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'''Anthony Robbins''' (born February 29, 1960) is an American [[self-help]] writer and professional [[Orator|speaker]] who has been active for over 30 years. He became well known through his infomercials and bestselling self-help books, ''Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal Achievement'' and ''Awaken The Giant Within''. The first edition of Unlimited Power was published by Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) in 1987.<ref>Robbins, A (1987) 'Unlimited Power' Publisher: Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) ISBN 0-449-90280-3</ref> Robbins writes about subjects such as health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships. He also became well known in America and internationally through [[infomercial]]s promoting personal development audio programs and motivational seminars. His audio programs, seminars and self-help products featured [[Neuro-linguistic programming]] and [[Ericksonian hypnosis]] which he studied at the start of his career.<ref>''"I'm picking up new skills and new technologies from a variety of sciences. I continue to use many of the NLP and Ericksonian techniques that I began my career with; some of them are the finest available."'' (Robbins 1992, p. 108)</ref><ref name="Robbins 1992">Robbins, A., 1992 'Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny'; ISBN 0671791540</ref> Robbins seminars also used [[firewalking]] as a metaphor for overcoming fears and limiting beliefs. Later, Robbins combined his skills and techniques with other methods claimed to effect personal change.{{fact}}
'''Anthony Robbins''' (born February 29, 1960) is an American [[self-help]] writer and professional [[Orator|speaker]] who has been active for over 30 years. He became well known through his infomercials and bestselling self-help books, ''Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement'' and ''Awaken The Giant Within''. The first edition of Unlimited Power was published by Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) in 1987.<ref>Robbins, A (1987) 'Unlimited Power' Publisher: Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) ISBN 0-449-90280-3</ref> Robbins writes about subjects such as health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships. He also became well known in America and internationally through [[infomercial]]s promoting personal development audio programs and motivational seminars. His audio programs, seminars and self-help products featured [[Neuro-linguistic programming]] and [[Ericksonian hypnosis]] which he studied at the start of his career.<ref>''"I'm picking up new skills and new technologies from a variety of sciences. I continue to use many of the NLP and Ericksonian techniques that I began my career with; some of them are the finest available."'' (Robbins 1992, p. 108)</ref><ref name="Robbins 1992">Robbins, A., 1992 'Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny'; ISBN 0671791540</ref> Robbins seminars also used [[firewalking]] as a metaphor for overcoming fears and limiting beliefs. Later, Robbins combined his skills and techniques with other methods claimed to effect personal change.{{fact}}


==Biography==
==Biography==

Revision as of 04:51, 31 December 2009

This article is about the self-help writer and professional speaker. For the sculptor, see Tony Robbin.
Tony Robbins
Born (1960-02-29) 29 February 1960 (age 64)
North Hollywood, California
United States, North America
Occupation(s)author, professional speaker
Spouse(s)
Becky Robbins
​
(m. 1986⁠–⁠2001)​

Sage Robbins
​
(m. 2001)​

Anthony Robbins (born February 29, 1960) is an American self-help writer and professional speaker who has been active for over 30 years. He became well known through his infomercials and bestselling self-help books, Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement and Awaken The Giant Within. The first edition of Unlimited Power was published by Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) in 1987.[2] Robbins writes about subjects such as health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships. He also became well known in America and internationally through infomercials promoting personal development audio programs and motivational seminars. His audio programs, seminars and self-help products featured Neuro-linguistic programming and Ericksonian hypnosis which he studied at the start of his career.[3][4] Robbins seminars also used firewalking as a metaphor for overcoming fears and limiting beliefs. Later, Robbins combined his skills and techniques with other methods claimed to effect personal change.[citation needed]

Biography

Personal life

Robbins born in North Hollywood, California, United States, North America. He was raised in Azusa and attended Glendora High School.[citation needed] His parents divorced when he was seven years old, and his mother later remarried twice and was quoted as saying:

"Tony could never shut up even as a child...[H]e drove my husbands away with his big mouth."[citation needed]

He adopted the surname of Jim Robbins, his first stepfather.[citation needed]

In 1994, a routine medical check revealed a tumor in Robbins' pituitary gland. Robbins explains in Personal Power that the tumor was actually an adenoma that had infarcted several years earlier. Due to the pressure of the adenoma on his pituitary gland, he had circulating levels of growth hormone several times higher than what would be normal for an adult his age. This had resulted in a subclinical manifestation of the disease known as acromegaly, which doctors told Robbins was responsible for his remarkable growth spurts as a teenager, as well as his large hands and feet (he is 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) tall). After consulting with multiple physicians, Robbins decided not to have the adenoma removed, as it was not causing any clinical manifestations.

Robbins was married to his first wife, Becky, for 15 years. The marriage ended in divorce in 2001. In a 2001 CNN interview, Robbins said it was difficult to end his marriage to Becky Robbins, saying it was the toughest decision of his life. He said that he also knew if he stayed with her, he'd be ruining her life and his, but mostly hers.[5] Robbins makes similar comments about his first marriage in his recent Ultimate Relationship Program. In June 2001, Robbins married Bonnie Humphrey (now known as Sage Robbins).[6]

Career and ideas

Neuro-linguistic
programming
Topics
Developers
Practitioners
Organisations

Robbins started his career promoting seminars for Jim Rohn, and then started teaching neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) after learning it from NLP co-founder John Grinder.

Grinder encouraged Robbins to look into the firewalking experience. In 1983, Robbins located Tolly Burkan and learned how to firewalk from him.[7] Robbins added firewalking to his seminars, which enabled him to gain media coverage and launch his celebrity status. Robbins later began to teach Neuro-Associative Conditioning (NAC) and "Human exploitation Psychology".

In his Awaken the Giant Within book, Robbins says that the difference between NAC and NLP lies in the use of the word 'conditioning' instead of the word 'programming'.[8] The word 'conditioning' implies that the subject has greater responsibility for his or her own change, as opposed to being programmed by someone else.

At the start of his success, Robbins lived paycheck to paycheck in the self development business and struggled to pay his $15,000 a month mortgage on his castle home (mentioned in Unleash the Power Within). Robbins calls himself a peak performance coach rather than a motivational speaker. He tries to find out what people do when they are at their peak and then help them access that peak state whenever necessary. He believes what he does is more effective than providing temporary motivation.[9]

Seminars

Robbins also conducts seminars, including his four-day Unleash the Power Within (UPW) seminar (This is a four day seminar starting on Thursday and ending on Sunday. Of the four days, Tony is live and in person on three of the days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Saturday is partially video based.), and his Mastery University, which includes Life Mastery (which is now also a video based presentation with a Robbins Facilitator, although Robbins still conducts this program live as well), Date With Destiny, and Wealth Mastery.

The UPW is also known as his firewalk seminar, during which the participants walk barefoot over hot coals at the end of the first evening. The aim of the seminar, demonstrated in the firewalk, is to illustrate that the main quality shared by those who achieve greatness is the ability to take action ('Personal Power').

Mastery University is promoted at the UPW seminar. Life Mastery, espouses Robbins' ideas about what makes for a healthy lifestyle, and has in the past featured guest lecturers including Deepak Chopra and John Gray. Date With Destiny, the only Mastery event at which Robbins is present for the entire event, is said to be designed to help participants align their values so that they are not in conflict, but rather are aligned with the participant's individual goals.

In 1997, Robbins initiated his Leadership Academy seminar, in which he invites participants to learn the skills he uses, with the stated goal of the program to enable the participant to "[c]reate an identity for yourself as someone who can help 'anyone', no matter what his/her challenge may be"[10]

Beginning in 2006, Robbins has appeared at several The Learning Annex Real Estate Wealth Expos as a headline speaker. He also appeared as a featured speaker at the 2007 Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference. His talk is among the TOP TEN TED TALKS.[11]

Robbins promotes a mainly vegetarian and vegan lifestyle and endorses the views of Robert Young and Natural Hygiene practices regarding the need for an alkaline diet, in which proteins and carbohydrates are consumed separately. In recent events, he has included fish into his diet plan, citing the need for omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids in a complete diet. He has also praised John Robbins' book, Diet for a New America.

Lawsuits

In May 1995, Robbins and his company, RRI (Robbins Research International), agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they misrepresented the potential earnings of franchises for his motivational seminars, agreeing to refund $221,260 (USD) in redress.[12]

Financial seminar guru Wade Cook also sued Robbins for copyright infringement, claiming that Robbins lifted concepts and terms from his seminars and his book, Wall Street Money Machine, during the creation of a competing financial course. In 1998, a Tacoma, Washington jury ordered Robbins to pay Cook over $650,000 in damages.

Celebrity meetings and endorsements

In his book, Awaken the Giant Within, Robbins recounts meetings with public figures such as Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, François Mitterrand, and Princess Diana.[13]

In his Personal Power and Get the Edge infomercials, designed to sell audio programs through 30 minute television advertisements, celebrities who are reported to have appeared without compensation to endorse his work have included Fran Tarkenton, Pamela Anderson, Quincy Jones, Erin Brockovich and Anthony Hopkins.[14]

It was reported in the New York Times that in December 1994 President Bill Clinton invited Robbins, along with Marianne Williamson and Dr. Steven R. Covey, to Camp David, although "[A]ll refuse to divulge the substance of their meeting with the Clintons. Covey said only that it was 'marvelous'".[15] Sports figures and teams that Robbins has mentally coached to improve their performance include Greg Norman,[16] Andre Agassi,[17] the Los Angeles Kings hockey team,[18] and Mike Tyson.[19]

Robbins works with Dr. Oz as a member of the Advisory Board of HealthCorps.

Robbins has also helped MMA fighters Chuck Liddell and Diego Sanchez with mental preparation.

Acting and TV

In Shallow Hal Robbins appears in a scene with Jack Black's character in an elevator where Robbins hypnotizes Black's character in order to change Black's mental state. Black's character can now see people's outward appearance based on their inner personality. The scene is pivotal to the plot. In this scene, Black's character riffs on Robbins's large hands calling them "banana hands". His wife Sage appears in a cameo shot as Hal and Tony are walking out of the building.

Although he does not appear in person in Men in Black (1997), an image of Robbins can be seen in the background. During a tour of the control room, which is used to track aliens who are living on earth, a Robbins' Personal Power infomercial is playing on one of the monitors. He also appears in The Sopranos on the TV.

Robbins also appears in the upcoming movie The Singularity Is Near: A True Story About The Future, which is based on the book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (2005) by Ray Kurzweil. In the movie, an AI hires Robbins to help her become more human. The movie is scheduled for 2009 release.[20]

Robbins also appears in a commercial which plays in the background during a scene of the The Cable Guy

In the movie, The Girl Next Door, Tony Robbins can be heard on the stereo of the truancy officer, as all the seniors are ditching school together and go driving past the officer.

In an episode of Family Guy titled When You Wish Upon A Weinstein Peter goes to get a book signed by Tony Robins at which point Tony Robins; having an extremely large jaw, grabs Peter with his mouth and swallows him whole.

In early February 2009, it was announced that NBC picked up eight episodes of a new reality series called "Breakthrough with Tony Robbins" that will star Tony Robbins. The show will follow Robbins as he takes participants and helps them face personal challenges.[21]

The Transformers character of Shattered Glass Ratbat is a motivational speaker who writes self-help books. The author of the stories claims the character is based on Tony Robbins.

Anthony Robbins Foundation

Robbins is the founder of the Anthony Robbins Foundation, which proclaims its mission is to empower students, help prisoners to improve their lives, organize food drives, and fund Robbins' "Discovery Camp".[22] According to the website, it has "products and programs in more than 2,000 schools, 700 prisons, and 100,000 health and human service organizations. The Foundation is committed to make a difference in the quality of life for children, the homeless, the prison population, and the elderly through its various programs". Charity Navigator gives the foundation an overall rating of three out of four stars.[23] The foundation has subsequently led to the forming of "Basket Brigades" across the world that occur each Thanksgiving. Individuals and groups have joined together to assemble and deliver dinner baskets to more than two million needy people.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Anthony Robbins". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  2. ^ Robbins, A (1987) 'Unlimited Power' Publisher: Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) ISBN 0-449-90280-3
  3. ^ "I'm picking up new skills and new technologies from a variety of sciences. I continue to use many of the NLP and Ericksonian techniques that I began my career with; some of them are the finest available." (Robbins 1992, p. 108)
  4. ^ Robbins, A., 1992 'Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny'; ISBN 0671791540
  5. ^ Beverly Schuch, Interviewer (2001). "Transcript: Tony Robbins: Practicing What He Preaches". CNN News. Retrieved 2007-09-20. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Stockwatch (2005). "CanWest's Sun opponent Robbins thanks supporters". Stockwatch. Retrieved 2007-09-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Sternfield, Jonathan (1992). Firewalk. Stockbridge: Berkshire House. ISBN 9780936399041.
  8. ^ "After all, I had been teaching something called Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Think about the word "programming". It suggests that you could come to me, I would program you, and then everything would be fine. You wouldn't have to do anything!" (Robbins 1992, p. 111)
  9. ^ "You Tube video".
  10. ^ Robbins, Tony (2005). Leadership Academy Manual. San Diego, California: Robbins Research International, Inc. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |unused_data= (help); Text "p. 3" ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Announcing the Top 10 TEDTalks". TED Conferences, LLC. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  12. ^ Federal Trade Commission (1995). "Anthony Robbins Agrees to Pay More than $220,000 in Consumer Redress to Settle Alleged Franchise Rule Violations". Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved September 20, 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Robbins, Anthony (1992). Awaken the Giant Within. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780671791544.
  14. ^ Personal Power (1989) (1992, 1995) and Get the Edge (1997) (2000)
  15. ^ Dewitt, Karen (1995-02-05). "Dial 1-800-MY-GURU" (w). New York Times.
  16. ^ "Greg Norman and Tony Robbins".
  17. ^ "Andre Agassi and Tony Robbins (video 03:04-03:36)".
  18. ^ "Los Angeles Kings and Tony Robbins (video 02:10-02:16)".
  19. ^ "Mike Tyson and Tony Robbins (video 09:46-10:42)".
  20. ^ "Coming Soon to a Theater Near You:The Singularity"
  21. ^ Variety: "NBC Picks Up Breakthrough with Tony Robbins"
  22. ^ Anthony Robbins Foundation (2006). "Anthony Robbins Foundation Programs". Anthony Robbins Foundation. Retrieved September 20, 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  23. ^ Charity Navigator (2006). "Anthony Robbins Foundation". Charity Navigator Ratings. Retrieved September 20, 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)

Publications

Books

  • Robbins, Anthony (1986). Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 448 pages. ISBN 0-684-84577-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (1992). Awaken the Giant Within. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 544 pages. ISBN 0-671-79154-0. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (1994). Giant Steps. New York: Fireside. pp. 416 pages. ISBN 0671891049. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (1995). Notes from a Friend: A Quick and Simple Guide to Taking Control of Your Life. New York: Fireside. pp. 112 pages. ISBN 068480056X. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (2010). Inner Strength: Harnessing the Power of Your Six Primal Needs. New York: Free Press. pp. 480 pages. ISBN 0-684-80903-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

CD/DVDs

  • Robbins, Anthony (2006). The Edge: The Power to Change Your Life Now. Megaforce / Nightingale-Con. pp. DVD. ASIN B000I5XD1K. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (2002). Live with Passion!: Stategies for Creating a Compelling Future. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7435-2521-3. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (2001). Get The Edge (incl. Personal Power Classic Edition). Guthy-Renker. ASIN B000207IT4. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (2000). Get The Edge. Guthy-Renker. ASIN B000BMASVS. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (1998). Lessons in Mastery. Simon & Schuster Audio/Nightingale-Con. ISBN 0-7435-2515-9. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Robbins, Anthony (1996). Personal Power Classic Edition. Guthy-Renker. ASIN B000NE70MY. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)


  • Living Health
  • The Time of Your Life
  • Mastering Influence
  • The Ultimate Relationship Program (Robbins-Madanes)
  • Leadership In Times of Crisis (Robbins-Madanes)
  • Reclaiming Your True Identity (Robbins-Madanes)
  • Conquering Overwhelming Loss (Robbins-Madanes)
  • Personal Training System
  • Unleash The Power Within
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