Tony Robbins
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Anthony J. Mahavorick, also known as Tony Robbins, pen name Anthony Robbins, (born 29 February 1960, Glendora, California) is an American life coach, writer, and motivational speaker. Robbins has authored a number of books, including Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within. His best known tape program is Personal Power II; other programs include Get the Edge! and Lessons in Mastery. His work has drawn praise from people including Erin Brockovich, Andre Agassi, Norman Schwarzkopf, Princess Diana, President Bill Clinton, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Roger Black and Quincy Jones. [citation needed]
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[edit] Companies
Tony Robbins is a peak performance coach, author and live performer. His main professional activities involve live seminars, books and audio programs. More recently he has also launched a range of nutritional supplements (Inner Balance). All of these activities fall under the Anthony Robbins Companies, although Robbins also has a commercial interest in a number of other organisations including Robbins Research International, Inc., Tony Robbins Productions, Inc., Anthony Robbins Holdings , Namale Fiji (health spa and resort), Anthony Robbins & Associates, Inc., IdeaSphere, Inc., Twinlab Corporation, Inc., Rebus Publishing, Inc., EOS International, Inc., The Anthony Robbins Foundation and Robbins-Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention.
[edit] Live seminars
There are six main Tony Robbins live events:
- Unleash the Power Within (UPW)
- Life Mastery (Part of Tony Robbin's Mastery University)
- Date with Destiny (Part of Tony Robbin's Mastery University)
- Wealth Mastery (Part of Tony Robbin's Mastery University)
- Leadership Mastery
- Date with Destiny Mastery
UPW is held many times a year and often to audiences of up to 10,000. Lasting four days, this is the main Tony Robbins event and the event that is covered most frequently in the media. The event is held all over the USA, Australia and the UK (for Europe).
The other events are held less frequently, and are delivered at more select venues (including Robbins' Namale Resort in Fiji). Robbins has been criticised for not presenting at all of these events. [citation needed]
[edit] Neuro linguistic programming
Anthony Robbins is the inventor and proponent of what he refers to as neuroassociative conditioning, which is based on Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).[1] Robbins studied NLP under NLP co-founder John Grinder, who encouraged him to look into the firewalking experience, which became the foundation of his popular firewalk seminars. The book Unlimited Power offers a number of examples of how to employ elements of NLP in day to day situations.
He also conducts seminars, the most famous of which is his four-day Unleash the Power Within seminar, during which the participants walk over hot coals in bare feet. The aim of the seminar, demonstrated in the firewalk, is to illustrate that the main quality shared by those who achieve greatness is the ability to take action ('Personal Power'). Robbins asserts that fear often holds people back from achieving what they want with their life. Walking safely on burning coals requires few physical skills, but it does require the mental discipline to overcome one's inner doubts. Applying that same principle to other aspects of life can, it is claimed, empower the individual to attempt tasks he or she would previously (erroneously) have considered impossible.
Recently he has appeared at many of The Learning Annex Real Estate Wealth Expos wherein he is a headline speaker and at the Technology, Entertainment & Design (TED conference) conference alongside Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Malcolm Gladwell & Jeff Bezos [4]
[edit] Charities
Robbins is the founder of the Anthony Robbins Foundation which empowers students, helps prisoners to improve their lives,and organizes food drives (including the annual Basket Brigade which has provided 'baskets of food and household items for more than 2 million people in 74 countries annually' [5]). The charity also funds Robbins' summer "Discovery Camp." [6]
[edit] Health programs and recommendations
Robbins promotes a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle and endorses the views of Dr. Robert Young and Natural Hygiene practices regarding the need for an alkaline diet. He has also praised John Robbins' book, "Diet for a New America".
[edit] Techniques
Among the techniques Robbins teaches are the following:
- Altering the body's physiology to achieve a change of emotional state.
- Asking specific questions to direct one's attention to aspects of human experience that create a more favorable psychology.
- Getting leverage to create change by associating a person's old behavior with massive pain and the desired new behavior with massive pleasure.
- Interrupting one's limiting pattern by doing something totally unexpected.
- Conditioning behavior by visualizing it over and over again.
- Goal-setting
- Creating a compelling future, vividly imagining one's end result to generate enthusiasm and power to work towards one's goals.
[edit] Personal life
Robbins was raised in Azusa, California and attended Glendora High School. When Robbins was seven, his parents divorced, and his mother later remarried twice. Tony took on the surname of his second stepfather, Jim Robbins.
Inspired by the motivational speaker Jim Rohn, Robbins began selling his own seminars. Tony then went on to study neurolinguistic programming and to establish his career. In 1989, he began using infomercials to promote his products, which proved to be very successful.
Then, in 1994, a routine medical check revealed a tumor in his pituitary gland.
On a CNN interview in 2001, Tony disclosed the difficulty in ending his 15-year marriage to Becky Robbins who is 10 years his senior.[2] In the same year he married Sage Bonnie Humphrey.[3][4]
[edit] Lawsuits
In May of 1995, Robbins and his company, RRI (Robbins Research International), agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they misrepresented the potential earnings of their motivational seminar customers, agreeing to refund $221,260 in redress. [7]
Financial seminar guru Wade Cook also sued Robbins for copyright infringement, claiming that Robbins lifted concepts and terms from his seminars and his book, Wall Street Money Machine, during the creation of a competing financial course. In 1998, a Tacoma, Washington jury ordered Robbins to pay Cook over $650,000 in damages.
[edit] Criticism of 'Unleash the Power Within'
Robbins does have some notable critics. In a newsletter for the James Randi Educational Foundation, Michael Roes, a participant in a Tony Robbins seminar, recounted his experiences. [8] Roes describes an intense hard close selling technique that encouraged participants to sign up for later workshops, which cost as much as $10,000.
Roes also relates that some participants arriving with their partners or spouses found themselves separated and paired with strangers, and then were directed to repeatedly massage and confide in these strangers. Many participants were surprised and uncomfortable with this.
Roes calls some of the content in the training weekends pseudoscience with some use of applied kinesiology and unscientific nutritional claims. One example was the selling of the QLink pendant [7]. There is no scientific proof that this pendant has any health benefits.
Skeptic James Randi is a notable critic of Tony Robbins.
[edit] Media appearances
- Larger Than Life: His video is seen playing during the junk yard scene.
- Tommy Boy (1995): Chris Farley references Robbins when David Spade says something very cheesy.
- Family Guy: An animated Robbins (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) was lampooned in the controversial episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein". Robbins says, "Tony Robbins HUNGRY!" to Peter Griffin when asked to autograph his book and proceeds to devour him whole.
- Men in Black: His image can be seen in the background as one of many aliens being allowed to live on earth while being monitored when Will Smith's character is introduced early in the film to the inner workings of "The Agency".
- Reality Bites: Seen on TV in one of his infomercials toward the end of the movie.
- The Cable Guy: His ad is on TV when Jim Carrey first meets the 'patsy' when hooking up his cable.
- Shallow Hal: He has an extensive scene with Jack Black's character in an elevator where Robbins hypnotizes Black's character. Black's character can now see people's outward appearance based on their inner personality. The scene is pivotal to the plot. In this scene Black's character riffs on Robbins's large hands calling them "banana hands" in order to change Black's mental state.
- Roseanne: Robbins is referenced by her friend Crystal when Dan leaves her and Roseanne is severely depressed. Robbins makes an appearance during the show's end credit run, trying to motivate her, but ultimately agreeing to have a HoHo with her.
- He can also be seen on various infomercials on TV, usually late at night/early in the morning.
- She's All That: Freddie Prince Jr. states "Ok, Tony Robbins!" When being lectured on how he is responsible for his own future.
- In the television program Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampire Spike compares a grotesque human/demon/machine hybrid called Adam to Robbins, stating "You're like Tony Robbins, if he was a big, scary Frankenstein-looking... You're exactly like Tony Robbins."
- In the movie Grosse Pointe Blank, during the early reunion scene in the high school gymnasium, Paul Spericki comments hurriedly to Martin Blank that he looks "good... Tony Robbins good"
[edit] Bibliography
- Unlimited Power (1987) - ISBN 0-684-84577-6
- Awaken the Giant Within (1992) - ISBN 0-671-79154-0
- Giant Steps (1994) - ISBN 0-671-89104-9
- Inner Strength (not yet published) - ISBN 0-684-80903-6
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Awaken the Giant Within, Anthony Robbins, pgs.108,111-113.
- ^ Tony Robbins: Practicing What He Preaches, CNN Transcript, Aired January 7, 2001 - 8:30 p.m. ET, (Interview with Beverly Schuch) [1]
- ^ Biography for Anthony Robbins, IMDB, [2]
- ^ CanWest's Sun opponent Robbins thanks supporters, July 2005, [3]
[edit] External links
- [9] Article in James Randi newsletter, by an attendee of a Robbins weekend. Somewhat critical of the weekend.
