10 Things I Learned While Attending Unleash the Power Within with Tony Robbins

I just had the incredible opportunity to EXPERIENCE Unleash the Power Within conference with Tony Robbins. That man is a National Treasure. He's changed so many lives, to include mine--and I'm so grateful for all that he is doing. If you're reading this, and haven't been, please, please make an effort to go to one of these events. It's absolutely life-changing, and that's no exaggeration. The man and his incredible crew are gifted at what they do, which is to help you transform. There's more information about this at

tonyrobbins.com

under the 'events' tab. You'll never regret investing in yourself to do this. *Promise*

With that said, here are the Top 10--out of many hundred I learned while at UPW. This is just the tip of the iceberg in all of the things that you can get from it. Here they are for your reading pleasure and development:

1. The power of STATE. Of physiology and what you’re focused on at any given time. It’s one thing to read that, and another thing completely when you FEEL it in your bones as you’re happily yelling at the top of your lungs with 8,500+ of your friends while the music is pumping. We can control our states at any time. One of the things Tony pointed out to us is how we look when we're depressed. Shoulders slumped, bad posture, shallow breathing, etc…you can tell someone is depressed just by looking at them. Well, with the power of state, I learned that EMOTION is caused by MOTION. Stand up straight, take deep breaths, smile like a lunatic—and you’ll find that you can consciously change your state in an instant.
2. There are six human needs according to Tony, 1) The need for Certainty 2) The need for Uncertainty (Variety) 3) The need for Significance 4) The need for Love/Connection—these are the basic needs, and the last two, which are more spiritual, 5) The need for Growth, and 6) The need for Contribution. All of us are driven by varying degrees by some of these needs, and they’re in different orders for most of us. Tony let us in on the fact that the people that had the biggest needs of Certainty and Significance were at risk for having messed up lives—which was concerning for me, as my need of Significance was the main force in my life. Understanding that…REALLY getting it, helped to change that need from Certainty (i.e. Look at me, I  helped someone) to Contribution (Someone was helped). This may sound like a simple shift, but it’s already had a profound impact on my life in just a few short days.
3. ENERGY is one of the most important factors in having a successful life. It's at the base of everything you say, think and do. If you lack energy (physical or psychological), you're much more likely to: live a mundane life, be out of shape, be depressed, not be as loving and giving as you should, etc. To get more energy, they taught us to breathe, eat, and exercise the right way--and the all-important ability to control our state (see #1). If your energy level is high, you'll have the fuel for an extraordinary life. If not...it's not very likely. One of the ways to increase your energy, curiously enough...is to SPEND it, vigorously and often.
4. Our EMOTIONS control the quality of our lives, and those emotions can be consciously controlled by, "the Triad." One, our Physiology--how we use our physical body (see #1 again); Two, our Focus--what we choose to focus on, and the meaning that we give to it (wherever focus goes, energy flows--good or bad); Three, our Language--to others, but mainly to ourselves. Ex: Is this an obstacle or a challenge with a chance to grow? All of these can be changed in an instant. Stay mindful, stand guard at the door of your mind and protect it from the bad emotions by controlling the triad. Doing this can have such a profound impact on a person's life!
5. The Power of Priming! Priming is preparing for a certain result. An SAT test given to Asian females studied the difference between asking for a gender or asking for ethnicity. Asking only about ethnicity improved the scores by 11% over when they were asked only their gender--the same exact test. When doctors tell folks they have ____ months to live, nearly 80% of the patients die on the DAY they were "supposed," to die. This is very real. One of the cool ways to actually use this power of priming is to prime your day for success. Tony spends 10 minutes each morning priming: Breathing exercises followed by 3.5 minutes of profound gratitude (gratefulness and fear can't fit in the same head); 3.5 minutes of Blessing, imagining a pure white light coming from the heavens to course through your entire body, healing everything, curing fears and spreading to bless your loved ones, and eventually to the entire world; then 3.5 minutes of the three things you're creating in the world today, envisioning the result. It fills you with certainty. Imagine starting EVERY day like this (I have the past three mornings, and it's just fantastic).
6. The importance of PLAYFULNESS! You can train yourself to be AMUSED by things that used to anger you. Just change your focus on it. If someone acts in anger, snapping at you--instead of attacking back and letting things escalate, defuse it by being playful. When Tony's wife is hungry, she gets crazy. It used to anger him and ruin his mood--until he learned to make it a game and be playful. He now just hugs her tightly and says, "There's my crazy little M-F'er!" They both laugh, the pattern is broken, and an unpleasant situation is not only avoided--it's made even better than it was before the incident. It can be used any time someone is rude to great effect. I've used it twice since returning early yesterday...and it's very effective.
7. The Power of Peers! One of the most important decisions you make is WHO you spend time with. Our lives are often a direct reflection of the expectations of our peer group. If your group doesn't have high standards, then you'll often find yourself slipping. What are peer groups? Any group that you care enough about to truly value, and not lose their respect. You can love your family--but you choose your peers, and your whole life can change when you have a peer group that raises your game. Just this one piece of advice, acted on when leaving UPW can and will improve your whole life. I'm meeting with my group next week, and we'll go over what's going well, what challenges we have, and hold each other accountable to what we're going for in life. We'll pat each other on the back, or kick each other in the ass as needed!
8. All fears boil down to one of two things: Fear of being inadequate (not enough), and the Fear of not being loved. Think about it. Take your fears to their logical conclusion. You're afraid of failing? Why? Because you don't want to be seen as inadequate. Sometimes writing these fears down, and really examining them in the light of day can cause them to diminish. Visualizing them with you stepping on them, making them smaller (literally) in your mind can all help. Taking the fear to the ultimate logical result will show it to be one of these two base fears. If you work on yourself through self-development, both of the fears can also be minimized. A life without fear can be absolutely SPECTACULAR.
9. We all have limiting beliefs. It's good to recognize them. We got to write down three of our most limiting beliefs...and examine each of them in detail--feel and internalize them and what our lives would be like in 1, 10, 20 years if we allow those beliefs to continue. Then, we came up with empowering beliefs to replace the limiting ones. In fact, the ANTITHESIS of your limiting belief is often the truth. Personally, my limiting belief was that I don't really deserve ultra-high levels of success. The new, empowering belief that I KNOW to be true is that there is no one in the universe more worthy of God's love and blessings than...me. This was a big, big turning point for me. What's your limiting belief? How can it be turned around? What's your new empowering belief?
10. I learned the Power of LIVING HEALTH. Wow. Health on a cellular level--it makes so much common sense. Eating with this in mind, a plant-based diet, essential oils, less or no animal products, dairy...all of it makes sense. The alkalinity versus acidity was an eye-opener, and I just received my first pH test strips, got lemon juice for my water, and my Udo's oil yesterday. Just 4 days of eating an alkaline diet has already had a great impact on me. Also, that video of how they process chickens...affected me for a while. I'll have a lot less animal flesh in my nutrition for now. That's important to have all of this energy for the great things I'm doing after finishing Unleash the Power Within!
11. BONUS! The power of getting everything you want by asking INTELLIGENTLY. This is powerful! 1) Ask SPECIFICALLY. Focus on exactly what you want. Being specific gives you clarity, and clarity is power! 2) Ask from someone who has the ability to say yes. Don't waste your shot on a gatekeeper, or ask for a loan from a destitute person. 3) ***Creat value for THEM first. Your job is to meet their needs. Ex: Guy creates value for a company, can I get 10% of the company if I triple the value of it first? 4) Ask with certainty. Expect to get what it is you ask for...if you're doing the other steps, it's going to happen. 5) Ask UNTIL. Keep asking until you get it! You can't just ask once or twice...you improve, and add value until it's accomplished!