"I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk."
— TONY ROBBINS
So, you may have noticed through my Instagram page that I attended Tony Robbins seminar last month, Unleash the Power Within- fondly named by its participants “UPW” for short.
I wanted to share with you a little bit about my experience because it was nothing less than truly amazing, transformative and life changing!
Tony Robbins is a behavioural psychologist, entrepreneur, best-selling author, philanthropist, speaker and life and business coach and strategist. He has served as an advisor to leaders around the world for more than 40 years.
He has empowered more than 50 million people from 100 countries through his audio, video and life training programs!
One of my favourite things though is that through his partnership with Feeding America, he has provided over 200 million meals to those in need in the last two years, and he is on track to provide a billion meals by 2025.
He has also initiated programs in more than 1,500 schools, 700 prisons and 50,000 service organizations and shelters. He provides fresh water to 100,000 people a day in India to prevent waterborne diseases, which the #1 killer of children in that country. Amazing human, he is!
He has a relentless obsession and desire to help anyone and everyone he possibly can to be free from suffering and to live a life that full of passion, joy and vitality.
He embodies such a sincerity and authenticity that is so refreshing. With such power and certainty in each person’s ability to make progress and achieve their goals, it is both empowering and comforting.
He gave everything of himself that he could to ensure everyone received such profound value from their experience.
He shared wisdom and knowledge for 12+ hours with no breaks – no food, rest, loo breaks – nothing. He kept the energy in the room so high the whole time and danced with us until 2am one of the nights!
He has offered these workshops for nearly 30 years and has it down to a fine art.
The environment there, where you have powerful breakthroughs, revelations and valuable insights into yourself and your behaviours, creates a sense of comradery and connection with the other 6000 people present. I have made 3000 new friends through this! (We connected in a Facebook group)
So, this year I made the mistake of asking (myself, the universe, God, all that is) to become more strong, resilient and more of an "adult" and to get more comfortable with death.
(Through my own spiritual experiences, I no longer fear my own death but I still have fear around the thought of loved ones dying.)
And unfortunately, or blessedly- depending how you look at it- the reliable and unconditionally loving universe delivered on all fronts. In a deep and profound way. No mucking about.
(That experience deserves its own blog – and not in a whingy way but in a wonderful way from where I can now see the blessings it all offered.).
The ride of that was a bumpy one and left me emotionally, mentally and physically not in a great space. I have a lot of great tools to help me through times like that, but this one was a bit of a doozy and some assistance never goes astray.
So when the offer popped up to go along to the seminar, it came at the worst or the perfect time- again- depending on how you look at it.
I was raw, vulnerable and feeling very low in energy. Did this make it the best time to go, or the worst time?
My ego- who identifies with old stories I have built up around me to protect or defend old belief systems said it was not the right time and came up with all sorts of hilarious excuses not to go.
Who will feed the cats??
You can do your own self development at home this weekend, in your trackies!
It’s too far away (45 minute drive… )
What if you cry and embarrass yourself?
You can’t take those 3 days off work! Preposterous!
Besides, you have nothing to wear!
And you’re am too tired anyway... and you're fat.
(That inner voice can be bitchy sometimes.)
Considering that;
My Husband was home to feed the cats
People are coming from overseas and out of state to join this workshop and
Taking 3 days out of one’s whole life to make powerfully positive changes is not too much to ask
And who cares what I wear or if I cry – its deep self-development- everyone will probably cry at some point.
And the size of my booty is literally irrelevant to this.
– None of these arguments held much merit.
This scramble for excuses not to go tipped me off to think “If I am panicking and resisting this so much- there must be a big break through afoot and part of me knows it. And the part that loves the sad stories of the past and the comfort zone I have fallen into (That actually isn’t that comfortable anyway..) is resisting the changes, breakthroughs and the unknown.
Fair enough. The unknown is scary.
But the quiet little voice inside, my inner guidance whispered “Just do it.” I didn’t realise my inner guidance system was such a Nike fan, but still. It was good advice.
It said “If you can approach it with playful curiosity, then go.” And I really liked that because it took all of the pressure off. Playful curiosity allows one to take a childlike view and just go with the flow, moment to moment, without putting ridiculous expectations onto the experience and just let it be what it will be.
So after spending that entire weekend (more than 50hrs! - and I was fully engaged the whole time!) At UPW, totally immersed in the teachings I felt a new level of radiance, health, aliveness, vitality, positivity, empowerment & happiness. And emotional freedom from the past.
A new depth of releasing old wounds by really seeing and embracing the lessons they gave and the blessings and growth that came as a result. Which enhanced the appreciation and gratitude for all that ever was, without chaining me to any past patterns or limited thinking or self-doubt.
It opened up a new landscape for my future to be brighter than ever. I had clarity.
Dr. Joe Dispenza described it beautifully for me when he said;
“When you have to come up against your limitations and you get beyond some emotion that’s kept you anchored to the past for 30yrs, and you free your body from the chains of that emotion and you begin to liberate energy – now you can see a whole new landscape in your future because you’re no longer looking at it through the lens of the past and you all of a sudden no longer knee jerk in your life emotionally and react in the same way – and you give people permission to do the same.”
We all have limiting inner beliefs that are just plain not true. Whatever they are, be it “I’m not skinny enough, rich enough, resourceful enough, educated enough” – whatever it is, it stops us from doing the things we really want to do. From living out our hearts desires.
But they all boil down to pretty much the same thing; I am not enough. And when we powerfully change that core beliefs, that almost all humans have– not through positive thinking, affirmation, wishful thinking (Although all of these things have their place) but by changing the belief, eradicate the limiting thoughts in our mind, body, nervous system, deep parts of the brain that hold on to stuff like that, then we are free to joyfully and deliberately take control of our lives, move forward and make our dreams happen!
Not that everything becomes easy or hunky dory all the time- it’s not all sunshine, lollipops & rainbows- but you gain an unshakable belief, knowing and confidence that stays with you and that voice of fear and doubt doesn’t go away but it takes a back seat and is not in the driver’s seat any longer. Hallelujah.
So often in life we read, learn, hear something that we KNOW will benefit us profoundly if we act on it. And no matter how motivated we are in the moment of making a decision to make positive change ~ the momentum wares off. The inspiration fades. Something happens that drags us down. We fall into the same old pattern. And we don't realise that dream, intention or outcome.
The seminar was so powerful for me, that I feel something has deeply shifted, that will never be the same again or be able to fully dissolve.
I am out of my rut, emotionally healed, physically more energetic and motivated than I have been for a long time, have mental clarity and enhanced focus and am ready to burst out from my comfort zone!
I am excited for the days, months & years to follow after this transformative experience with a newfound depth of substance within me.
I am excited to pay it forward and hold space for my beautiful clients on a deeper level than ever before.
I am not delusional and know this will be a life-long process, but I feel catapulted in the right direction.
To attempt to describe the details of what happened in those 50+ hours that weekend would only pale in comparison to what it was actually like. Words are so limited. Only experience is knowing.
Is it worth the investment of time and money? YES! It’s priceless.
Do I have more to tell you about this? YES But I won’t waffle on any longer as I understand you need to live your life and don’t have all day!
I will finish with this excellent quote. It resonates with me and the rainbow that followed the rain this year. The magnificent sunrise that followed the darkness.
"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." -Napoleon Hill