Awaken the Giant Within

Rating:
Summary: This tape will wake you up for any day!
Review: I bought this tape to listen to in my car. It is great. It lets me have Robbins ride around with me in South Florida on the streets and highways.. He really, in his superb reading of his book, opens your mind for success. The interchapter quotes are really thought provoking, as well.

Rating:
Summary: INSPIRATIONAL, BUT LACKING SUBSTANCE
Review: I have a library of 300-400 cassettes and at least as many books, most dealing with motivation and personal development and nobody speaks with the power of ROBBINS. I bought UNLIMITED POWER, AWAKEN THE GIANT and his PERSONAL POWER audio program. I read the books, listened to the tapes, did all of the exercises but nothing really dramatic happened. It was just like other books and tapes that get you all reved up and then you say "wow, what was that all about" and your back where you started from. I got mre benefit from NLP-The New Science of Achievement by NLP Comphrehensive than from all of ROBBINS material. I also strogly recommend the old but timeless classc "Think & Grow Rich" by Naploean Hill and "Business Buy the Bible" by WADE COOK.

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Summary: The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions....
Review: I was hooked on Anthony Robbins for years. I knew this book and "Unlimited Power" inside out. I fire-walked at the landmark "Unleash The Power Within" weekends and booked others into it. I followed all the skills, psychology and techniques daily in my Executive business life in the Information Technology industry. And I was indeed getting everything I wanted!! So what is wrong with that?

Speaking for myself, what I ultimately discovered was that the whole philosophical and spiritual premise of the 'Human Potential movement', of which Anthony Robbins is perhaps todays leading exponent, is a fallacy. Indeed, that fallacy is oldest naive deception from one of the oldest books.

The foundless premise is that knowledge and skill is all that it takes to gain mastery of your life. With Anthony Robbins as one of my leading "self-improvement" Pied Piper's, I had made science and psychology necessary to achieving my ends. As Robbins puts it so well (p107) "the more I learned, the more addicted I became to learning even more. Understanding how to influence human emotion and behaviour became an obsession for me."

The implication is that the world is divided into the skilled haves and have nots. Those without such skills and knowledge are underprivileged. But if only you will let Tony show you how, you too can be one of the beautiful people "obsessed" and "addicted" to the path of knowledge. The premise that knowledge and skill is all it takes was of course first encountered in the Garden of Eden. Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil instead of the Tree of Life (Genesis 2:17, 3:1-13). The Tree of Knowledge included Good too.... Thats what still makes it look so attractive.

Choosing whether to live our life by the Tree of Knowledge (dependence upon man and science) or the Tree of Life (dependence upon God, where science is just a tool) is indeed a "moment of decision by which your eternal destiny will be shaped", to use Robbins credo.

Like Adam, you can decide whether to put your faith only in human knowledge. Or in the Creator of the universe. For the price of this book, you are taking the ultimate gamble. Is God's Word true "that you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17) if you only look to faith in yourself? Or is that just religious claptrap - as Lenin put it, " the opiate of the masses"? Your decision. Your ultimate and eternal "moment of destiny", in Robbins parlance.

Here is a just small sampling of the falsity of major Robbins themes from an unabashed Christian perspective.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

1: "Unleash YOUR Power" (Part 1)

False premise. Jesus Christ taught that the pursuit of human-based power is entirely ephemeral and egotistical - indeed evil. Christians believe the key issue is the source of righteous AUTHORITY. Indeed, the pursuit of personal "unlimited" power is the antithesis of Christ's message. Christ set the example by emptying himself of all human "power". But By becoming the servant of all and sacrificing himself in place of humanity for all time, Jesus Christ gained true authority. Christians believe that this godly authority is GIVEN to humans by Grace - not TAKEN or seized in the Robbins firewalking mould. And only by accepting who Jesus Christ really was and what he was on about. "** I ** am the way, the truth and the life, and no-one comes to the Father but by [belief in] me" (John 14:6)

2. Decisions: The Pathway To Power (Chapter 2)

Christians agree that decisions are indeed of crucial importance. However, what is important is not the decisions, but the benchmarks by which they are made. Does the history of humanity give you full confidence in your ability to make wise decisions?

By what benchmark do you know whether what you WANT is right or wrong? How the heck do you know that what you WANT is, in fact, what you as a unique individual really NEED?

Nothing in 'Awaken the Giant' addresses the fundamental question of the morality of right or wrong. Robbins sidesteps this with an amoral, humanist, existentialist approach of 'whatever works for you'.

Here and at Robbins seminars you find that the process of discovering what you think you need is by putting yourself into a peak state meditation where your "life goals" are drawn out from deep within - your own ego. This process also leave you wide open to occult influences. Christians believe that what humans really need is clearly outlined in the New Testament in particular. Prayer is the way we were designed to converse with God, not ourselves.

3. The Force That Shapes Your Life (Chapter 3)- "The single driving force behind all human behaviour is pain or pleasure."

But when Jesus Christ was asked to summarise the single driving force that shapes life, He did not say "seek pleasure and avoid pain" - the heart of Robbins entire thesis. What He did say was "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. And love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39).

Seldom has a more breathtaking presumption been taken in literature than Robbin's brazen assertion that "Donald Trump and Mother Theresa are driven by the exact same force."(p55) Robbins explains; "It is absolutely true that their values lie at opposite ends of the spectrum, but they're both driven by pain and pleasure."

Well, one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is this - that statement is a complete travesty. Every minute in Mother Theresa's life after conversion was sustained first and last solely by faith in Jesus Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit. Hypothesising that as a psychological reaction to pleasure and pain debases the entire Christian faith.

In summary, although there are many valuable and inspiring insights in this book, the old saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions applies. Caveat emptor.

Randall King [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and practical...
Review: Master motivator, Anthony Robbins brings back to life what lies dormant in most human beings -- the power of self. Not at all a "get rich quick" scheme, Robbin's work instructs the reader on how to effectively manipulate and utilize one's natural talents. By following the steps outlined by Robbins, the reader is empowered to increase the quality and enjoyment of his or her life. Tony Robbins most basic premise is, "In our moments of decision, we begin to shape our destiny." Simply, a person can change his or her life's course by making a decision and sticking to it. This process is easier said than done, but Robbins offers real-life solutions on how to accomplish the task. Stressing goal-setting, Robbins asserts that an individual will be able to maximimize his or her potential by making a decision, setting goals and then taking action. Most human beings have great goals in mind, but do not take the necessary steps to achieving these goals. Without taking the proper course of action, one never realizes one's goals. Simply wishing for the fulfillment of goals without action, according to Robbins, is simply "A weak prayer." He writes,"True decisions are the catalyst for turning our dreams into reality...(One must)proclaim, This is who I am. This is what my life is about. And this is what I'm going to do. Nothing will stop me from achieving my destiny, I will not denied!" Once an individual makes a decision, he or she has created a belief. Robbins states that "Behind all successful people lies a specific set of empowering beliefs." The next step is putting the beliefs into action. By doing so, writes Robbins, "(One must) rehearse (the beliefs and methods of attaining the goal) again and again until a neurological way is created...Your brain will begin to associate this as a new way of producing this result on a consistent basis." Robbins insists that if people envision acheiving their goals, they will go into a state where they feel like they could make it happen. By positive projection, one can easily reach his or her goals which he or she had before felt was unattainable. What give Robbins' assertions credibility is that he insists individuals must set realistic goals. He does not assert that everything is possible; he insists instead that most things are possible. Tony Robbins simply teaches the reader how to overcome negative "road blocks" that prevents one from acheiving what one most desires -- whether it is seeking a better career, publishing a book, or becoming a kinder, less stressful person. *Awaken the Giant Within* is a useful resource for those who feel that they have not attained what they are capable of attaining, as well as for those who have been successful, but wish to reach greater success. Robbins is a master motivator who has the gift of stimulating and improving the quality of life for all individuals. Unlike some other "motivators", Robbins does not assert the rediculous, nor does he offer the impossible. He simply strives for bringing out the best in each individual who wishes to do so.

Rating:
Summary: Tony is very motivating & inspiring.
Review: My intro to Tony Robbins was through his first book, "Unlimited Power" and the audio tape of the same title. At the time I was like a miniture version of Tony, newly divorced, broke and alone. Unlimited Power got me started and gave incredible results in a short time. Since then I have been a avid Tony Robbins student and also subscribe to the popular "PowerTalk" series. My financial life was also a disaster and through one of Tony's "Powertalk" tapes, I was introduced to Charles Givens. As per Tony's advice on the tape I went out and bought Givens book WEALTHWITHOUT RISK (Now More Wealth Without Risk) Givens book did as much for my financial life as Tony's book's and tapes have done for me on a personal development level. Thank you Tony for some great material and truly incredible results.

Rating:
Summary: Tony is very motivating & inspiring.
Review: My intro to Tony Robbins was through his first book, "Unlimited Power" and the audio tape of the same title. At the time I was like a miniture version of Tony, newly divorced, broke and alone. Unlimited Power got me started and gave incredible results in a short time. Since then I have been a avid Tony Robbins student and also subscribe to the popular "PowerTalk" series. My financial life was also a disaster and through one of Tony's "Powertalk" tapes, I was introduced to Charles Givens. As per Tony's advice on the tape I went out and bought Givens book WEALTHWITHOUT RISK (Now More Wealth Without Risk) Givens book did as much for my financial life as Tony's book's and tapes have done for me on a personal development level. Thank you Tony for some great material and truly incredible results.

Rating:
Summary: VERY MOTIVATIONAL
Review: Robbins is a powerful and dynamic speaker! His rags-riches story is inspiring and somewhat of a indicat- ion of his methods. However, Tony makes it sound like anybody can do what he did and this is very misleading--ROBBINS had the qualities and was a very successful businessman before he began hawking NAC (actually NLP) you can't just "anhor", "swish" or "scramble" or use just NAC/NLP Techniques, they are a start only, not a end in and of themselves. I have found a far more powerful form of programming called alpha programming which I use in combination with NAC/NLP --- the results are quicker and lasting!!!! For more information check out JOSE SILVA's book "THE SILVA METHOD" or BRIAN TRACY'S "MAXIMUM ACHIEVEMENT" Also, "SUPERSELF" by Charles Givens is a "must read" for anyone looking to achieve maximum effectiveness and is probably the most under rated self help book out there.

Rating:
Summary: If you've never seen Robbins speak, this book is a must read
Review: Robbins writes exactly as he speaks, powerful and dynamic. The ideas he presents in this book are not all that unique, however the power at which he states them and the idea of associating pain to negative habits, inspires you to succeed. Robbins is inspiring, powerful, and literate.

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Summary: This is the BEST! Keep it in your car.
Review: The audio tape of Awaken the Giant Within should be with you whenever you drive. Plug it in a listen and follow Tony's instructions. He will teach you how you can step out of your comfort zone by using pain and pleasure. The key he tells us is we must associate more pleasure to the act then pain. It is a matter of reprogramming ourselfs. This is the best money you can spend! He has helped to make a change in my life. Let him help you

Rating:
Summary: Tony is very motivating & inspiring.
Review: This audio cassette was a very energizing one. I was amazed there was only one but seemed concentrated. It is an aerobics of the soul. It was good. I wonder how come I didn't give this 5 stars but I reserve those to very great works. This came close though.