Cover Photo taken at Business Mastery 2019 in Las Vegas
A lesson-filled trip to see the big guy on stage
AsI’m writing this, I’m sitting in my hotel room before going to day four of five of Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery program. This being my first Tony Robbins event, I was slightly skeptical given the $10,000 price point, but with every passing day, I understand more and more where his genius comes from.
One thing becomes obvious very quickly when Tony goes on stage: he’s special. There’s no doubt that he’s unique and no one can become another Tony Robbins. And it’s not just his size, he’s impressive all around.
So far, I had the chance to have him next to me and tell him a single word: “blogging”. That was my answer to how I get leads for my business. I felt so small sitting next to him standing. Thankfully, my voice was down a few octaves from all the shouting “I am a gladiator” that I had a voice almost as powerful as his.
In this article, I’ll show you how you can emulate a lot of the things that make him successful and become a more powerful version of yourself. Some things will be more natural to you, and some less so. I’ll leave it up to you to figure this out, but know that Tony too had to work hard to get to where he is. So don’t give up too quickly!
Inherent traits
The following are traits that, from my observations, come more naturally to Tony, given his background growing up.
1. Certainty/Confidence
Story after story, Tony keeps showing signs of very high certainty and confidence. He never accepts the word “impossible” and always finds a way to make anything seemingly impossible into something doable. This is potentially his greatest strength. His certainty makes him truly fearless.
When someone asks you how certain you are that a result you desire will happen, how sincere are you if you say you are 100 percent certain?
If you’re anything like me, I’m never 100 percent certain of anything. Conditioning myself otherwise is very hard work. And I’m an optimist, not a pessimist. However, by increasing my confidence, I’m more and more certain I can achieve the “impossible”.
2. High Energy
If you’re at all familiar with Tony Robbins, you know he has the greatest amount of energy you’ll ever see. It’s even more obvious when you see him live on stage. On the first day of Business Mastery, he spoke non-stop for 12 hours! And his energy is so contagious that even with the jetlag and no food in my stomach, he managed to keep me and everyone else awake.
As I reflect on the few days I’ve had at the event, I realize even more now the power of high energy. I consider myself as someone with pretty high energy, yet during a regular workday, I must eat regularly and take a power nap in the afternoon to function properly for the whole day.
Now, imagine yourself working for 12 hours with barely any food in your stomach and having slept only 6 hours the past few days. How high would your energy be? Pretty low, right? Not Tony, and he transfers that energy to the attendees in the room. It’s phenomenal. It makes you feel invincible.
3. Giver
I knew that Tony was a giver, but not to the extent I witnessed in the past few days. I’m in awe and have the biggest respect for him. To be honest, I teared up a few times as he spoke. He lost everything, yet he gave the very last penny he had to a kind kid who took care of his mom at a restaurant. It was instinctual and you could tell. He constantly does that.
How instinctual is your instinct to give? I consider myself a giver, but most of the time, I think before giving. My logical or rational mind kicks in and I hesitate, even when I can afford it.
I have no doubt this is a “secret” to being where he is right now. It was simply magical to hear people’s stories on how Tony genuinely changed their lives for the better. His motto is to always have massive value and it’s as sincere as it gets.
4. Emotional
I can’t count how many times Tony teared up as he told his stories or heard stories from attendees. I love this. This makes him sincere and human. He’s as authentic as it gets.
When’s the last time you got emotional telling your story or listening to someone else’s story? Being emotional is not a sign of weakness. I’d argue it’s a sign of strength, especially for men. We are conditioned to hide our emotions because it “makes us weak”. Only a strong man shows his emotions.
Who’s the dumbass who invented that showing compassion was a sign of weakness? We have much to learn from Tony on this.
5. Curious
Like many of the world’s top achievers, Tony is a very curious man. He explores new ways to do things consistently and doesn’t accept the rules currently in place. Ever. He always innovates his way out of situations people tell him are impossible to get out of.
How curious are you really? Or like most people, have you lost it at age 12 like most people because of the school system? When’s the last time you questioned something you’ve taken for granted all your life?
A child questions everything. Why is the sky blue? Why do I have two arms? By remaining curious, you think differently and truly create innovative solutions.
Had to learn the hard way
The following are traits that, from my observations, are not natural to Tony and he had to work a bit harder to acquire.
6. Storyteller
Tony is a master storyteller. A lot of the things he teaches aren’t that complicated, most of us actually know how they work. But we don’t fundamentally understand them. Tony makes you understand any concept through the power of storytelling.
I recognized the importance of storytelling in December 2017, a month before I started writing in on Medium. I studied the subject and applied it for the whole month and got better at it. Thanks to the new skills I had acquired, I managed to get published after 5 days of writing only and become a top writer in 7 categories in 23 days.
So, watch as much Tony Robbins you can and identify what makes him a powerful storyteller and try to apply it for yourself.
7. Proximity
Tony is one of the best-connected people I’ve ever heard. When you see him live, he keeps talking about his legendary friends, like Richard Branson and other top billionaires in the world. Growing up in a very poor family, Tony didn’t have the luxury of hanging out with high achievers until later in life.
How did he do it? By being fearless and reaching out to them and constantly finding ways to add massive value to them. Do you want to surround yourself with your heroes? Add value to them any time you can.
Like I, Tony agrees that this is quite potentially the biggest factor in your success. Your network is your net worth. It confirms my favorite quote in the world, by Tony’s first mentor:
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” — Jim Rohn
8. Pattern recognition
Have you read the books Unshakable or Money: Master the Game? Tony learned to identify patterns in everything he does. He’s not a financial genius, yet he wrote one of the best financial books ever written.
How did he do that? He collected data on the world’s top performers on the field, analyzed it, and identified patterns for success. Let me tell you, this is not easy to do. Schools should teach us this most valuable skill.
My personal best example of pattern recognition comes from writing. Before I started writing on Medium in January 2018, I analyzed the top-performing articles of the previous years and identified headline, formatting, content, and tag patterns. Looking back, that might be the best reason for my early success on Medium.
9. Business
In his Business Mastery seminar, Tony asks the audience to identify what dominant type of business owner each person is from Artist/Creator, Manager/Leader or Entrepreneur. Tony says he’s 100% Artist/Creator. An Entrepreneur would be more about business.
Tony is all about giving value and doesn’t care much about growing and selling businesses. But to get to where he is now, he had to learn it. Today, he (partly) owns 54 businesses. How many people can claim to own 50+ businesses?
I’m a Creator as well. Even though I started 7 businesses myself, what I care about the most in any business I start is the product or service. I never think about how I would sell the business or the profits I’m going to be making. But I have to if I want to succeed to the next level.
10. Educate & Lead
Tony wasn’t born as an educator or leader. When he worked for Jim Rohn, he was mainly a salesperson. But he learned from the best and gave it a shot. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, when you think Tony Robbins, you think educator.
He imparts his knowledge to his attendees, but most importantly, he finds ways for them to act. Now! He leads them to use their knowledge. That is a true educator.
You too can become an educator. I do that through my writing mostly. I never expected I had anything to teach anyone until I started writing content online based on my experiences. Educating is truly magical.
Conclusion
Before going to the event, I had a great appreciation for the big guy. Enough so that I forked his company $10,000 that I didn’t have. I was really worried it wouldn’t be worth it. Now I have no doubt it was one of the best investments I made in my life.
Whereas I was a strong soldier going in, I’m now a gladiator. “Winter is my season. I will not be denied. Give me your fears, give me your limits, I’ll give you results. I add massive value and always find my way to victory.” I am a f***ing gladiator!
What started as a “mindless” chant (paragraph above) became a mantra for power and fearlessness.
The big guy is unique, but so are you. You too can borrow his genius and achieve anything you want.
Always add massive value, believe with certainty, cultivate high energy, give as much as you possibly can, have genuine compassion, remain ever so curious, tell powerful stories, surround yourself with uplifting people, observe and recognize patterns, understand what business really is about, and educate and lead.
You can do this.
You are a gladiator.
Thanks for reading!