The Day I Met Tony Robbins

I thought the only way I’d meet Tony would be through one of his spectacular events he puts on every year. I thought I’ll be the guy cheering from a mile away, somewhere in the last row, as he gets on stage pumped and ready to rock his audience. But then I started to believe…   

It started with Tim Ferriss’ famous Princeton challenge: contact 3 famous people and get a response from them. He offered an enticing prize to the person who completed it.  Of course, none of his listeners completed the challenge because they believed that was impossible, and thus, didn’t even attempt it. The paradox as Tim explained it is that competition is strong on things that seem easy to do, and practically none on things that seem “impossible” to do.   

This creates an opportunity to achieve some things most people won’t. Discussing why people have this mindset in the first place is another topic.    

The second time Tim proposed his celebrity challenge, some people did it and received a response from their celebrity. I know how that feels. Here’s Tim talking about it:    

“I believe that success can be measured in the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have. I felt that if I could help students overcome the fear of rejection with cold-calling and cold e-mail, it would serve them forever,” Ferriss said.   

“It’s easy to sell yourself short, but when you see classmates getting responses from people like [former president] George Bush, the CEOs of Disney, Comcast, Google, and HP, and dozens of other impossible-to-reach people, it forces you to reconsider your self-set limitations.”    

I first got my feet wet by going on Facebook and straight forwardly messaging several world-famous DJs. Out of the 4 messages sent, I received 3 messages back. See for yourself: 

 

 

 

 

Of course we can’t compare them to Tony because they’re in different industries. But the principles learned are eternal. “Give a man a fish and he can survive for a day, but teach him how to fish and he can survive forever.”   

I have only known about Tony for a year, but I learned enough about him to achieve my goal (minimum effective dose?). I know from life that everybody lives somewhere, and if I know where they live, I can run into them.   

Simple.   

I did my homework before setting out and after a fairly short Googling session I already had a hypothesis where I may find the man. We don’t live in the same state. We are separated by 27 hours drive time.   

That’s nothing compared to the thought that I might be able to meet Tony. As luck would have it, I was flown into his state for work. Yet I still had to go the extra distance.  I rented a car and set out on a journey of El Dorado: I either find gold or I make a fool out of myself. Stakes were in place as I had told people in my support group that I’m going on such a mission.   

After 2.5 hours of driving I arrived at a place that may or may not have been Tony’s. I got out of the car and with my heart pumping strong, I gently pressed the buzzer outside his gate, in fear that a prolonged buzz might affect the outcome.   

After what seemed like 5 minutes, but was only maybe 15 seconds, the gates in front of me started opening. Two thoughts ran through my mind then: I either found the house of a drug lord that doesn’t want to be bothered, or I may have actually found Tony.   

Either way I knew I had to go in, I couldn’t back out now.   

As I drove slowly up the driveway, the house appeared in view, and standing barefoot at the front door: Tony.   

A jolt of adrenaline rushed through me. This could have been someone else’s house, I could have been met by security, I could have missed him while he is traveling the world helping a president or athlete deal with a problem that only he can resolve.   

None of those prior fears were true, only the slight hope that I may get to meet Mr. Tony Robbins. He was shocked as much as I was from our encounter.    

As I parked the car and got out of the car, I took his book “Money: Master the Game” and proceeded towards him. I wasn’t there to solely get his autograph but I couldn’t meet him empty handed.   

I went there with the hope that I’ll get to talk to him about how to Unleash The Power Within Me. He was surprised to see an admirer come all the way to his house.   

He said he thought I was a delivery guy. I told him I am delivering greatness: his book and the manifestation of a process of making goals a reality. I caught Tony talking on the phone about what was probably a very important conversation (Tony doesn’t do unimportant), so I knew I couldn’t bother him with a conversation.   

He was still very gracious towards me and put his call on hold to sign my book, one that is changing my family’s and my financial world. The best moment came when he put his hand on my shoulder and stood by my side for a picture that is priceless.

This was the culmination of a dream that turned into a goal that turned into a reality. It didn’t have to be at one of his events standing from miles away. It didn’t have to be decades from now.   

They say it’s never too late for anything, but I say it’s never too early either.    

I hope my story inspires you, and if at least one person achieves their dream thought to be impossible, I will have completed my mission.    

Thank you