like it's time to put all the stuff that I've learned, that I've listened to, into action, and this is why this final part is so important. But please, keep listening to my podcast. I'm so glad that you're here. I just want to encourage you and myself let's quit talking and begin doing so.

Ruben:

How do we actually take Walt's advice and begin doing? That's the question. This is what has led us to this moment. Here it is. This is the game changer right here. It's simple, but so important. And if you do this and everything we talked about today, I guarantee you you will be in a different place, a better place, at the end of the year than where you are today. And here it is.

Ruben:

It starts with simplifying the process. Don't worry about tackling everything at once. I know that's how we're wired, at least that's how I'm wired. I want it to happen now and I want to make it happen today and I want to take everything and, just like you know, think that I can wave a magic wand and, like you know, I'm Merlin from Sword in the Stone and just make it happen.

Ruben:

But it doesn't go that way. So don't worry about tackling everything at once. Instead, pick one small thing you can do today that aligns with your goal, that aligns with your dream, that aligns with your ambition. Just one thing, and do that one thing over and over again, every single day. Every day, you're going to commit to doing that one thing, and I know sometimes I'm going to miss that one thing. You know every day, or you might miss occasionally, when it happens. Just realize it's part of the process.

Ruben:

We've already talked about that, but make sure you don't miss two days. You know what I mean. Like one day is an exception, no big deal, but two or three is a pattern. So if you miss one day, don't miss two. Be consistent, go back at it. Maybe your resolution was to get healthier. Instead of promising yourself an hour at the gym every day, for example, just start with 10 minute walk. Or if your goal was to write a book, don't try to conquer the whole book or a whole chapter. Just write a hundred words. The key is consistency. That's what we've been saying. Consistency over intensity. That's where we have to go. It reminds me of the building of Disneyland. Every attraction, every detail started with one step. Walt didn't design the entire park with his team in a single day. The Imagineers right. He focused on one project at a time and eventually, guess what it all came together into the place we love Disneyland.

Ruben:

You don't have to finish your dream overnight. You just have to begin. Today, as we wrap up, I want to leave you with this thought your dreams are worth the effort. Whether it's a resolution, a goal, an ambition, a new beginning, you have the power to make it happen. Remember the pixie dust is in you, the magic is in you. And even if you've stumbled, even if you've taken a detour, guess what? I've got good news you can always start again.

Ruben:

Walt's legacy teaches us that dreams don't come true by accident. They require action. So today, let's take Walt's advice to heart action. So today, let's take Walt's advice to heart the way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Stop waiting for the perfect moment, stop worrying about what went wrong. Just take the first step, and then another, and another, and the next, and the next every day, and the next and the next every day. You've got this. I believe in you. Let's make 2025 the year we create our happiest place on earth. Thank you for joining me on this week's episode. If you were inspired or encouraged, I'd love for you to share it with a fellow Disney dreamer. And remember you can always connect with me on Instagram for more magical inspiration. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep believing and keep taking action. Remember you are the magic, because the magic is in you.