A few days ago, while we were in Orlando, I wanted to experience one of the Disney Parks. In Disney’s Magic Kingdom stands the famous Cinderella Castle — the one you probably know from every Disney commercial. A few meters in front of it, there’s a statue of Walt Disney holding Mickey Mouse by the hand.
As I look at it, my eyes fall on a baby crawling right in front of the statue. It’s still struggling to keep its balance, yet it moves forward — inch by inch, full of determination. Because as we know, standing still means falling behind.
“We all started out like this,” I think to myself and smile. Then my gaze returns to Walt Disney and moves on to the people around me — wearing Mickey Mouse ears, pushing strollers, dressed in Disney T-shirts, wandering joyfully through the park.
And suddenly, one question arises:
Where along the way — between being a baby and becoming a second Walt Disney — did we take a wrong turn?
Why isn’t everyone a new Walt Disney — in their own field, in their own way?
We were all born the same. Or, as Les Brown says: “We were all born the same way — dumb, naked, and speechless.”
Then came our upbringing.
And while in Germany you need a notary or a lawyer for just about everything — from founding a company to getting divorced — there’s one thing that requires no license, no training, no certification at all: making and raising children.
No official course, no manual (maybe except a prenatal class). Everyone just does their best.
Maybe that’s where the difference begins — why some grow into a Walt Disney and others end up somewhere in between happy and unhappy, healthy and sick, successful and not.
Yes, our childhood and youth lay the foundation for how much of our potential we will later live. We don’t all start from the same place.
A child growing up in wealth naturally sees abundance as normal.
A child growing up on a farm knows how to till the soil and take care of itself.
But sooner or later, every person faces the same question:
Does this “starter package” of what I’ve learned so far truly satisfy me — or not?
Because success begins the moment you take full responsibility for your life — instead of remaining a victim of your circumstances, your environment, or other people.
Many live far below their potential because they keep using their past as an excuse. “I can’t, because…”
But the Walt Disneys, the Oprah Winfreys, and the Arnold Schwarzeneggers of this world all decided at some point: “I can’t change my past — but I can change my present.”
Arnold’s mentor, Freddy Gerstl, once said: “Crave for informations. You might get injured in sports, but what you have in your mind — no one can ever take away from you.”
So how much time do you spend each day or week feeding your mind with new information?
And I don’t mean the negative news that pull you down — I mean knowledge that helps you grow as a person: personal development, communication, goal setting, inspiration.
Because that’s the real difference.
Most people never became a second Walt Disney because they simply followed the crowd — scrolling through social media, comparing, doubting — instead of designing their own life.
What if you started designing your life instead of just reacting to what happens outside of you?
Whether through mastering the art of speaking, podcasts, books, or coachings — when will you start investing in the only thing that truly stays with you forever?
Knowledge about yourself — and about how to connect with others.
Because those “others” often already have what you would love to have tomorrow.
Learn to be a people-lover. Make every day the best day of your life.
The opportunity is right in front of you. You just have to reach for it.
Or you can keep watching others, feeling like life was unfair because your parents didn’t have this or that.
Start shaping your life.
Now. Today. Here.
Or, as Marvin Johnson — a fellow speaker I met at an event in Orlando — beautifully put it:
“If you don’t change it, you choose it.”
I believe in you.
