Peak state

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October 3, 2006

I’m back from my Tony Robbins ~~course~~, ~~seminar~~, ~~training~~, event in London this weekend and it was quite an experience.

I had some preconceived ideas about what it would be like. It would be highly american. People yelling and jumping for no reason. Rock concert atmosphere. Tony Robbins jumping wildly on stage.

It was all true.

Multiplied by 10.

And it totally, absolutely, convincingly and magnificently rocked. I can highly recommend this experience to anyone who wants to learn something about themself and get the energy and some tools to do something about it.

The thing is, I can’t tell you much about what actually happens, because if you’re not there, actively participating it just sounds really, really weird. When you’re there, doing it, pushing yourself to do it to the max, it works. And it makes total, perfect sense that it would.

I will tell you my main lessons from the event:

Personal change starts most effectively from the body. Want to put your mind in a specific mental state? Put your body in the state associated with that mental state -the mind then follows. This is based on NLP.
A physical and mental peak state can be created in seconds.
I have been getting too comfortable. I’be been forgetting, that I actually like taking risks and being in situations that I don’t know the outcome of. I want more of that and less comfort and certainty.

Tony Robbins himself is a great, great speaker. I agree with 90-95% of what he says, but I agree 110% with how he says it. He’s at turns funny, gentle, philosophical, technical and then funny again. He’s also on stage for hours on end with total presence and energy. He speaks to and activates all the senses and of course the body. It’s never boring and always surprising.

This experience has completely changed my perception of what is possible in a workshop/training/course format. I totally loved being there, and I will sorely miss the feeling of going totally wild along with such a great crowd. Because being among 10.000 people who are totally fired up, happy, energetic and who are constantly high-fiving, encouraging and hugging each other feels really, really good :o)

Comments

8 responses to “Peak state”

October 3, 2006

Alex Farran

> Because being among 10.000 people who are totally fired up, happy, energetic
> and who are constantly high-fiving, encouraging and hugging each other feels
> really, really good :o)

Sounds like a cult indoctrination. I’m really really sceptical of TR. There’s no doubt he’s an effective speaker, but he pushes any old pseuodoscience (and that includes NLP) at his seminars. Look up LGAT (Large Group Awareness Training) for an overview of this kind of ‘motivational’ technique.
October 3, 2006

Frank Schophuizen

NLP is a technique to “fool” your mind and body by deliberately bringing yourself in a mental state. Music at the malls lures people into a mental state to buy things. Brain washing works. Mass hysteria works. Sects do it. Political campaigns do it. Advertisements work this way (if they work). The lotery does. Fobia are mental states that fool our good judgements. Entertainment helps us relax and feel good.

What TR does is an extreme form of entertainment, playing with people and people’s minds. If it helps it’s OK; if it is entertaining it’s OK. But exactly the same manipulative techniques do drive fanatism and terrorism, they make people torture others, and has brought us many black events in history.

Let’s be happy because we are happy, not because someone twisted our minds into happiness.
October 5, 2006

Alexander

Alex: Thanks for the tip – I found a great link on LGAT at http://skepdic.com/lgsap.html. You’re exactly right, some of the same methods are used in cults to indoctrinate people. It’s not the tools that matter though, it’s the intention. If TR used the tools to make me a christian or a scientologist or a moonie that would be bad.

Frank: I agree, a TR seminar is an extreme form of entertainment – and it is HIGHLY entertaining. But I disagree with your point that we shouldn’t “trick” ourselves into being happy.

I believe that there is no fundamental difference between false and real happiness. That in many ways, the happiness I feel is more a result of what is inside my mind than of external events.

So if I (or TR) can fool me into feeling happy, energetic and confident, that’s real. Or real enough to work.

As your rightly say, If it helps it’s OK, and it has certainly worked on me :o)
December 25, 2006

Andrew Ferrier’s Blog » Blog Archive » Virtual Conferences and Video Content

[…] However, not everything it’s used for involves cats falling off trees as per You’ve Been Framed, or actors fooling people. One of the best uses has been the huge amount of compelling video that’s been released free from conferences this year. I’ve absorbed tens of hours of it this year, on subjects as diverse as life coaching from legend Tony Robbins (Alexander Kjerulf has been to one of his seminars, and I want to go too), the marketing of spaghetti sauce, and curing aging. ‘Catch-all’ conferences such as Gel, TED, and LIFT have all got in on the act. This, of course, is an alternative to physically travelling, and will surely produce more super-star conferences that attract bigger names, bigger audiences, and grow in stature. […]
July 6, 2007

setor

I WOULD LOVE TO READ YOUR BOOK BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS NOT FOR TOSE OF US WHO DO NOT HAVE CREDIT CARDS TO BUY IT…..WELL IT IS A GOOD BOOK AND CONGRATS FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT
March 26, 2009

John Leav

Those paranoid of cults have their own personal problems to work out. The naysayers are so insecure that they fear leaving their apartments lest someone on the street persuade them to commit mass suicide. This fear or insecurity is the limiting factor for many and Tony Robbins does nothing more than provide a forum to break through a few personal boundaries and try some different stuff. He is a little wacky on god and I don’t quite get the fascination with a made up spaceman but the guy will have you jumping to your feet and thinking big positive thoughts. The high lasts about month and more power to him for the show he puts on. It’s a good one but you have to leave your own hang ups at the door if you want to cop the buzz.
To be worried about indoctrination is ridiculous. Especially when these comments come from people who know nothing about the subject except what they read on some lame post.

Go– most love it.
December 1, 2010

Nick

These techniques are used in every imaginable scenario you could think of in life. Why not use them to direct yourself instead of being unaware of them and have others’ use of these tools direct you.

People always talk cult when they are afraid or don’t understand something. It keeps them from having to face their own fear of doing something different. But here is the point … judge it by a cult or not by what is suggested for you to do, not the technique.

If you go somewhere and they are using conditioning, human needs psychology, and NLP to get you to do something fantastic or terror related, torture other people, hurt others in any way (physically or psychologically) then by all means … call it a cult.

If however, they use conditioning, human needs psychology, and NLP to get you to learn how to “get yourself” to grow, expand, be more compassionate, build communications skills, make more money, take your relationship to the next level, be a better parent – all things you presumably want anyway – then how is that a cult?

How is it bad?

For the life of me i can’t figure it out!
March 10, 2011

T Roberts

I just recently attended a Tony Robbins event in Australia and I have to say…. it has already changed my life – in so many ways. The only thing Tony wants you to believe in and “brainwashes” you to believe in… is yourself. We all have the power and the energy in this life to do whatever we want, however the cynical, tall poppy world we live in constantly tries to put us back in our box….I have gone from having $30000 in debt, to being debt free in 8 weeks, I have used techniques learnt from TR to inspire my son to go from being bottom of his class to getting top marks and LOVING school and the learning process, my husband is pitching a hundred million dollar proposal to increase his salary/net worth etc by 10 fold… we no longer live each day desperate for the weekend to come so we can get enjoyment from alcohol, overeating… we get enjoyment everyday from being ALIVE!
If you’ve ever wondered or doubted, face your fear and go to one of his seminars…thats if you’re not too scared you’ll come out and actually have nothing to whinge about!
:)