We’re going to take a quick pause on talking about real estate investing because our experience at Unleash the Power Within (UPW) was too good not to share with y’all!
Last week, we traveled to West Palm Beach to attend our first Tony Robbins event, Unleash the Power Within. As humans, we have limiting beliefs that prevent us from going after something. Michelle and I have a lot of them, to be honest. Our goal was to end these beliefs that were slowing us down and go after our dreams. We didn’t achieve this but I got so much more. Let me tell you why.
Turning Fear Into Power, a Breakthrough
It was a 4-day event at the Palm Beach Convention center. Tony asked us to imagine what an extraordinary life means to each one of us. This includes your health, wealth, spirituality, and quality of relationships, among other things. We should be stepping forward every day toward this ideal life. But along the way, we encounter something that slows us down – FEAR. Fear can destroy our psychology and immobilize us from taking any action. It is hard-wired into every single human being. Some people ignore it, and some people deny having fears, but it’s always there. We all experience countless variations of this. There are two primary fears that we all share: 1) Fear that we’re not enough; 2) Fear that we’re not loved. So give it a shot! Think of your biggest fear and see if you can connect it with either of these two.
We must reach an extraordinary life because of the emotion and meaning that we think it will give us. Well, good news! We can create these feelings right now. There are three patterns that you need to change to generate any emotion. First is your Physiology, from your face all the way to your feet. Tony always says that emotion is energy in motion. Think about how you feel when you’re slouching, versus doing a superhero pose with your arms on your waist. Which one feels better? One trick was to imagine a string tied to your sternum pulling it up to the ceiling making you stand proud. It’s amazing how a slight tweak in posture can make one look and feel confident.
The second pattern to change is your Focus. You will believe whatever you focus on. If you focus on what’s missing in your life, then you will believe that your life lacking. But if you focus on what you have instead, you’ll feel gratitude. Moreover, where your focus goes, your energy flows. In high-performance driving schools, they teach you an exit strategy. This is what you need to do in case your car loses control. A big part of this strategy is to look wherever you want your car to go. You never want to fixate on another car or a wall when your car is sliding out of control. Because there is a high chance that’s where you’re going to end up. It’s the same concept in life.
And the third pattern to change is the Language that you use. Words are powerful. And negative words, sound louder in your head than positive ones. Pay attention to the words that you repeat to yourself. Phrases like “I’m wrong”, “I’m a victim”, and “I am not enough” are disempowering.
Changing these three patterns all at once changes your state. They taught us to attach a powerful move, to positive thoughts and words. We did these pattern interruptions to make it a habit. What it does, is when we’re fearful, changing these three patterns take us out of a low state to a peak state. Remember that F.E.A.R. is an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real.
Bridging the Gap – The Ultimate Success Formula
We took a snapshot of where we are now and then imagined what our extraordinary life is in the future. Oftentimes, there is a big gap in the middle. So how do we get there? Tony and his partner James McClendon created the ultimate Success Formula.
1) Knowing your outcome with clarity. A vague goal rarely gets accomplished. Laser-focused efforts come from laser-focused targets.
2) Know your reasons why. If you often use phrases like “I should have done this” or “I should have done that”, you will end up “shoulding” all over yourself. Get it? 😉 Replace these words with “must”. This word inspires certainty and power. You must do a certain thing because there is no other way.
3) Take Massive Action. The keyword here is massive. This can take various shapes or forms. From taking the first step, taking a giant leap, or even small but consistent steps. People often confuse activity with productivity. These actions need to align with the path you need to take toward your goals. These actions move you closer to your extraordinary life.
4) Know what you are getting. We use KPIs and metrics in running a business. It’s the same in life. We need to take stock of what’s working and what’s not working. As the cliche goes, what you can’t measure, you can’t improve.
5) Change your approach. Our paths will almost never be a straight line. We will course correct along the way. We may even need to change our destination halfway through. This requires resourcefulness. As Tony said, we need to open up the multitude of resources that lie within us. We need to put ourselves in a state of resourcefulness and active expectancy. Then we watch miracles happen.
As high performers, we often say that we need to find balance in the different areas of life. We may be crushing it at work or your finances at the expense of our relationships or our health. Success without fulfillment is a failure. An extraordinary life requires an unrelenting commitment to improve all areas of life. These areas are your:
Fig. 1 Seven Areas of Growth – Robbins Research International
The first step in bridging the gap is to be crystal-clear about where you are now. Then, you must have the same amount of clarity about what your extraordinary life looks like. A GPS (or map) can only get you where you want to go if you have clear start and end points.
One important component in relationships is building rapport. This also means the quality of communication between people. There are 3 forms of communication and they are very unevenly distributed.
Fig. 2 The Magic of Rapport
Being Surrounded by Inspirational People
Tony Robbins spoke live on two out of the four days. He’s at the point where he needs to rest his vocal cords. But there were no shortage of impactful speakers. Below are two of the powerhouse guest speakers they brought on.
Jamie Kern-Lima is a self-made entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and best-selling author. She is the co-founder of IT cosmetics, which she sold to L’Oreal for $1.2 billion in 2016. She talked about her powerful vision to build a brand that is unique to the cosmetic industry. All odds were against her. Banks, private equity firms, makeup companies, refused to work with her. She was on the brink of bankruptcy repeatedly. But then she became her biggest cheerleader pulling through the toughest of times. One of the quotes that we liked the most is – ” Your dreams will come with naysayers. They will call you weak. Then someday, they will call you genius!” and “You’re not crazy, you’re just the first.”
Nick Santonastasso continues to defy odds. He’s a bestselling author and world-renowned keynote speaker. Moreover, he is a professional model/bodybuilder and was a varsity wrestler. Nick was born with one arm and no legs. The doctor gave him a 30% chance of surviving birth and his parents chose to go through with it. But he saw his situation as a gift rather than a disability. His speech was so powerful that it can change the perspective of the things that you complain about.
Conclusion
I mentioned that I was not able to end my limiting beliefs from this conference. This is true because limiting beliefs will always be there. It’s natural, we’re humans. It’s like gravity, it will always try to pull us down – until we do something about it. This conference exposed us to the knowledge and tools to control it. When we are in a slump, Tony showed us how easy it is to put ourselves in a “Peak State” by changing our 3 patterns. I can confidently say that this event sparked an ongoing transformation within us. It’s up to us to take MASSIVE ACTION now.
This conference couldn’t have come at a better time. We know that winter is coming. I say that in a metaphorical sense in that we are entering tough economic times. Today, Meta announced the layoff of 11,000 of their employees. Other big tech companies are following suit. Inflation is at 8.2%, which is a level that we haven’t seen in decades. Interest rates are on the rise. And Fed plans to keep the rates high in 2023 even after inflation has normalized. On the flip side, winter creates strong people. Success may not be immediate during these times. We strive for something, put in consistent effort, and sacrifice a ton without achieving progress. But you know what? Progress is often invisible. If you have been consistent at something, you’re close. Hang in there! We’re rooting for you. Because what comes after winter is spring.
By the way, did I mention that we walked on fire too? 😉
Fig.3 Firewalking Experience
Until next time! Onward and Upward!
The DLRs
Source: Robbins Research International