Disney Magical Mindset Podcast

20 Years of Cars: 3 Lessons for the Road

• Ruben R. Rios • Episode 75

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 22:07

Twenty years after Cars first raced into theaters, its most important lesson still holds true: the journey matters as much as the finish line. 🏁

In this episode of the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast, we'll take a drive through Radiator Springs and explores three powerful life lessons from Lightning McQueen's journey. From unexpected detours and the beauty of the scenic route to the people who travel with us along the way, discover why some of life's greatest lessons aren't found at the destination, they're found on the road that gets us there.

Whether you're navigating a setback, chasing a dream, or learning to appreciate the season you're in, this episode will remind you to slow down, enjoy the journey, and keep moving forward.

Because twenty years later, the lesson from Cars still holds true: the journey matters as much as the finish line.

Helping you reimagine what's possible and step into it! 

Cars Anniversary And Core Message

Ruben

Welcome back to the Disney Magical Mindset podcast. My name is Ruben, and I am so glad you're here. I hope everything is going great for you. Yo, this week is a special one because this week is the end of June. If you're listening to this in June, we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Pixar's Cars. That's right. 20 years ago, we met a rookie race car named Lightning McQueen. Zoom, Zoom. Cachao! He was a talented, ambitious, determined, and focused on one thing: crossing the finish line first. But Cars was never really a movie only about racing. You know this. It's a movie about life. It's a movie about purpose. It's a movie about slowing down long enough to discover what really matters. And 20 years later, the central lesson of cars, it's still true. It is, isn't that powerful how lessons stand the test of time? And it still holds true today. It's still powerful as it was 20 years ago. And it's this the journey matters as much as the finish line. It is so easy, and I get it, to focus solely on the finish line. But if you do that, you're gonna miss everything that happens before that, because that's really what it's about. That's what gets you to the finish line. So if you're in a season where life feels slower than expected, if you're frustrated by a detour, or if you're wondering why things aren't happening according to your timeline, this episode today, as we celebrate cars, is just for you. Because I want to share three lessons, three lessons from cars that I believe can help us all navigate our own journey. So if you're ready, come on, let's do this. Cause here we go. The

The Scenic Route Shapes You

Ruben

first magical mindset lesson I want to give you is this the scenic route shapes you. The scenic route, don't miss the scenic route, because it's actually what shapes you. You know, when we meet Lightning McQueen, he's got one goal. He wants to win. Winning is on his mind. Everything revolves around getting to the finish line. He wants to win the Piston Cup. Every time I get on Radiator Springs Racers, it's the same thing, friends. If we're racing together, I want to win. As much as I'm sure you want to win too, which is a fantastic best ride in Carsland. We'll talk some more about that. But of course, Lightning McQueen, he wants to win. And so on the way to the Piston Cup, as he's traveling there, he gets separated from Mac, right? Mac is the one that's transporting uh Lightning McQueen. But another, let me just say, if you've not seen Paint the Night, you one, you missed out. It's it's phenomenal, spectacular. But Mac comes out and he it's just incredible lighting up the night, the night sky. So Lightning has one thing on his mind. He wants to win the cup. But then, of course, the problem is that life had a different plan, right? Like it didn't go the way he planned. He's super excited. We're gonna do this. He's on his way. I mean, you know, can you imagine like the adventure, the excitement? You know what's coming and you're like pumped for it. And then all of a sudden, you get the detour. And lightning ends up in radiator springs. To him, it's a disaster. It's a waste of time, it's an interruption, a delay. And all he can think about is I gotta get back on the road, I gotta get back on the road, I gotta get to my race, right? And it's kind of like us, we feel the same way every time something unexpected happens. It's kind of the same thing. We get it, which is why I think cars is still so powerful and why we resonate so much with it all these years later, because we know what it's like to experience detours in life. And what lightning doesn't realize is that Radiator Springs isn't keeping him from his destiny, it's actually preparing him for it. It's the best thing that can happen to Lightning McQueen is Radiator Springs, is the detour. My goodness. And and isn't it just like it happens in life? Most of us want a straight line from where we are to where we want to be. We want to get there like immediately. We want the promotion, the opportunity, the relationship, the breakthrough, the dream. And we want it now. We all know what that's like, especially today. No one wants to wait for anything. We want everything immediately, but y'all know this. So I'm just encouraging you with it and giving you the reminder that that we already know, but I'm just here to like encourage you with this. Life rarely moves in a straight line. There's just gonna be delays, there's gonna be unexpected turns, there are gonna be doors that are gonna close, there are gonna be season where seasons where it feels like nothing is happening. Have you been there? Yeah. But but when those moments come, it's often easy to believe that we're falling behind. It is easy to feel like we're failing. But what if we're not behind? What if we're being prepared? What if the the thing slowing us down is actually shaping us? You know, one of my favorite moments at Disneyland or or California Adventure is walking into Carsland where you see the backdrop and you see radiator springs rising up, and and it's you're just like, it is beautiful. In fact, I might argue that it is the most beautiful view in any Disney park when you're stepping into Carsland and you're seeing the canyon and the racers, the racings coming by. It is especially golden hour. Woo! Wow, there's nothing like it. It is beautiful. It's breathtaking. The mountains, the details, the atmosphere. You can't help but but stop and take it all in. And I do that often when I'm there because there's just it just causes you. Like it's so beautiful, you just have to stop. And you got to slow down and look around, and you got to pay attention. And maybe that's what life is inviting some of us to do right now. Like if you're in a detour, maybe the opportunity is for you to slow down, to, to just live in that moment and to embrace for it for what it is. Because sometimes the lessons we need most aren't found at the finish line, they're found along the scenic route. You know, Lightning didn't become who he needed to become by winning the race. We often think that it's it's the success or it's the winning the race. Yes, that's all good, of course. We love that. But you are becoming and you are made in the detour. You're made in the journey, you're made in that adventure before you get there. That's what prepares you for the finish line, for getting to the end, for the castle. It's everything that happens before he became lightning, who he needed to become in Radiator Springs. The very place that he was resisting, the very place that he wanted to leave immediately became the place that changed him. Woohoo, my goodness, so good. So maybe your detour isn't an obstacle, maybe it's just part of the journey. And when you start to embrace it and look at it from that perspective, then it will change your adventure. All right.

Not Everyone Stays For The Ride

Ruben

Lesson number two is is kind of um it's kind of a sad one, but it's it's real and and it's and it's something that I think all of us have experienced at some point or we will, and that is that um not everyone travels the entire road with you. Yeah. You're gonna have some people who are gonna be with you from the moment you start that that road trip until the very end. Like they're gonna see you all the way. In other words, they're not just with you in your success, they're or when you get to the finish line, they're with you every step of the way. And then you have some people um who will only be with you when you cross the finish line. But then you also have some people who who might start with you, but then they'll they'll have their own journey, or they'll they'll have to leave, you know, and they'll do their own thing. Or you you know what I'm saying? Like sometimes it feels like one minute they're cheering you on, and maybe the next minute they're not. And I just want to remind you of that, that not everyone travels the entire road with you. You know, one of the beautiful things about uh cars is the relationships that lightning develops along the way. You know, uh Doc Hudson, his mentor, Mater, uh Sally, the the people in Radiator Springs. Each person contributed something important to his journey. You know, each person helped shape uh who lightning ultimately becomes. And I and I think there's a powerful lesson here. And it just got me thinking about people that also come into our lives and impact us in in similar ways. You know, not everyone who starts the journey is gonna finish it with you. Um, some friendships are for a season, and and some mentors are there for a chapter, and some relationships serve a purpose for a specific stretch of road, and and that's okay. You know, like we have to, I think, just embrace the fact that there are people who will be with you for the entirety of your road journey, and then there will be people who who won't. Um, and it's it's tough, isn't it? Right, because some some sometimes it it really hurts because the people that you thought were gonna be there with you aren't, or the ones that you um expected to be uh super encouraging and like pumping you up along the way, they they they don't end up being that person anymore. Or it is just kind of the reality and and it's a hard one, but it's one that we have to just just be mindful of. Um that sometimes I think we can spend so much energy trying to hold on to people who are no longer part of our current season that we miss the people who are standing actually right in front of us, right? Like that are with you right now. Yes, life changes and people change and paths change. And and while that can be painful, it doesn't have to make us bitter. Now I've learned that you can appreciate someone for the role they played in your story without expecting them to stay in every single chapter. And when you embrace that lesson, it makes it easier. It really does. It makes it easier when it when it comes time to the people who are um in your story, who who you can appreciate in your story, but then not expecting them to always be in that story. Like it's just the way it is sometimes, man. Now, I want to be clear, I'm not speaking specifically to people like loved ones, like for people in our lives that that are no longer here because sadly they're they passed away or they're gone. Like that's a that's another story, like another um, you know, podcast uh, you know, for another day that that grief is real. I I'm speaking specifically to like folks who are in your life for a season who you might have thought were gonna be there, and then they're not because they were cheering you on one time one day, and then now they they kind of stop cheering for you. They they they got silent, you know, like that, you know, when when like you look back on some people and you thought, man, that was my friend. And wow, I thought they would be with me always. And then all of a sudden you you're like, wow, no, wait a minute, like something happened. Um, and and I think it's just the more we are able to embrace that, the easier it becomes when it happens. So, you know, you can either be grateful for the miles you traveled together, um, you you can you can honor the impact they made, um, and then you could just keep moving forward. And sometimes as you grow, guess what? Not everyone's gonna understand your journey, not everyone's gonna be there in your journey, not everyone's gonna celebrate your dreams, friends. Not everyone's gonna celebrate your progress. And you know what? That's okay too. You just let them. It's fine. Your responsibility isn't to convince everyone else. Your responsibility is to keep moving forward, to keep going on that adventure, to keep to keep your eyes on the road, like on the finish line. Just keep going, right? Staying faithful to your purpose, to keep becoming the person you're meant to be because your race is your race. Let me say that again. Your race is your race, your journey is your journey. So keep your eyes on your journey, on your race. Because that's where the magic happens.

Why The Finish Line Is Not Everything

Ruben

The last magical life lesson I want to give you is lesson number three. And here it is. I I think it's the most important. The finish line isn't everything. I know it's it's like counterintuitive, right? Because we're always taught that it is the finish line. It is that's when you're successful. It is getting to the very end. And it isn't and yes, it's important, of course. But in the Cars movie, it is so powerful. It is so you know, you gotta go back and watch this because at the end of Cars, Lightning McQueen finally has what he always wanted. The finish line is there, the championship is his, the piston cup is within reach, everything he's worked for is right in front of him. Woo my goodness, and then something incredible happens. Something incredible happens, he stops. Let that sink in. He has everything that he's worked hard for, it is there, and then it's like he pivots he doesn't continue instead. Instead, he he focuses um on on helping the king strip weathers. He he goes back. Lightning McQueen reverses and he pushes the king. He gets to the king and he pushes him towards the finish line. Woohoo! Listen, this this is so powerful. Instead of focusing on winning, he chooses to help the king finish the race. I mean, lightning McQueen, he he sacrifices a trophy for something greater. And here's the greater. Here's what you don't really people don't glorify enough. Like, I I know because you know, it's not it's not shiny like the trophy. Yeah, it it doesn't sometimes, you know, come with all the accolades like the trophy, but like here's what really counts in life. I'm telling you right here, this is this is what keeps you in the room. You ready for it? Because competency, like knowing how to do certain things, that that'll get you in the room. But you want to know what keeps you in the room? It's what what lightning McQueen shows us. Here's the trophy, here's the greater than the trophy. You ready for it? It's character, it's integrity, it's compassion, it's purpose, it's kindness. Like in that moment, lightning realizes something many of us spend our lives learning that winning isn't everything. Now, now hear me. I like to win. I already told you at the beginning, if we're on Radiator Springs, I expect to win. So I'm not I'm not negating that fact. I'm not saying that nobody wants to win. Of course, we all do. It's like embedded in us. That's what we want. But there, but but I'm trying to tell you there's like something greater than than the winning that we are often like uh after that is often like pushed in our faces. It is it is this that that sometimes the greatest victories have nothing to do with trophies at all. Yeah, I know. I'm and and I'm telling you, this is a hard lesson. Like, I get it. Like, I'm not I'm not saying no to winning. I want to win, I want to be successful, I want to get to the finish line. But when I look at that story and when I see what what we learn from cars, like that is so powerful. Lightheam and Queen had it right there, everything he wanted was right in front of him, and yet he chose to reverse, to stop, to pivot, to go back and help the king. And in that moment, it it really hit me, right? It it shows us that the finish line, yeah, it matters, that goals matter, that dreams, yes, they matter, and and because I've been sharing that since if you've been following along on this and this magical mindset journey, you know I'm I'm I've been pushing that. All that is important. I'm I'm I'm a big believer in dreams, I'm living out my dreams. I listen, Walt Disney is my hero, and so all of that matters, but if all we ever do hear me now is focus on where we're going, we'll miss the people, the lessons, the memories, and the moments that make the journey worthwhile. If all you do is focus on the finish line and the success, but during the journey, like you're not working on becoming better, you're not building your character, you're not a person of integrity and compassion and and and you're not living out and fulfilling this purpose, then what's the point of the end? Like getting to the finish line. What does all that matter if you lose the people you love along the way? If you, if, if you if you cause people to get off the road because of the way that you treat them, like what does all that matter? Yeah. Success isn't just reaching a destination. Success is who you're becoming along the way. Before Disneyland, there were failures. You know this. I've shared this. There were rejections, financial struggles that Walt experienced, setbacks, detours. And if Walt quit during one of those difficult seasons, Disneyland would never exist, and neither would all the parks that we love, the Disney parks that we love today. But the destination, yeah, it was important. But I want you to know that the journey that shaped the dreamer is the thing that empowered him to eventually build what we love today. It's the journey, it's always the journey. And maybe that's true for us too. Yeah, maybe the road you're on right now is shaping you for something greater than you can currently see. So hang in there. Stay in the race. In fact, fall in love with the journey, not just the finish line, and see how it makes your finish line that much more sweeter because you fell in love with the race, the detours, the journey that gets you to the end. All right?

Reframing Detours And Staying The Course

Ruben

Isn't it amazing that 20 years later, cars continues to remind us of a timeless truth? The journey matters as much as the finish line. So, friends, if if life feels slower than you had hoped for, or or like if it's not going the way you want it to right now, don't despise the detour. Hang in there. If you're facing unexpected turns, don't assume that you've fallen behind. You're not behind. It's part of the journey. Keep going. If if some people have exited your story, be grateful for the chapter they shared with you. And you just keep going because there are other people who will be there along the way. If you're chasing a dream, remember that success isn't just found at the destination of the finish line. Remember, it's found in the person you're becoming along the way. That's the magic right there. There's beauty on the scenic route. There are lessons on the scenic route. There is growth on the scenic route. So keep going, keep believing, keep dreaming, and enjoy the journey. I want to thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you all, man. I hope you're having an amazing, amazing day. Go out there, enjoy the race. You got this. Hey,

Summer Schedule And Where To Follow

Ruben

I want to remind you again that during these summer months, I will just be dropping two podcast episodes a month. So uh here in June, this is my second one. And so the next podcast episode after this cars one will be in July. And during this time, I'm actually gonna be traveling with my family. Super excited! So I can't wait to share more. But of course, you can follow me along uh on my socials at the reimagineer, and I'm gonna be sharing all the fun uh that I will be experiencing with my family during these next few weeks. Thank you so much. You are the magic because the magic is in you. See everybody.