Disclosure: Everyone says that that Tony Robbins is an amazing speaker. But I have NEVER heard Tony Robbins speak. My only “contact” with Tony Robbins was watching him in “Shallow Hal.” So, my review covers this book “Awaken the Giant Within” ONLY and does not take not account the man himself, the other products he sells, or the quality of his seminars/programs.
The Good
I can definitely say that this book was not cheesed in any way. It’s 512 pages of small font writing. There was only one problem: he really doesn’t seem to say much. As a writer, I did like the chapter on changing vocabulary. Words are important in how you describe yourself and others. The checklists he gives on “power words” in the vocabulary chapter is quite useful. It’s also important if you are a writer.
I originally bought this book as a way to help me make better decisions. But the most I got out of the decision section was simply “make more decisions.” And that was probably the most helpful part of the book.
The Bad
Right from the beginning of this book, my poop detector started going off. Robbins begins the book with a story about riding in a helicopter and realizing just 12 years ago he was the janitor at some building. Not the same as “I was living in my car…” but it comes close.
Then there’s how outdated the book felt. This book is chockfull of stories to illustrate what Robbins is trying to tell you. The problem?
You ever seen “The Wedding Singer?” There’s a scene where the wedding photographer shop says to a couple that they’ll last forever, like “Ivana and Donald, Woody and Mia, and Burt and Loni”
Well, that’s the same feeling I get when reading this book.
He talks about a private school that closed down. And the story of how happy Billy Joel is now that he married Christy Brinkley was especially comical given the present state of that marriage.
All I can say is UPDATE THE BOOK!
Usually, these kinds of books are full of inspiroof (proof by inspirational story). Now, that is bad enough. But this book gives you inspiroof s of people who never actually followed the system in question. The system being NAC (not NLP: nero-linguistic programming. Totally different, right? Note to self: make new program NLT: Neuro-linguistic training).
When a book gives you insiroof of people who don’t follow your system, it insults my intelligence. I mean,imagine a Christian missionary who’s trying to get you to follow Christianity and used the Buddha as an example of someone who followed the teachings of Jesus. That guy would be laughed out the door.
And THAT brings me to the part of the book that annoyed me the most: Robbins’ non-stop self-promotion.
Tony Robbins definitely has a high opinion of himself. I actually spit out some of the water I was drinking when I saw that he quoted himself in his own book. He quotes the Bible, Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, et.al and himself! That takes some serious conjones. I should have put that up there with the good part of the review.
The book also constantly makes reference to his other products and the amazing results. At many points in the book, I thought I was reading sales copy.
In fact, I started wondering which copywriter wrote this book. I mean wow…I could not help but get that feeling that if I really want to learn the things in this book, I should try Tony’’s seminars or other products. At least that was the point of most of the book.
Look, I read a book to get information and learn something—not to read sales copy.
A lot of ads stress results like a better lifestyle, more money, etc. rather than the nuts and bolts. Robbins seems like he’s doing the same thing. OK, Tony, I get it. You have money, a great wife (well, had), and you’re just as successful as you can be.
Frankly, I don’t read these books to hear about how wonderful the author’s life is. And what’s the point? How often does Steven Covey mention himself in the 7 Habits? I don’t envy Tony Robbins. I have no idea if his life is any better than mine. The fact is I am not interested in his life. I am interested in my life. And in “Awaken the Giant Within”, Robbins talks about himself so much that I started wondering if it were an autobiography.
The Verdict
I absolutely do NOT, recommend this book. It was all fluff and no substance. And I think I’m being kind to say that. This book does something that I see in public speaking that I call spooking. Spooking is when someone gives a speech where they don’t actually give out any information, but just say enough to get people to buy whatever you’re selling.
For example, I once sat for an hour where this guy gave a speech on how to use speaking to promote your business. The whole time he just kept saying how wonderful it was to be a speaker and what a great lifestyle it was. And then to cap it of, he had a $5,000 bootcamp to sell to you. In other words, I didn’t learn a damned thing about how to use public speaking to promote my business. I was given an hour-long sales pitch. I was “spooked”.
This book felt just like that.
I was so disappointed by this book that I jumped online to see why people like this guy so much. I have no idea…but I guess is that he’s a great speaker. If you are desperate and looking for answers, you won’t find it in this book. You’ll need to go to Robbins’ seminars to get that (I guess).
So, you won’t even get a link to where you can buy it. Google it if you really want it. All I want is a refund.
But I’ll go ahead and strip down the 512 pages of the book for you and save you the money.
Here goes: if you want to take immediate control of your mental, emotional, physical, and financial destiny, you must:
1) Make more decisions
2) Feel good about yourself
3) Don’t do things that will cause you pain in the long term
4) Reward yourself when you do something good.
There you have it–512 pages in 4 sentences sans all the self-promotional drivel. Now, go forth and prosper.
New blog post: Review of Tony Robbins' Awaken the Giant Within http://dontstepinthepoop.com/review-tony-robbins-awaken-giant-within
Why is this book so successful? http://ow.ly/13bOj
A DIFFERENT TAKE, BASED ON EXPERIENCE:
Tony Robbins is an VERY SMART GUY! In 1990, I was a PAINFULLY shy person who, one night, bought his PERSONAL POWER tape series (GENIUS!) from his 4am informercial, applied his success formula and other techniques via the corresponding exercises that built my skill level in those areas, and that personally helped me to, WITHIN 2 YEARS, marry the woman of my dreams (16 years married this July!), and get promoted TWO LEVELS UP to the job of my dreams! Speak nothing of the endless confidence he has helped me realize in myself and my abilities, or of the endless wisdom I've learned from his take on life in the years since then! FYI, his books UNLIMITED POWER and AWAKEN THE GIAN WITHIN (which I have read cover to cover afterwards) are excellent, and have more substance in the lessons that can be learned from them. But I guess you were too busy in your superficial quest to discover the obvious; the books were written years ago. Um…big deal! You want an update? READ HIS NEW BOOKS, THEN!
THAT is how Tony Robbins affected (and affects) my life! No fluff. NO POOP! Just facts.
ON NLP VS NLC:
In the Personal Power (I) tape series, Tony reveals why he improved on NLP, to create the streamlined NLC technology. He said that after he got several people to experience initial success with his application of NLP, they eventually stopped applying it, then blamed him for something he did to him (i.e., PROGRAMMING). He then saw the need to build in the emphasis on the improvement process as something that they would responsibly do to and for themSELVES on a regular basis (i.e., CONDITIONING).
I strongly suggest that you, in the future, for the sake of your own integrity, fully immerse yourself (OPENMINDEDLY of course) in the bredth and depth of a person's experience (which you can't fully comprehend with a light review of only one of his or her works, HOWEVER DATED), BEFORE you complain about them, or assert yourself as a true judge of his or her substantive character.
I always find it amusing that the “fans” of guys like Tony Robbins never reveal their names. I find it more amusing because some anonymous person says Tony Robbins changed his life but makes it so I can’t even validate the claim. So, I should just take your word for it? I don’t think so. You could be an employee of Tony Robbins’ company for all I know.
Heck, you could be Tony himself! Hey Tony!
Look, a friend of mine’s life was changed when he joined some UFO cult. But that doesn’t mean I think that some guy in a spaceship is going to save the Earth one day. The fact is YOU make things happen. But some people need a crutch to get to where they need to go. My buddy chose aliens. You chose Tony Robbins.
You should read my stuff on why inspirational stories lie.
I’m glad you got something from Robbins’ stuff. Maybe you spent a good amount of money on his seminars, but it doesn’t change the fact that Awaken the Giant Within is a terrible book high on style and short on substance. Why don’t you answer my criticism of the book directly? He STILL sells the book. It’s outdated. And it still takes 20 pages to basically tell you to “make more decisions.” In my review I summed up the whole book for you, so why are you complaining?
ON NLP vs. NLC
Yeah, I’m sure calling it NLC has nothing to do with the trademark claims over the use of the word NLP.
Lastly, please note that I said nothing about Tony Robbins’ character in my review. I could have easily gone on and on about how he talks about his wife and marriage and then got divorced later. I could have talked about all the lawsuits against him.
But I didn’t. Mt purpose was to review a book that a lot of people recommend.
The things is I don’t need to immerse myself in anything before I judge it. Tony Robbins wrote a book full of fluff and self-promotion. That tells me everything I need to know. It means I can expect fluff and self-promotion.
But if you’d like to send me another Tony Robbins product for review, I will certainly look at it with an open mind. Perhaps another product that is more expensive will have less self-promotion and fluff. Who knows? Please go to my contact form, and I’ll tell you where to send it. But as I can see, most people never put their money where their mouth is.
Carlon, I have told you nothing but the truth, and I dare to continue that tradition now with these facts:
*My name (I'll permit it's not rude to say) is Shawn (not Tony).
*Yes, I am a fan (not “fan”) of Tony Robbins.
*My claims ARE valid, despite your WEIRD need to “validate” them with my personal information!
*I do not work, nor have I ever worked, in any capacity, for Tony Robbins, his companies or affiliates.
*I did not attend any seminar of Tony Robbins'.
*Tony is not an alien.
*I am not your buddy.
*Therefore, the rest of your “fluffy” comparison there has no lucid point!
*If I needed to walk, I would feel no shame in needing a crutch to help me.
*If I needed to be successful, I would feel no shame in needing successful people like Tony to help me.
*Tony's technology is actually not NLC, but NAC (Neuro-Associative Conditioning).
*Itself a patent of superior value, NAC IS TONY'S TRADEMARK! LOOK IT UP!
*1,000,000+ sold copies prove that his copy-like “fluff” has significant value to a great many people!
*You said, “The fact is YOU make things happen.”
*SPRINTERS make things happen.
*COACHES HELP SPRINTERS make things happen EFFECTIVELY!
*Successful people care more about Best-Selling Authors' ABILITY TO HELP THEM SUCCEED!
*Successful people care less about Best-Selling Authors' BOOK SALE EARNINGS OR WRITING STYLES!
*Divorce statistics in our country are HIGH, even for businessmen who DIDN'T forsee getting divorced!
*Successful people like Tony are very seldom NOT targets for the most frivolous of lawsuits.
*Mentioning his divorce and lawsuits in the manner you did, IS CLEARLY A PERSONAL ATTACK!
*Mentioning his divorce and lawsuits in the manner you did, THEN SAYING YOU DIDN'T, IS LYING!
*Your complaints only reveal YOUR UNWISELY-DECLARED UNWARFARE on Tony Robbins' character!
*Tony Robbins' life example proves, without a doubt, that one can DO GOOD AND DO WELL!
*Those who can, do well!
*THOSE WHO CAN'T, TEACH OTHERS WHAT, WHY, AND HOW THEY CAN'T AND SHOULDN'T DO WELL!
*THEY HAVE AN UNNATURAL AVERSION FOR PROFITING FROM THEIR EXPERTISE!
*THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT WELL-DOERS' WILDLY-SUCCESSFUL SELF-PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS!
*THEY HYPOCRITICALLY DON'T MIND THEIR OWN MILDLY-EFFECTIVE SELF-PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS!
*THOSE WHO CAN'T, CAN'T HELP BUT UNWISELY FOCUS ON NEGATIVITY, “FLUFF”, AND POOP!
*You unreasonably trade away judicious scrutiny of clear FACTS, in favor of villifying good-/well-doers.
*In doing so, you dismiss all these facts as “fluff”, because you can't handle the TRUTH of them!
*By refusing to accept clearly-stated, highly-documented, easily-provable truth, you wax IGNORANT!
*Your cowardly wallowings in the comfort “fluff” of your ignorant delusions rob you of any INTEGRITY.
*Your lack of integrity renders you (and your reviews) UNBELIEVABLE!
Now YOU PROVE anything to the contrary of what I just stated! SPARE US YOUR FLUFF IN DOING SO!
DON'T hate the player!
DON'T hate the game!
DO hate your weak role as one of the former, in the latter!
Then improve it…IF YOU CAN!
WARNING: Make sure you curb your addiction to your self-created “fluff” long enough to do so, now!
DOING GOOD like Tony is quite CONSTRUCTIVE, and should keep your idle mind quite busy for a while.
The trick is, can you somehow, with a bit of luck, manage to be SUCCESSFUL, and DO WELL like Tony?
Well…if one can't, one can have “fluffy” DREAMS that they can, anyway! LOL!
AND REMEMBER: DON'T HATE! PARTICIPATE!
“PEACE!” XD
Dear “Shawn”
OK. Your name is Shawn. I’ll believe you. I guess I have to because your entire response can basically be summed up with: Tony Robbins is good because he changed my life but you’ll have to take my word for it because I like to post anonymously.
But here is something I do know:
1. I don’t think you read my review very closely
2. I don’t think you read my response to you very closely
3. I think you ARE a Tony Robbins fan who just can’t stand the fact that someone dared to criticize your favorite guru (actually, it was a book by your favorite guru but you took it pretty personally).
If you DID read my review, you’d see right at the top that I was ONLY talking about his book Awaken the Giant Within and that the review had NOTHING TO DO with Tony Robbins himself or his other programs.
But I will respond to some of the things you said because I DID read your responses closely:
NLP, NLC, NAC
I’ll start by saying you’re right. I got Tony’s program name wrong. I’ll be sure to change it. Strange that such a big Tony fan didn’t catch that. It doesn’t change the fact that Tony’s techniques all seem to come from NLP (anchoring, etc.). I’m sure that giving it a different name had nothing to do with all the trademark claims on NLP.
A FUNNY THING IN YOUR COMMNET
I will quote you:
*1,000,000+ sold copies prove that his copy-like “fluff” has significant value to a great many people!
*Successful people care less about Best-Selling Authors' BOOK SALE EARNINGS OR WRITING STYLES!
So, based on your own logic: you’re not successful. If you were, you wouldn’t care about how many books Tony sold.
And I will add that the fact that people buy a bunch of crap doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people buy Dianetics and John Grisham novels. Doesn’t mean anything.
On TONY Robbins’ character
Merely stating a fact does not mean I am engaging in character assassination.
He did get divorced. And he did get sued. I don’t consider a suit by the FTC frivolous and I especially don’t consider a lawsuit frivolous if the person loses.
I did not put those things in my review other than to state how outdated the book was. And also his marital status and lawsuits are not a good enough reason to NOT like the book. The book is bad all on its own.
But here’s the thing: I don’t care if he got divorced or traded in an old wife for a younger one. People do it all the time. What does matter is that this is the same man who wrote in his book all about his marriage and then tells you that he can teach you how to make great relationships.
Sorry, but I won’t be asking Tony Robbins for relationship advice just as I won’t ask Bernie Madoff for financial advice.
If you think that mentioning facts “vilifies” Tony Robbins, then I don’t think you’re much of a Tony Robbins fan. Shouldn’t you celebrate him flaws and all?
The rest of your comment starts to get a bit unhinged, but I will quote you one more time:
“The trick is, can you somehow, with a bit of luck, manage to be SUCCESSFUL, and DO WELL like Tony?”
By that logic, all need to do is make a lot of money telling people how to be successful. Isn’t that what Tony Robbins does?
Dear “Shawn”
OK. Your name is Shawn. I’ll believe you. I guess I have to because your entire response can basically be summed up with: Tony Robbins is good because he changed my life but you’ll have to take my word for it because I like to post anonymously.
But here is something I do know:
1. I don’t think you read my review very closely
2. I don’t think you read my response to you very closely
3. I think you ARE a Tony Robbins fan who just can’t stand the fact that someone dared to criticize your favorite guru (actually, it was a book by your favorite guru but you took it pretty personally).
If you DID read my review, you’d see right at the top that I was ONLY talking about his book Awaken the Giant Within and that the review had NOTHING TO DO with Tony Robbins himself or his other programs.
But I will respond to some of the things you said because I DID read your responses closely:
NLP, NLC, NAC
I’ll start by saying you’re right. I got Tony’s program name wrong. I’ll be sure to change it. Strange that such a big Tony fan didn’t catch that. It doesn’t change the fact that Tony’s techniques all seem to come from NLP (anchoring, etc.). I’m sure that giving it a different name had nothing to do with all the trademark claims on NLP.
A FUNNY THING IN YOUR COMMNET
I will quote you:
*1,000,000+ sold copies prove that his copy-like “fluff” has significant value to a great many people!
*Successful people care less about Best-Selling Authors' BOOK SALE EARNINGS OR WRITING STYLES!
So, based on your own logic: you’re not successful. If you were, you wouldn’t care about how many books Tony sold.
And I will add that the fact that people buy a bunch of crap doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people buy Dianetics and John Grisham novels. Doesn’t mean anything.
On TONY Robbins’ character
Merely stating a fact does not mean I am engaging in character assassination.
He did get divorced. And he did get sued. I don’t consider a suit by the FTC frivolous and I especially don’t consider a lawsuit frivolous if the person loses.
I did not put those things in my review other than to state how outdated the book was. And also his marital status and lawsuits are not a good enough reason to NOT like the book. The book is bad all on its own.
But here’s the thing: I don’t care if he got divorced or traded in an old wife for a younger one. People do it all the time. What does matter is that this is the same man who wrote in his book all about his marriage and then tells you that he can teach you how to make great relationships.
Sorry, but I won’t be asking Tony Robbins for relationship advice just as I won’t ask Bernie Madoff for financial advice.
If you think that mentioning facts “vilifies” Tony Robbins, then I don’t think you’re much of a Tony Robbins fan. Shouldn’t you celebrate him flaws and all?
The rest of your comment starts to get a bit unhinged, but I will quote you one more time:
“The trick is, can you somehow, with a bit of luck, manage to be SUCCESSFUL, and DO WELL like Tony?”
By that logic, all need to do is make a lot of money telling people how to be successful. Isn’t that what Tony Robbins does?
Is this a typical Tony Robbins fan? http://bit.ly/95cxkp
Hey, you forgot to give the power word list! If you are going to save me money (well, just between you and me — I was never going to buy ANYTHING by A.R. anyway, but hey, free info, I am all for — yea Public Libraries!). At the very least, you should (spoiler alert) AND deliver the goods. Opps, I think I just made myself Hitler, darn-it, by wanting to appropriate someone's propaganda (I mean work) for my own use.
Me, I've tried to re-gift a copy of The Secret (with a bootleg copy of the DVD) for a couple of years now, but no one wants it, not even the public library (yea). It was given to me by a well-meaning, well-retired family member since here I am, brain the size of a planet, but no steady job since a catastrophic layoff in the midst of a drastic industry reduction in 2005, to help me get a job. I feel like a Richard Pryor routine, you might be too young (hell, you ARE too young), to get “Where a %^#&@* gonna get a job out here pressing license plates?”
Enjoyed the essay, and your A.R. fan's strident defense against nothing you wrote. You gotta love discourse on a tangent.
Hey, you forgot to give the power word list! If you are going to save me money (well, just between you and me — I was never going to buy ANYTHING by A.R. anyway, but hey, free info, I am all for — yea Public Libraries!). At the very least, you should (spoiler alert) AND deliver the goods. Opps, I think I just made myself Hitler, darn-it, by wanting to appropriate someone's propaganda (I mean work) for my own use.
Me, I've tried to re-gift a copy of The Secret (with a bootleg copy of the DVD) for a couple of years now, but no one wants it, not even the public library (yea). It was given to me by a well-meaning, well-retired family member since here I am, brain the size of a planet, but no steady job since a catastrophic layoff in the midst of a drastic industry reduction in 2005, to help me get a job. I feel like a Richard Pryor routine, you might be too young (hell, you ARE too young), to get “Where a %^#&@* gonna get a job out here pressing license plates?”
Enjoyed the essay, and your A.R. fan's strident defense against nothing you wrote. You gotta love discourse on a tangent.
DSP keyword of the day: debunking #TonyRobbins http://bit.ly/dn7D1h
RT @carlon: DSP keyword of the day: debunking #TonyRobbins http://bit.ly/dn7D1h
I liked the book, partially changed some of my life for the better. Its certainly a far cry from the wish thinking of the secret. At least in TRs book you dont have to ever (majorly) suspend your critical thinking skills.
Saying that Awaken the Giant Within is not as bad as The Secret doesn’t give me much comfort. The Secret is BY FAR the worst work/movie I’ve ever watched/read. To read The Secret you have to suspend disbelief. For TR’s book, I had to suspend the urge to throw the book across the room.
He says some things in the book that are good, but I just can’t stand the fact that it reads like sales copy and really doesn’t deliver on the “how to” promise. For a book that makes such a big promise, it fails miserably.
Notor,
Sorry I didn’t pick up your comment earlier. I would re-gift my copy of The Secret but I wouldn’t want someone to be influenced by such crap. So, I burned it in a secret ceremony dedicated to the Universe. I asked the Universe to deliver me from The Secret and then it gives me The Power and The Secret for Teen in return!
Damn Universe!
One thing lacking in our society is more laughter. Your dry humor, wit, and obvious frustration with BS inspirational authors is evident in your writing; which I very much enjoyed! Thanks for the chuckles and honesty=) It was clear in your writing that you’re well read and authors such as T.R. target the non-jaded reader, who has yet to catch on to the fact that all motivational authors talk the same talk. For anyone that criticizes your insightful comments made in reference to his latest book, unfortunately, demonstrate their own naivety to the industry of “motivational industry of marketing and profit.” It’s truly bitter sweet. Kinda reminds me of how a child swears by something, yet as an adult, you realize their knowledge is limited by their development and lack of exposure, so you just let them think as they wish. What do we say to them? “You’ll see for yourself one day.”
As for those that comment to the original post with hostility. Shame on you, for lacking an open mind to see things from other peoples perspective. Have you ever considered that it’s you’re thinking that has created your broken life? Is your success going to come from a book written by a man that made his millions off your purchases and nothing else? Think about it! He owns his own island in Fiji from building an empire on words. He is a genius and I would buy a book from him in a heart beat if he revealed how to become successful off preying on peoples weakness. I’m joking. I would never do that to people. It’s far too easy to gain success from evil than from honest hard work. Read no more BS motivational books. Create change in your life by:
1. stop pointing the finger, when 3 point back at you
2. smile when you wake up
3. Be kind to everyone around you. Not because it’s the right thing to do – rather the contagious repetitive action, slowly begins to change your attitude on the way you see the world around you; in turn, your life begins to change.
4. Stop procrastinating
5. If you’re lazy, sloppy, with a filthy home; your entire life reflects this. Failure is the recipe you have created, so clean up your filth!
6. Set goals daily that are achievable, realistic,and do it! Otherwise – you only confirm that you are a loser to yourself.
7. always give to others even when you think you have nothing to give. Surprisingly, good things will happen to you unexpectedly.
8. Don’t tie your dog to a tree, leave them in the back yard daily with out interacting with them, neglecting their need to be loved and cared for, with clean water and food daily!
9. Don’t lie, still, cheat, abuse any animal or person
10. remember, when you think noone is watching you – God is.
Diane
Not NLP to NLC. Tony calls NAC, for Nuero Associative Conditioning. The only thing in you review that I agree with is that the book should be updated. Even Tony is remarried. I think you should have actually read the book before critisizing it. You seem to have missed a lot of important things that probably would have changed your opinion for better or worse. I give your review 2 out of 10. Sorry, but you lost credibility when you missed the NAC. That is the majority of the book content. Tisk-tisk.
You are a jerk! Why don’t you just admit to being Tony Robbins’ jilted gay lover and be sone with it. Quit your freaking whining. Who is the dumb braod who thinks she has an open mind? Bull! You are just kissing but while trying to sound good on-line. This is some ego show and a half. Puffery, blow-hards, ego-maniacs all of you. Live and let live. To each his own. That is what being open-minded is really about. Not forcing your dumbass opinion on the world. I will let you live so I can live in peace. You stated your jackass opinion and I stated mine. See how it works? Thank you for lowering the bar on intellect.
Frank,
If you read the comments by the Infinite Tony Fan and my response to him, you would know that I admitted to the error in the name of Tony’s system and thought the error had been corrected in the review. It was a simple mistake–gven the fact that Tony’s stuff s basically NLP without worrying about trademark infringement.
So, I updated the review finally.
But that doesn’t mean that is book is full of less self-promotion, full of less fluff, or completely outdated?
These were at the heart of my review, which I stand by. And if you think getting a letter wrong in “Tony’s” not-NLP system makes it wrong, so be it. I can accept that. Lots of people love Tony Robbins..I just happen to think that this book was lousy.
One more think for Frank. I appreciate that your dislike for this review had substance and a reason. So few do. It’s a discussion like this that I respect.
simple question for this reviewer: what have you created that has helped and benefited millions of people? what legacy will you leave behind besides being a critic? Tony Robbins and his approach is for those people who want to create and proactively participate with their lives – not spend the day criticizing the efforts of others.
Simple question for you: why do Toy Robbins’ fans all comment anonymously? I figured if he is so great, the fans would be proud to let others know. Instead, they hide behind screen names.
As to my legacy:
I’ll leave behind my castle and my personal island. When I die, I plan to have it converted into a self-help amusement park with fun rides such as the Cosmic Vibration-a-whirl, The Firewalk of Death, the Sweat Lodge of Mirrors, and more. Fun for the whole family.
I would do it while I’m alive but I wouldn’t want those darn critics criticizing me for my shameless self-promotion and all the money I’m making all in the name of helping people.
Sigh,
I remember my Tony Robbins days. Young and naive. But at least IM not alone. It’s good to see people finally posting about what a load of cowshit this stuff really is. I agree with your comments that although he promotes his stuff as complete programs, most of them, especially the audio programs, are really just ads for seminars, and I imagine they in turn, are just ads fo just more expensive seminars, and so on… it’s really just the first part in a long series of ‘programs’ that ends with extremely expensive week long seminars in Fiji.
The weird part is, you really want to beleive in the guy. You really want to like him, but after reading or listening to his stuff, or should I say ‘fluff’, you realize you’ve read the bluster of a snake oil salesman. These guys are experts at blowing smoke up your ass, and linking those good feelings to them. When that feeling wears off, Bam! back to another seminar..another program.. It’s not so much about whats great in this program, it’s more about what you’ll miss oout on if you don’t attend the NEXT program.
Thanks for your comments, Matt. As you can see from my hate mail, a good portion of it comes from this review. It seems that Tony has a lot of fans. I But if this book is any indication of the quality of his other “complete programs” then I’d say he sells a bunch of crap.
Since I made this review, I watched clips of him speaking. He is a good speaker and seems quite likable. But he still writes books that are full of fluff and self-promotion. That is more important to me than his likability.
I was actually pretty gung ho about his stuff years ago. In fact, I probably would have come across as one of his fanboys on this site! But, gradually, over time, I simply realized I wasn’t improving anything whatsoever. Ive gotten a hold of some of his audio programs, and basically, they’re entertaining, and he’s a great speaker with mastery over the language, but, his exercises seem pretty arbitrary, imo. Frankly, I don’t care how likeable someone is, if their stuff sucks, then it sucks, that’s all Icare about.
At the end of the day, it’s just short term motivation. You feel all pumped up while listening to it, but then when go out in the real world and someone kicks you in the balls, rarely do feel like applying ‘the six steps to xyz’ or ‘the ten ways to overcome abc’. Ya know.
I was actually pretty gung ho about his stuff years ago. In fact, I probably would have come across as one of his fanboys on this site! But, gradually, over time, I simply realized I wasn’t improving anything whatsoever. Ive gotten a hold of some of his audio programs, and basically, they’re entertaining, and he’s a great speaker with mastery over the language, but, his exercises seem pretty arbitrary, imo. Frankly, I don’t care how likeable someone is, if their stuff sucks, then it sucks, that’s all Icare about.
At the end of the day, it’s just short term motivation. You feel all pumped up while listening to it, but then when go out in the real world and someone kicks you in the balls, rarely do feel like applying ‘the six steps to xyz’ or ‘the ten ways to overcome abc’. Ya know.
Two promotions…WOW…this guy went from cleaning the basement toilets to cleaning the second floor toilets, good for you infinite Tony Fan…Loser….
Im currently reading the book. Ive been through 2 1/2 Seminars here at my college based around the book. I don’t consider myself a “fan” but I do seem to like the guy and I wouldn’t mind meeting him in person. With that said, Im reading Awaken The Giant Within and Im like 20 pgs from being done. I read your review because I have to do a book report n I happened to come across it.
Now I dont know anything about this NLP or whatever, but I do understand that studying that is what gave Tony the basis for NAC. As far as Im concerned NAC is legit. The difference between these two = the difference between McDonalds n Burger King…not much, but just enough for a trademark.
As far as the book, there is plenty of self-promotion. The whole book is based on his view of what one should do to become successful then he uses himself as a reference. Basically its a book of trust. You have to interpret what applies to you and then use it. In your review you gave an example of a Christian missionary using Buddha as an example {Id quote you but it wont let me copy< and to be honest, Buddhism is close enough to Christianity that an example in the right context would actually be a helpful argument for the missionary, in my belief. So in conclusion, if your opinion is that the book is fluff than thats true, but if you attempt to Use the book instead of reading it to judge it, it Can condition you to sucess.
I like your ten commandments Diane, except animals mean nothing to me.
I find your comment interesting on many levels.
#1 You claim no knowledge of NLP but feel there’s a difference between NLP and NAC. How did you come to this conclusion? From Robbins’ book? If you don’t know anything about NLP and it’s concepts (modeling, anchoring, etc…sound familiar?) then how can you reasonably judge it to be different from NAC?
#2 If I used Robbins as a reference for success, then I would strive to become successful by teaching others how to be successful. This is what Robbins does. His desire to get me to buy his expensive course and expensive seminars does not seem to be in alignment with my success.
#3 Buddhism and Christianity are completely different belief systems. Not close at all. Unless you think that it’s no big deal for Christians that Buddhists don’t believe in a savior-god, or an eternal soul, or an eternal heaven or hell. I could go on and on, but I hope you get the point.
#4 I think you should use good judgement BEFORE deciding to use something. I read TR’s book to decide if I could use it. And I concluded that it was fluff that gave no real answers and gave no real guidance…it was all telling you what to do and very little “how”.
I trust my own judgement. I encourage others to do the same. That’s my message and I offer it free of charge.
Im replying in order of your reply
#1 Yes, my conclusion comes from his book. All it really said was NLP tells you what to do and NAC says this is what you should do. So I have little argument there
#2 I didnt feel as though he was truly instigating that you should buy his other books, though the repetitive use of references to them may imply this. I think youre wrong about how you see Robbins as a reference. Yes, he did become successful by teaching others how to be successful, but the point hes making is that to be successful you have to believe you can do what it is youre called to do (in his case, this would be motivational speaking, book writing etc on how to be successful). Personally I felt his desire was to change lives, not necessarily buy His material, though I can’t dispute that it could be an underlying motive.
#3 Buddhism and Christianity are different belief systems on the basis of what happens to the physical body n soul and such, but are very similar on a moral standpoint (treat others right, don’t kill others etc.) So the missionary’s point would be that Buddha was a good man w a desirable character. Though he didn’t believe in Jesus, you cant say he wasnt a good person and example.
#4 I believe the “what to do” and the “how to reinforce yourself” is in the book. I agree that you should trust your own judgement though completely, so basing your life solely on Robbins’ book is claiming ignorance, but to use it to help shape your life is intelligent. With that, I can say that you did exactly that. You read it, took from it that nothing or very little applied to you, and did what you thought would benefit yourself by urging others against it.
Also, I appreciate the message, Free is my favorite!
most people dont have commitment to succeed coz on other side of rejection lies success. stop bashing guys … tonys life has changed many people … the author is jusyt venting his frustration .. this book is oure GOLDMINE
…. buy it and APPLY it…
Thanks for your informative breakdown of this book. I was trying to decide which Tony Robbins product I was going to purchase. I am not so sure if I will purchase any of them now. I am very suspicious that maybe all his systems have the same message just shuffled a bit to feel like it is all new info. I will do a little more investigating to see what the masses are saying and make a decision from there. I did find your review of this book entertaining as well as informative. I am wondering myself how many systems can he keep coming out with? How much more could he have learned in between each system to write another complete system of new info. Thanks for the heads up !!
Over my 53 years, Tony Robbins has been one of my favorite teachers and authors. I am far from a one-guru type and have read over a thousand non-fiction books.
By closely following his teachings, I maintained a strong attitude and overcame numerous setbacks in the process of founding a technology company which I ultimately sold for 43 million dollars. Tony’s material is very powerful — if you follow it. Period. Typically, people who trash his work have never taken the time to actually try and learn it. Unlike your average motivational fluff, most of his techniques take real practice to master.Yes, you can pick apart a book and find all the things that are wrong with it, but the sad part is you miss finding and enjoying the benefit of all the things that are right with it. Case in point: The chapter on decisions contains far more than your summation to “make lots of decisions.” To suggest that is all that is in it, to me, borders on dishonesty. My personal take if I were asked, would be that it conveys just how important every decision you make is in determining your ultimate destiny. “Summing it up” however does not “save” a person the time of reading it. Losing all of the examples and discussion rob the reader of the chance to truly learn what the author has to teach.My first exposure to Tony was his very first tape set, before the infomercial, so I got his conviction in what he believes more than you would from a book, and I have attended many of TR’s events. I am sure that this has helped me in my commitment to actually using the technologies he teaches. Nevertheless, his books are loaded with practical techniques that anyone really serious about self-improvement can use. If there should be a caveat, it is that his material requires a commitment to actual effort.
Still, I am curious. What qualifies you as a judge of of self-improvement books? What are your accomplishments?
*I am not an employee of, or related in any way to Tony Robbins. I choose not to publish my name on the internet, just like almost everyone else I know.
I have to say I disagree with the review completely. Although this book is cheesy, there is a good amount of very solid information. I especially liked the chapter where he talked about how we think in terms of questions and how one can change their focus by consistently thinking of a specific question. The chapter on words was also very powerful (the one good thing that was mentioned in the review) as was the chapter on clarifying your values and learning to judge the values of others through their actions (so that you can understand how best to connect with them). Of course, Tony Robbins makes it clear that one must actually TAKE ACTION in order to improve your life (Of course I knew this before reading the book and didn’t expect some miracle just from picking up some new information as it sounds like the people that commented on this review did). Whenever I feel down, I pick this book up for inspiration, but the clear message is that you’re responsible for taking action and improving your own life and information is useless if it’s not acted upon.
I was eager to read your review since i feel there’s a problem with the self-help industry and even with Tony Robbins.
However i was disapointed by your review. I expected you to explains why, in your opinion, this book is not helpful. I find your review unfair. Tony gives a lot of his insights in this book. A LOT.
1. NLP to NAC
I always had a problem with NLP. That problem is the word programming. As if you could program yourself like a software and voilà ! You’re not the same person anymore.
Conditionning means that you have to train yourself, condition yourself just like someone has to condition himself to stay in shape.
You said that you understood his take on vocabulary?… So how can you not understand that?
2. He says a lot of things.
- That you should use pain and pleasure to condition yourself for success.
- That you have to be aware of the questions you ask yourself on a consistent basis because the quality of those questions determine the quality of your life.
- That a person can have values that contradict one another set him up for failure.
- That a person can have unconscious rules about his values that make him feel unhappy because his rules make it impossible for him to feel that he’s meeting his values.
LOTS OF THINGS.
But at this point i’m wondering why, despite knowing all this, my life hasn’t changed. I’m questionning the actual value of knowing those things or the way they are presented. So when i saw you made a review on it i thought maybe you’d have some good insight on it.
For instance,when he describes the 6 steps NAC system, which is so paramount to the book, how come he did not give us at least 2 clear examples to demonstrate how to apply this process? He should have said ‘ok you want to lose weight, for instance, so step 1 would be… step 2 would be…”. He just doesnt. I just can’t understand that. This is so critical. And if he knows humans so well, he certainly knows that you need to demonstrate to help people understand and integrate. You don’t have to be a super guru to understand that giving someone an example so that he understands the practical application of something is very important.
Another thing is that some solutions he gives seem to me very artificial. In order to break a pattern for instance.
Or when he talks about rewarding yourself and takes the example of how dolphins are rewarded in order to reinforce certain behaviors. I mean… WTF??
Should i reward myself as if i was a dolphin or a dog? And how do you do that anyway?
I don’t buy into his claims about how your physiology can be used to control your psychology. The 2 are linked, yes. But i don’t believe standing straight and smiling in front of a mirror is what you need to do in order to take control of your life.
That’s why i was so eager to read your review but i have to say that what you wrote is unfair to the book. I even wonder if you actually read it. I wonder if you will publish my post, too. I also wonder if you will just dismiss it as fanboy post. Which i think it is clear it is not.
Abdel.
Well… its been five months since I replied Carlon. At the end of my reply I asked,”Still, I am curious. What qualifies you as a judge of of self-improvement books? What are your accomplishments?” But no reply… I take it then this is a question you’d rather not answer? This is an important point. A poor golfer with a bad attitude cannot discern whether he is getting good lessons or not. I suspect the same principal at work here, but I could be wrong.
Finally, perhaps you can enlighten us as to what books you rank highest. Are there ANY motivators or self-help trainers that you actually like? Or are they all just “after your money.”
So what if Tony turned your life around and helped you find the woman and job of your dreams? This site could be flooded with thousands of such stories from people who’ve actually used his material. The point is Tony is wealthy and this blogger is not… and therefore Tony is bad! See?
I’m in the middle of reading this book and i don’t think tony was acting high and mighty with his stories. It does have alot of information that is valuable to use. If you don’t do the work in the book (exersises and such) don’t expect to see any result/change. You wouldnt buy a book about losing weight/getting fit then not follow the instructions. This works the same way.
I hear you, Carlon. I found myself skimming lots of the portions of Robbins telling about himself, too. Some of it could have been cut out and some of it could have been replaced telling about experiences of someone else. There’s a fine line between showing you indeed have your own experiences and thoughts on the matter and going too far ending up being self-aggrandizing.
I like the parts about thinking of your own identity(what would it be like on the ID -card?), values and personal rules.
What really struck a chord for me was the section about handling emotions. Look closer how you really feel, realize it does work for you, think of possible messages it may be giving, recall how you’ve handled it right in the past, see how you’re going to handle it in the future and take some form of action, however small. We could make fun of that as well(thinking of it, aything can be made to look ridiculous). Me it still has helped on many occasions to calm back down istead of being all choked up with unpleasant sensations. Often I’ve noticed feeling a lot lighter already when thinking of possible messages an unpleasant feeling might be telling me.
Of course, not to neglect the other side of the matter, what other books on identity formation would you recommend more to your followers(and anyone reading your blog regularly)?
RT @carlon: Review of Tony Robbins' Awaken the Giant Within http://t.co/DHEHyQjP
I appreciated the synopsis.
Thanks to Tony’s material I tried the using his NLP (Ooops
cat got out of the bag), “NAC” to quit smoking one night. I sat on the roof of my house and literally smoked a full pack of cigarettes until I was so dizzy I almost fell off the edge while trying to climb down….so I could go to the bathroom and relieve my gag reflexes!
There I was gagging and feeling extremely sick. I thought I was cured. Massive feeling of pain linked to the little white fellers and holding back the faint feeling to fill my mouth with the unsettling in my stomach.
I felt so good about Tony’s advice that I had to wake my wife up to tell her I had conditioned myself to feel sick at the thought of another cigarette. She was ecstatic! Yea…until two days later when I picked up the next pack. Then I had the massive disappointment of my wife, my kids, and my own self condemning feelings to live with. I continued to smoke for the next 14 years.
I eventually did quit smoking, but it had absolutely nothing to do with “awakening the giant within”. In fact, it had everything to do with “killing the giant within” and dying to my self gratifying sinful nature.
This being said….
I can’t help but wonder if Tony would have felt massive amounts of pain if I would have fallen off the roof that night and died due to the stupidity I exercised after listening to his tapes? Or what if, of course this would be assuming my wife knew I was influenced by Tony’s subtle programming, she decided to sue him for my blind gullibility?
Who are the real suckers of the self-help industry? Is it the consumers? Or is it the predators peddling their snake oil sucking the very life out of their victims? Sometimes it’s hard to tell…isn’t it?
For those who may try to reply to this because you gobble the cool-aid of the self-help teachers: Why do you continue to feed on their candy apple messages? Surely it can’t be good for you. It’s insane! And you know the definition of insanity right??? Yah! Sure you do:-)
P.S. I may not have all that Tony has in this life, but I do have contentment, a beautiful wife of more than 25 years, and plenty of purpose to live without doling out any more of my hard earned dough to the help-them-selfers. And no, I’m not financially poor! I am blessed.
I know this post is relatively old, but I still wanted to add my ’2 cents’. Diane, your commandments actually mirror some of the things Tony talks about in his books/seminars. It all comes down to personal preference. Of course there are people out there who no matter what, will jump from motivational item to motivational item, looking for the quick fix. They will ALWAYS be that way until something actually clicks – which will probably not happen when reading a book – it will probably happen at their lowest of lows, when change is truly necessary. I tend to live by “take the good, leave the bad”. Even if you thought 99% of his material is shit, use the 1% you liked to help you. If that leads you in a positive direction even for a short amount of time, then the author/speaker has at least created a small ripple that will hopefully lead to big waves in the pond of life. Also…. keep an open mind. If you came into this conversation with the predetermined attitude that motivational speakers are all about taking your money and running or that their material is ‘fluff’, then you have done yourself a tremendous injustice and you have done nothing but create a self fulfilling prophecy.