Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins is one of my favourite books. It’s a great book to read if you want to understand your emotions and the power they have over your life.
He says, “Each feeling is an energy which will take us in a specific direction.”
I will share 15 powerful life lessons from this book with you, but I encourage you to read it because this is just a summary.
I’m sure that everyone knows the importance of goals in life, but Robbins says that goals aren’t enough if you don’t have reasons why. There must be something compelling enough for you to act consistently towards your goals. For example, if your goal is to lose weight and get fit, but you don’t have, it will be tough for you to keep going.
Your reasons need to go beyond your ego and act in a way that people will praise you. It would help if you had higher self-esteem than this. Your reasons should come from your values, and they need to be compelling enough for you to act consistently.
People that have the following values will have a lot of reasons to keep going: happiness, health, family, contribution, and spirituality. So take some time to think about your values and identify which ones you already have reasons for. And then think about what you need to add other reasons too.
The best goals are called “vision” or “passion.” They are very different from the goals that everyone has.
Vision is like a picture of what you want your life to be. It’s composed of visuals and emotions. A vision can last forever, while a goal lasts for only 12-18 months. When you work towards achieving something out of passion, you don’t feel you have to do it. When you work for your vision, you see the big picture, so everything related to this goal becomes easy to deal with.
As an example about passions, Robbins uses the life of Michael Jackson. He said that he loved what he did and music, fame, and fortune were just the results of his passion. So he didn’t work for these things, but because of them.
Vision can be divided into three levels:
1- Visualization – the picture that you want to see in your life. It’s composed of visuals and emotions. To get to this level, take some time to daydream about how your perfect week looks like.
2- Envision – creating a mental plan to be accomplished. It’s the level that Robbins calls “The Magic of Making Up Your Mind” from now on called TOMUYMM (pronounced as Tommy-m). This is where you figure out what steps need to be taken to move things forward towards your vision.
3- Destiny – this level is where you can reach your vision, but it’s just outside of your physical life. This means that you cannot see clearly what you need to do to get there. But you know that if you keep taking the right actions, eventually you will get there. That’s what Robbins calls “the power.”
The best way to get to the level of Destiny is through visualization and envisioning. And if you want to read more about this, I recommend The Magic of Thinking Big.
There are seven steps in the TOMUYMM process:
1- Identify your vision.
2- Write it down.
3- Find who you need to be to achieve this vision.
4- Figure out where you are now in relation to your vision.
5- Determine the price you have to pay for achieving your vision and identify how much pleasure or pain there is related to change.
6- Put a deadline on when it needs to be finished and make an oath with yourself that you will keep your promise.
7- Ask other people to support you.
Not everyone will support you in your process, but Robbins says that it’s ok, because if they can’t or won’t help, this is probably not for them.
This process makes the difference between setting goals and achieving something big. Visualization (and anything else) is essential in reaching the level of destiny because it’s about envisioning things that are outside of your physical reality. And to make some change happen in our reality we need to visualize things that are just out of reach for us.
The most important thing is not to ask yourself if you can do it, but how you’re going to do it.
The acronym is R-A-I-N:
R – Reality. The way things are right now. If you want to make a change in this reality, you need to visualize it.
A – Affirmation. Something that’s going to be added or created in your life, even though you can’t see it clearly.
I – Images. The visuals you place in your mind create an exact image of what you want to achieve, not just something similar to it. So, for example, if you’re trying to lose 10 pounds, it’s better than thinking about how much weight you want to lose and how your body looks like when that happens.
N – New level mindset. It would be best if you thought differently to develop new ideas and possibilities that will help you progress towards your vision.
The importance of visualization is seen in Robbins’ story about how he got his first car:
He was dreaming about the car, and eventually, it happened, even though he didn’t have a job or any money when he got it.
Another example that Tony Robbins brings is how people discovered fire:
In the past, humans had been looking at the fire from a distance, and one day they decided to get close enough to see how it was made. In other words, this was visualization. And eventually, they could make fire themselves.
When you’re using visualization to achieve something, the most important thing is that you need to know what you want, but not necessarily how it will happen. This way, the brain is more open to possibilities of getting there without being limited by your previous experiences or knowledge of how things are made or done. If you use your imagination, you’ll be able to come up with new ideas and opportunities that will help you go from R to A.
1- Write down your vision – write it as a present tense statement, for example: “I am healthy” or “I have a great relationship” instead of “I want to lose weight.” You can read more about how to write your vision from this blog.
2- Who you need to be – the person who will make things happen. Robbins calls it “the science of human excellence.” You should focus on a role model or someone who has already achieved what you want and use their examples as a way to train yourself until achieving your own dreams.
3- Dreamer – your vision. No limits, just a clear picture of where you want to get.
4- Realist – this is who you are right now and the limitations that hold you back from achieving your vision. For example: “I have a job, so I can’t move to a new city,” or “My husband doesn’t support my weight loss goals,” or “I’m too old to have a baby.”
5- The Calculator – this is where you should figure out how much time it will take to get from the Realist level to the Dreamer. Robbins says that your dream should be no more than three years away, so if your dream is to go to school for five years, you should set it up as a 1-year time frame.
6- The Critic – the voice in your mind that’s always trying to put you down and convince you that your vision is impossible or undoable. It tells you that it will never happen, but the truth is that those negative thoughts are not facts. They’re just opinions based on your past experiences.
7- The Compassionate Observer – this is who you need to be to watch and listen to the Critic without getting involved with it. It’s like a movie where you’re watching from outside and can’t do anything about how it progresses. Your job here is to watch your Critic and learn what lies beneath it. Of course, you need to change things to achieve the results you want, but there are also some lies that you can believe without harming your progress.
8- The Magician – an imaginary figure who knows all of the resources available for making your vision happen. He can give you the tools to achieve your goals.
9- The Observer – he’s looking at your life from a distance and notices things that happen without becoming involved with them. Observing is much more efficient than judging or taking action, Robbins says. If you don’t judge yourself too harshly, you’ll be much more productive in how fast you make progress.
10- The Master Programmer – this is the brain’s part responsible for creativity and new ideas. It can make your vision happen differently from how your Critic imagined it. Robbins says: “There are no limits to what you can create and achieve when you understand and apply the power of your Master Programmer.”
11- Your Destination – here, you should write down the benefits of achieving your vision in one place. These are the rewards that will motivate you to keep going until you get there. Robbins says: “Your destination is where your thoughts take you, but it’s not necessarily where you’ll end up. Life can take us in unplanned directions.” So don’t be frustrated if you don’t end up in the exact same place once your vision becomes a reality, he says.
12- Your Values – these are life lessons that will keep appearing on your journey. They’ll guide you and push you to stay focused on the things that really matter to you. Robbins suggests thinking about how each of your values can apply to the decisions you make. For example, do you need to stay up late tonight to finish a project? If one of your values is “I want to live my life with integrity,” then you’ll probably say no because that will violate your value.
13- Your Habit Routines – this is where you’ll put in the time and effort that will turn your vision into reality. You have to take action no matter how difficult it is, Robbins says. Don’t make excuses for why you can’t achieve what you want – there are always ways for you to get it done.
14- Your Contribution – this is where you remind yourself why all of this hard work is worth it. Robbins says that you should write down the things that other people and society as a whole will benefit from your efforts. “If I’m serious about achieving my vision, then I must also be equally committed to making a difference in the lives of others,” he says.
For example:
– My destination is $1 mil per year. I’ll be financially free and will no longer need to work for my income.
– My values are honesty, commitment, kindness, diligence.
– My habit routines are working out at the gym (1 hour daily), writing in my journal (15 minutes daily).
– My contribution is living with integrity by being honest with myself and with other people. I’m also committed to helping others achieve the same freedom I desire by sharing my own success story via blogging and public speaking.