Rating: 
Summary: This book is B.S.
Review: No, I'm not talking about "Belief Systems." Of course I could use "Transformational Vocabulary" and call this book "a little aromatic."
The tone of this book contains a lot of energy and inspiration but the content is another story. It sensationalizes and dramatizes many issues (just count how many exclamation points appear and how many times the word "power" comes up). Do we really have to become "Giants" to be happy?
This book alleges to teach you "How to take immediate control of your mental, emotional, physical, and financial destiny!" I found it disturbing that he includes "fianancial" as a fifth dimension of man. Dr. Stephen Covey, in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", more expertly describes man's quality of life depending upon the first four. He instructs us that each dimension "interdependently" affects the other and the key to improving one is to improve the others. For example, exercising (physical) can give us more energy to read(mental). This book explains neither connection nor natural sequence between each of the human dimensions. The 7 Habits depicts them in order: physical, mental, social (or emotional), and spiritual, telling us that each one contains and depends upon the others before it. This book totally neglects the spiritual dimension and seems to have replaced it with this "financial" dimension. While Covey includes "financial" into the "physical" section, Robbins makes it into a fifth dimension, over-emphasizing the importance of money.
While Robbins includes a brief section on analyzing our time spent into "important" and "urgent" categories telling us to spend time on the important, Covey again is more intricate and accurate. He uses a time quadrant, including urgent but not important , urgent and important , neither important nor urgent, and important but not urgent (the most desirable quad to spend time in.)
A section of Robbins' book carries the title, "The Ultimate Challenge: What One Person Can Do." But Covey teaches us that we can achieve far more together than each of us could independently. This he calls "interdependence," something Robbins neglects in this book. While Robbins' based his book upon techniques that may or may not work depending upon the situation, Covey based his book on principles that never change. Awaken the Giant teaches us outside-in strategies like "Transformational Vocabulary" to change our attitude or behavior. The 7 Habits teaches us inside-out strategies like changing our marriage by first changing ourselves or changing our behaviors by first changing what our behaviors flow from- our perceptions. Robbins based his book on the assumption that you already know what you want (money, sex, power, more money, good looks) Covey bases his book on the idea that we can only be effective climbing the ladder of success if it is leaned against the right wall. While Robbins' book shows us how to use our moods to achieve, Covey's teaches us Proactivity: using the space between stimulus and response to act based upon values, not moods.
Covey wrote another book just on the success stories of the 7 Habits along with further instruction: "Living the Seven Habits". To date, Robbins has published no "Living Awaken the Giant Within" and no wonder.
You may even want to bypass the self-help books altogether and take another route: If you want to make more money, read a Financial Strategy book. If you want to get into better shape, read a Fitness book. If you want to pursue the "Ultimate Solution" to homelessness, the prison system, or gang violence, read a Sociology book. This book displays no expertise on any of these subjects, although it professes to.
Rating: 
Summary: Gems amongst the ...
Review: While a lot of Robbins' philosophy is very outdated and plain wrong (especially his behaviourist idea that all human behaviour is motivated by pleasure/pain), there are techniques in here which definitely bring results when carried out. I have found it more helpful than I expected - not because there was necessarily much new, but because I surprisingly responded to the energetic presentation, hammy as it is. If you are prepared to sift through a lot of ..., you may find one or two tools which can hugely change your life and get you out of your set, limiting ways of thinking and acting. This has been my experience. I found the goal setting material got me off my ... and into action, and things have never been the same. Use this as one tool amongst many to get firing on all cylinders and realise your potential.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome Advice--But You Need To Act On It
Review: This book has some great ideas and advice on how to improve your life and always be in control of your state of mind, decisions and actions. It is simple to read and understand. The key to this book and anything in life is to act on it. If you don't, this book won't do anything for you.
Rating:
Summary: Don't read this book unless you're willing to take action!
Review: This book is a mammoth task to get through and comprehend. If you're not prepared to put everything into action consistently you'll be disappointed. You'll get all excited because it is charsimatic and if you don't actually apply what you read you'll become disillusioned when your life hasn't changed. As for the losers saying he stole all this stuff from a whole bunch of others, get over it. The best thing about this book is that it means you don't have to read the seven hundred books this guy did to get to the heart of what all these mind guys said over the last 100 years. This is the only book I've read in this area so I can't really compare it to any other book but I have applied what he said and it has made a massive difference in my life. Personally I have no real desire to go to Mr Robbins seminars because I doubt there is much else to learn. I've checked out some of his other stuff at the bookstore and it seems to be a rehash of this. If you're wondering why he hasn't come out with anymore major works it's probably because he pulled out all the stops in this book. As far as his marriage break up goes, by the way he described some aspects of his relationship I was surprised it lasted that long. This is not a bible but it does have some fantastic ideas that if you put into action will bring changes to your life. Take what is useful to you, discard what is not, add it to everything else you have learned, then apply it to your life, persist in this way, and you will be ultimately successful.
Rating:
Summary: Good Sales Pitch
Review: Tony Robbins is a gifted salesman. He has boundless energy, optimism, and knows how to set goals. If his books and tapes were as effective as his sales prowess, we would all have been immensly successful and deliriously happy long ago. Robbins pivots his approach around Thorndyke's Law of Effect that, briefly, states that behavior that gives rise to a pleasurable state of affairs tends to be repeated, and behavior that gives rise to a painful state tends not to be repeated. Then Robbins shifts into Watson's and Skinner's behavioralism and pushes operant conditioning, saying that every problem is a behavioral problem. He then shifts gears once again and talks about the "power of focus," which is his spin of Gestalt psychology. When this brew is delivered optimistically, it has some effect, especially if you listen to Robbins on tape. There are some more serious issues. For example, I believe that his nutritional advice is harmful to all but those with a very unusual metabolism. His motivational material can also build up unrealistic expectations and set you up for frustration when you don't even come close to meeting them. So much in life does not depend on you and me, so much is other people's doing and blind fate, so many insights and ideas come to us to late. This book has insights, but it is not great.
Rating:
Summary: from one who's been there...
Review: i've never bought any of tony's books, nor have i paid for attendance at any of his events although i've been to "date with destiny" and "unleash the power within"... i used to be involved with someone who was a huge devotee of mr. robbins and some of the advantages of that relationship accrued to me. this person was incredibly successful and happy and she attributed it to tony robbins. i was as big a skeptic of "feel-good" and other "self-help" gurus as anyone. cynicism was my favorite sport. having said that i can say with all honesty that tony robbins changed my life. i used to throw temper tantrums, scream at other drivers in traffic... you name it. if it was childish and self-centered, i did it. i no longer act that way and i like the person i am so much better now. it has drawn people to me that i would never have met before. yes, tony has his problems, his divorce, his trophy girlfriend, etc. but he also has an incredible gift for teaching techniques that can and do change people's lives. at an average robbins "live" event, anywhere from 35 to 100 volunteers perform everything from security to cooking in the kitchen. you would be surprised at the number of millionaires who come to these events to work for FREE because of the power of tony's message and to help others "get" the message that they got. one of the messages that i "got" was that contribution and service is where it's at for me. not contribution and service to tony but to many other things i merely paid lip service to over the years; the humane society, adult literacy, etc. those who have posted here who feel they were "taken" by mr. robbins just never got the message. YOU have to want it. tony can only take you part of the way, he can open the door but YOU have to walk through it and use the techniques every day. the power of tony's message is not diminished by his personal problems. there is no such thing as a leader without flaws. the proof is in the "pudding"; thousands of people who lead happier and more successful lives because of tony.
Rating:
Summary: Self-improvement of ASTOUNDING quality and quantity
Review: An absolutely incredible quantity and quality of self-improvement strategies are packed into this inspirational book! Robbins' intensity and commitment almost physically jump out at the reader, urging you to wake up, take control and massively improve the quality of your life and those around you. I bought this 5 or 6 years ago and continue to dip into it every so often to shake myself up a bit. Just about every page contains an immediately applicable suggestion or strategy for changing your life for the better. Is it all as straightforward as he describes? My view would be yes... and no! Sometimes no amount of focusing and mind control can change some of our deep-rooted patterns? But this book is still brilliant. Many of the ideas here have improved my life. Some of the ideas and techniques are very simple, some far more complicated. The concentrated power of the writing is sustained throughout as Robbins continuously emphasizes the need to commit to lasting change. Early on he suggests the importance of decisions - your decisions about what to focus on, your decisions about what things mean to you, and your decisions about what to do to create the results you desire. He distinguishes between being those who are interested in personal change and those who actually commit to making things happen. Raise your standards, change your limiting beliefs, change your strategy. Ask yourself empowering questions such as "what is great about this problem?" or "what am I excited about in my life right now?". There is a brilliant chapter on "transformational vocabulary" in which the author suggests that merely by changing the words we regularly use we can profoundly change our reality. As with many of the suggestions in this book, I have tried this and it works, especially if you keep working at it.
Rating:
Summary: Don't expect magic, it still takes work.
Review: Anthony's information will give you simple, easy to understand tools and skills to succeed in your goals. However, keep in mind that 10% of any task is learning, the other 90% is having the dedication and persistance to follow through on it. In other words don't expect magic, Anthony will give you a good boost but as the weeks go by it will be your own burning desire that will keep you going until the finish line. Like him or not, divorced or not, Anthony has achieved a level of success that 99.5% of the population will never see and unless you are in the .5%, don't think you have nothing to learn from him.
Rating:
Summary: The Guy Is A Genius
Review: I have been using Tony's tapes and books for years now. His techniques do work only if you knew your specific outcomes. The amount of information he pours on can easily overwhelm you if you do not WRITE DOWN YOUR SPECIFIC OUTCOMES. His techniques, strategies and information can dramatically change your life, as it is changing my life, only if you meticulously follow through. It is not easy, but it is fun. Wish you luck!
Rating: 
Summary: Tony's "seminar trap"
Review: This book clearly lacks content and it's sole purpose is to make more people want to go to Tony's seminars and to buy more books and tapes.
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