“Who would have guessed that this decision would bring me to such an incredible moment?” Robbins. Never give up.

By Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye.

“We all have dreams… We all want to believe deep down in our souls that we have a special gift, that we can make a difference, that we can touch others in a special way, and that we can make the world a better place. At one time in our lives, we all had a vision for the quality of life that we desire and deserve. Yet, for many of us, those dreams have become so shrouded in the frustrations and routines of daily life that we no longer even make an effort to accomplish them.

For far too many, the dream has dissipated—and with it, so has the will to shape our destinies. Many have lost that sense of certainty that creates the winner’s edge. My life’s quest has been to restore the dream and to make it real, to get each of us to remember and use the unlimited power that lies sleeping within us all,” Tony Robbins says in his book “Awaken the Giant Within.”

More about Robbins, and a secret learned by successful people

Tony Robbins, byname of Anthony Robbins-original name Anthony J. Mahavorick, arrived on the Earth on February 29, 1960 in the USA.  He figures among the world’s most popular and well-known public speakers. He remains a highly successful author, business strategist, and philanthropist. He is known for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books including the books “Unlimited Power” and “Awaken the Giant Within”.

This life coach widely known for his work in the personal development and self-help industry has assisted more than 50 million people in 100 countries to register astounding success. “All successful people learn that success is buried on the other side of frustration. Unfortunately, some people don’t get to the other side… They allow frustration to keep them from taking the necessary actions that would support them in achieving their desire. You get through this roadblock by plowing through frustration, taking each setback as feedback you can learn from, and pushing ahead.”

“I’ve come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy. The past does not equal the future. Anyone who has ever achieved something worthwhile has had challenges and setbacks – because anything that is worth doing is going to be difficult. Overcoming adversity is a necessary step on the road to greatness” says this amazing man owning an estimated net worth of $600 millionin 2024, according to Yahoo.

This staggering wealth has been generated by only $35. Entrepreneur says that by the time Robbins was aged 17, he dropped out of high school, living on his own, his dreams of a degree in sports journalism were shattered. “He had to survive on a janitor’s salary of $40 per week. But Robbins wasn’t demoralized. He saved up $35 to attend one [of] Jim Rohn’s motivational seminars, and then asked him for a job. Rohn saw the promise in Robbins and gave him a chance.

With Rohn as a mentor, Robbins worked 12-14 hours per day, but kept running into a wall. He wasn’t seeing results, and he wasn’t sure how to move forward. Rohn gave him some of the best advice he’s ever gotten — he needed to build a skill set. Only then would he be able to offer more value than anyone else and really show off his gifts. That advice seriously paid off. By 2007, Robbins had gone from making $40 per week to $30 million per year.”

Special day for Robbins

A janitor is a person responsible for cleaning and taking care of a large building, like a school, a hospital and organizations’ offices. One special day for Robbins is the day on which he remembered this position of janitor while he was piloting his private jet. “I´ll never forget the day it really hit me that I was truly living my dream. I was flying my jet helicopter from a business meeting in Los Angeles, traveling to Orange County on the way to one of my seminars. As I flew over the city of Glendale, I suddenly recognized a large building, and I stopped the helicopter and hovered above it. As I looked down, I realized this was the building that I’d worked in as a janitor a mere twelve years ago!”

“In those days, I had been concerned whether my 1960 Volkswagen would hang together for the 30-minute trip to work, my life had been focused on how I was going to survive; I had felt fearful and alone. But that day, as I hovered there in the sky, I thought, ‘What a difference a decade can make!’ I did have dreams back then, but at the time, it seemed they’d never be realized. Today, though, I’ve come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.”

Robbins contends that he was maximally stunned by incredible success stories that he was told by people, whom he’d assisted, in the mentioned seminar in which he initially anticipated nearly 2000 participants.  But he got 7000 ones in a place usually designed to accommodate 5000 people. “A couple in their mid-fifties shared with me that, after fifteen years of marriage, they had been on the brink of divorce until they learned about personal rules.

A salesman told me how his monthly income had jumped from $2,000 to over $12,000 in a mere six months, and an entrepreneur related that he had increased corporate revenues by over $3 million in eighteen months by applying the principles of quality questions and emotional management. A lovely young woman showed me a picture of her former self, having lost fifty-two pounds by applying the principles of leverage that are detailed in this book.”

Robbins says that he experienced such profound emotions and amazement that he felt overwhelmed with the situation. “I was touched so deeply by the emotions in that room that I got choked up, and at first I couldn’t speak. As I looked out on my audience and saw 5,000 smiling, cheering, loving faces, in that moment I realized that I am living my dream! What a feeling to know that beyond a shadow of a doubt I had the information, strategies, philosophies, and skills that could assist any one of these people in empowering themselves to make the changes they desired most!

I remembered feeling like my life didn’t matter, as if the events of the world were controlling me. I also remember the moment my life changed, the moment I finally said ‘I’ve had it! I know I’m much more than I’m demonstrating mentally, emotionally, and physically in my life.’ I made a decision in that moment which was to alter my life forever. I decided to change virtually every aspect of my life. I decided I would never again settle for less than I could be. Who would have guessed that this decision would bring me to such an incredible moment?”

He adds that he performed every endeavor for his then seminar to become the most possible success and that he was awed with the behavior of the participants at the closing. “I gave my all at the seminar that night, and when I left the auditorium, crowds of people followed me to the helicopter to see me off.

A tear slid down my cheek as I thanked my Creator for these wonderful gifts. Could this be real? Am I the same guy who eight years ago was struggling, frustrated, feeling alone and incapable of making my life work? Fat, broke, and wondering if I could even survive? How could a young kid like me, with nothing but a high school education, have created such dramatic changes?”

Concentration of power, Robbins’ instrument

Robbins points out that concentration of power constitutes a principle that has furnished response to those above questions which he asked himself. “My answer is simple: I learned to harness the principle I now call concentration of power. Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives. Controlled focus is like a laser beam that can cut through anything that seems to be stopping you.

When we focus consistently on improvement in any area, we develop unique distinctions on how to make that area better. One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. In fact, I believe most people fail in life simply because they major in minor things. I believe that one of life’s major lessons is learning to understand what makes us do what we do. What shapes human behavior? The answers to this question provide critical keys to shaping your own destiny.”

According to investigation that Life In Humanity has conducted, the quote was first pronounced by Jim Rohn, Robbins’ mentor who has transformed his life beyond imagination. For example, a person identifying themselves as Pyronaught in the comments section of a certain article on 12 June 2015 wrote “This quote is actually from Jim Rhon, Tony Robins just borrowed it.”

Robyn Chuter, on Empower Total Health’s website, wrote “Majoring in minor things. I first heard this phrase uttered by Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker beloved of one of my early mentors. Simply put, majoring in minors means putting undue attention on small things that don’t make a real difference, while neglecting to pay attention to the larger actions that make a huge difference.”

Majoring in minor things, you are investing most of our time, resources, focus and energy on tasks and activities which provide very little or no contribution to the accomplishment of our goals. “Successful people are those who have learned to major in the major things,” says the Project Manager, Jose Colon-CMRP&PMP in his May 19^th 2022 LinkedIn article, before adding “They [successful figures] spend most of their time, focus and energy on those tasks and activities that take them closer to their goals and dreams. Success leaves clues, and we need to identify and follow these clues if we want to achieve success in life.”

For example, if you prioritize arriving on time everywhere while leaving important tasks unfinished, you’re already majoring in minor things. Suppose you have a project to complete, but you decide to accept an invitation to a hotel instead. If you rush through the project and botch it as a result, you are majoring in minor things.

Robbins says that his entire life has been constantly driven by this singular and compelling focus: What makes the difference in the quality of people’s lives? How is it that so often people from such humble beginnings and devastating backgrounds manage in spite of it all to create lives that inspire us?

Conversely, why do many of those born into privileged environments, with every resource for success at their fingertips, end up fat, frustrated, and often chemically addicted? What makes some people’s lives an example and others’ a warning? What is the secret that creates passionate, happy, and grateful lives in many, while for others the refrain might be, “Is that all there is?

He affirms that his own magnificent obsession began with some simple questions: How can I take immediate control of my life? What can I do today that can make a difference—that could help me and others to shape our destinies? How can I expand, learn, grow, and share that knowledge with others in a meaningful and enjoyable way?

He underlines that at a very early age, he developed a belief that “We’re all here to contribute something unique, that deep within each of us lies a special gift. You see, I truly believe we all have a sleeping giant within us. Each of us has a talent, a gift, our own bit of genius just waiting to be tapped. It might be a talent for art or music. It might be a special way of relating to the ones you love. It might be a genius for selling or innovating or reaching out in your business or your career.

 I choose to believe that our Creator doesn’t play favorites, that we’ve all been created unique, but with equal opportunities for experiencing life to the fullest. I decided many years ago that the most important way I could spend my life would be to invest it in something that would outlast it. I decided that somehow I must contribute in some way that would live on long after I was gone. Today, I have the incredible privilege of sharing my ideas and feelings with literally millions of people through my books, tapes, and television shows.”

Robbins has interacted with individuals from diverse backgrounds and talents; which has transformed him into a repository of inspirational approaches and skills. “I’ve assisted members of Congress, CEOs, presidents of companies and countries, managers and mothers, salespeople, accountants, lawyers, doctors, psychiatrists, counselors, and professional athletes. I’ve worked with phobics, the clinically depressed, people with multiple personalities, and those who thought they had no personality. Now I have the unique good fortune of sharing the best of what I’ve learned with you, and for that opportunity I am truly grateful and excited.

Through it all, I’ve continued to recognize the power individuals have to change virtually anything and everything in their lives in an instant. I’ve learned that the resources we need to turn our dreams into reality are within us, merely waiting for the day when we decide to wake up and claim our birthright. I wrote this book [Awaken the Giant Within] for one reason: to be a wake-up call that will challenge those who are committed to living and being more to tap their God-given power. There are ideas and strategies in this book to help you produce specific, measurable, long-lasting changes in yourself and others.”

He urges people to read documents fully, albeit indirectly. “Statistics show that less than 10 percent of people who buy a book read past the first chapter. What an unbelievable waste! This is a giant book that you can use to produce giant results in your life.

Clearly, you’re the kind of person who won’t cheat yourself by dabbling. By consistently taking advantage of each of the chapters in this book, you’ll ensure your ability to maximize your potential. I challenge you not only to do whatever it takes to read this book in its entirety (unlike the masses who quit) but also to use what you learn in simple ways each day. This is the all-important step that’s necessary for you to produce the results you’re committed to.” 

You have no reason to be disheartened and then give up

Life In Humanity seizes this occasion, to comfort you who are being pounded by seemingly unsurmountable hardships. Like Robbins, Life In Humanity instead calls upon you to take action, since how small it were, it will carry you into unimaginable success. Remember that Robbins’s success has only been spurred by $35.

Robbins exhorts you to accomplish massive action while Life In Humanity argues that even small action will certainly generate you unbelievable success. Life In Humanity doesn’t however contradict Robbins. It instead supports him without any reservation, as you are going to notice it.

You can take action which stands both massive and small, depending on the position from which the action is viewed. When Robbins managed to save $35, this success was both massive and small.

Robbins’ ability to save $35 while earning only $40 per week indeed constitutes an example of massive action and financial discipline. It reflects his commitment to his goals and a strong capability to effectively manage resources  which are crucial elements of success.

$35 seem like an insignificant amount in absolute terms. Nonetheless, this act of saving, no matter how small, represents a crucial turning point in Robbins’ life. It shows that the transformation in his life didn’t come from a sudden windfall or a large sum of money but from consistent, disciplined actions and mindset shifts. The story underscores the idea that the amount isn’t as vital as the habit and mindset of saving and investing in oneself, which can lead to profound life changes over time.

In essence, it’s not the amount saved that transformed Robbins’ life, but the principle and practice of disciplined savings and financial responsibility that did. This forms a powerful lesson in how small, consistent actions can accumulate and result in significant long-term success.

This type of discipline is often emphasized in Robbins’ teachings as a demonstration of how taking control of your finances, even in challenging circumstances, can generate long-term success.

His story serves as an inspiration to countless people including you. The story demonstrates that even with limited resources, you possess the potential to attain financial stability and ultimately grow wealth by making smart and intentional decisions.

As already indicated in his own words, it happened that Robbins regarded his adversities as impossible to overcome, yet he eventually defeated them. You can also crush your hardships that can be financial difficulties, health challenges, emotional and psychological problems, relationship issues, social and environmental hurdles, career and educational difficulties, personal and existential issues. Robbins has faced most of these hardships, if not all of them. You can rarely find a successful person, including these extraordinarily successful people like Elon Musk and Jack Ma, who has not gone through hardships. One of next articles in this category of Hardships will detail Robbins’s adversities.