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.” 

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.

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.

#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!

#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.