What a different story men and women would have to tell if only they would adopt a definite purpose and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming obsession. Welcome to the Classic Influence Podcast. The title of today's message is Cultivate a Fantastic Obsession, Walt Disney's Epic Dream. to the classic influence show where we explore the timeless lessons learned from the legends of influence. Persuasion Charisma and rich. Listen in.
Don't have insights of the hustlers and heroes of history. Discover the strategies, tactics, tips, and tools you can use to master the power of influence. To achieve your own most daring dreams and goals. Stay tuned as we uncover the secrets of the saints, sages, sinners, and superstars of success. And now, your host, author, and speaker, Johnny Welch. Hello, this is your host, Johnny Welch. Welcome to the Classic Influence Podcast. You can find the notes for this show on our website.
where you will also find more information about us. I'm super stoked about and which you can get on Amazon. Again, that's Mastering the Power of Grit. Check it out. Okay, let's get into today's episode. Walt Disney's vision for Disneyland begins in his mind. Anaheim California In fact, Charles Luckman, an architect and friend of Disney's, remembers hearing Walt share his vision over lunch in April of 1952.
He had a vivid mental image of it all. The streets and stores from other eras. The parade of Disney characters led by Mickey Mouse. The bright lights, the bands playing, the variety of restaurants, the scenes and sets of his cartoons to serve as backgrounds for the concessions, water rides through enchanted lands, the mechanized people who would speak, the birds who could sing, the monorail which he would drive on opening day.
When the lot was cleared of the existing Orange Grove, Disney invited his friend, Ark Linkletter, down to show him where he was going to build Disneyland. At the time, it was still just a big field of dirt clods, Linkletter wrote. Disney looked out at the lot, turned to his friend and said, Well, this is it.
Disney looked around that he could see it all in his imagination. The Disneyland Railroad, Main Street, Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Linkletter of course could not see anything. I looked around, he said, and saw nothing but a cow pasture. I thought, my poor, deluded friend. He's going to put a bunch of merry-go-rounds and roller coasters out here 45 minutes from L.A. He'll go broke.
Disney, however, could see something entirely different. Where his friends saw nothing but an empty field, Disney saw the future. There's a fortune to be made here, he told Linkletter. If you buy up all the property around Disneyland, in a year or two, it'll be worth 20 times what you pay for it. Naturally, Linkletter was too smart for that, and as a result, he passed up the chance to make millions.
Clearly Walt Disney had a dream, a bright and vibrant vision of an amusement park and resort that would captivate and entertain the masses. In fact, the only thing about Disney's vision that really changed was its size. It kept growing and growing. It grew until his original vision of a few acres across from his Spurbank studio required him to purchase a massive 160-acre plot of orange groves and walnut trees on the southeastern side of Los Angeles.
Walt Disney understood as well as anyone the importance of vision and creative imagination in achieving his dreams. If you can dream it, you can do it, Disney said. But he also understood the importance of continuing to dream. and he recognized the powerful role of Vision in actually creating a compelling future, and as a result, Disney's dreams for the future of Disneyland remained an obsession long after the amusement park was built.
In fact, Disney said, Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world. It was this same ability to cultivate and maintain a clear image in his mind that helped Disney begin creating Disney World in Orlando, Florida several years later. Alas, when Disney World was first opened in Orlando in 1971, Walt Disney had already been dead for five years.
At the opening ceremony, one of the Disney executives paused to lament. It's too bad Walt wasn't able to see this, he said. Another executive promptly shot back. You're wrong. Walt did see this. That's why it's here. As with every great hustler, Walt Disney began with a dream. He held a clear image of what he wanted in his mind. Unlike most people however, Disney cultivated He fed and nurtured it with purpose and action, massive action, until at last it became his fantastic obsession.
Ambition is vital to your success, but it is not enough. It is not enough to desire fame and fortune. It is not enough to be industrious. Even the ants are industrious, Thoreau reminds me. The question is, what are you industrious about? The world's great hustlers and heroes of history have all been industrious about and driven by a dream. and compelling vision of the future. What is the dream that drives you? Imagine your most fantastic possible future.
History's heroes knew in one way or another that vision comes first. Right from the start, they were driven to launch different endeavors or take advantage of different opportunities as determined by their dream. The starting point of all individual achievement, writes Napoleon Hill, is the adoption of a definite purpose and a definite plan for its future. The great American writer and historian Carl Sandburg said, nothing happens unless first a dream.
you Like Disney, your success depends on your ability to envision your own dream and your willingness to cultivate this dream until it becomes your own fantastic obsession. It is not enough to merely want something. To succeed, you must create a dream so incredible, so awesome and captivating that it governs your mind and fuels your energy throughout the long hours of the day. Ask yourself, what is the one big thing that I desire more than anything else?
Author and speaker Brian Tracy often begins his training programs with this question. What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you could not fail to achieve it? Clearly this is no time to get bogged down by what you assume is or is not possible for you. Your beliefs about what is possible are critical, as we will discuss in future episodes.
but this is no time to let them stand in your way. Dreams are not driven by your current reality or whatever present limitations you may be imposing on yourself. In fact, this is the great power of dreams and one of their many benefits. They can drive, inspire, motivate, and empower you to achieve what would otherwise not be possible. Dreams are the seeds of great achievement.
The genesis of every great human enterprise can be traced to the power of someone's dreams. Not until you explicitly identify your most fantastic possible future. with sufficient precision and detail, not until you choose a vision that gets you up early, with goals that keep you up late, can you achieve your destiny and unlock your full potential as a human being. Destiny is not a matter of chance.
wrote William Jennings Bryan. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved.
virtually nothing can replace the power of an inspiring dream and goals in terms of vitalizing and energizing your life, enabling you to achieve Experience suggests that just about everyone is a potential success, given the right incentive and inspiration skeptics need only sample the incredible record of human achievements which illustrates what thousands of ambitious people have indelibly proved one person can actually change the world
Remember, it all starts with the big dream, the grand aspiration, by vividly imagining the details of your most fantastic life. possible future. You help to generate and drive you need to succeed. Create a clear and compelling vision of what exactly it is that you want. Determine what value you will provide to get it. Then resolve the price to me
And that's a wrap for today's episode. Thanks for listening. If you like this show, please support us by leaving a review on iTunes. Reviews really help a lot. Also, please check out my new book The Power of Grit, available on Amazon. Again, Power of Grit, and you can also find an affiliate link to the book in the show notes. Be sure to plug in for the next entitled, Resolve to Pay the Price, Howard Hughes Spruce Goose. Thanks again for This is your host, from Classic and