“Tony Robbins: I am Not Your Guru” Documentary is a tear jerker. I’m not going to lie, I shed tears multiple times watching this documentary. As far as Tony Robbins goes, I think there are believers, non-believers, and those who need to learn more. This post is not for the non-believers. Neither is the documentary.

Documentarian Joe Berlinger, who attended a Robbins’ event himself, does his best to document the magic of this event, but does so through the lens of one converted. Since I have been changed by some of Tony’s methods from his audio programs, I love the documentary’s approach. I found it an emotionally gratifying ride, while other online reviews have deemed it a glossy infomercial.

This doc goes behind the scenes Tony Robbins’ signature event, “Date with Destiny.” Within the first three minutes, I was shedding tears. The doc opens up on one of many of Tony’s interventions. He singles out audience members, sizes them up, and hears them out. He then amazingly shifts their perspective, body language and belief systems in moments. Tony Robbins knows exactly what makes people tick. He can insightfully understand what went wrong when someone was growing up, and summon exactly what they need in the moment. Whether it’s a compassionate hug, tough love, or even getting a man to own his lion’s roar and strength, Tony has the experience and tools to create meaningful, lasting change.

A few years back, when I started life coaching as a client and was working on improving my mindset from a dark time, I listened to the Hour of Power (link below). Every morning for a few months, I would listen and run while focusing on my breathing, gratitude, and goals. I have funny memories of jogging along the East River in NYC, chanting incantations, which are emotionally charged affirmations, out loud. This is the last part of the Hour of Power. People must have thought I was a weirdo, but it did get me fired up.  I often used these incantations during my long marathon training runs to get me fired up.

The lessons I gleaned from this documentary and listening to some of his work in the past that are important are:

1. Change Your State

   • If you can control your breathing and physiology, then you can change your state.

   • Change your state, and you can be aligned with your mission.

   • Here is an introduction from his hour of power audio for his daily breathing and gratitude exercise (starts at 1:10). Thanks to Tim Ferris for posting this audio in his show notes from his interview with Tony Robbins.

2. Write Your Mission Down

   • Understand that you design your life. It’s fear of failure and fear of not being loved that hold us back

   • Distill who you want to be and experience into a sentence. That is your mission

   • Then write down your goals in the next year, including relationship ones that align with this mission.

3. Ask the Right Questions

   • Create a question that will help you reflect on your mission.

   • You often ask yourself questions in your head, which is what you end up focusing on. Choose the right questions, and then you’ll have the right focus.

   • What are the questions you ask yourself? Do they serve you or sabotage you?

   • He provides examples of a romantic relationship. You can ask yourself the question, “How long will this last?” Your mind will look to solve that problem. But your mind will provide a finite answer, which does not serve the relationship. But if you re-frame the question, “How lucky am I to have this person?” Then you’ll focus on answering a better question that will serve you.

I encourage readers to dig more into the content this man creates, including this documentary, as there is a lot of value to be gained.