Tony Robbins
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Anthony “Tony” Robbins

Tony Robbins in 2009
Born     February 29, 1960 (age 52)
North Hollywood, California,
United States
Occupation     Author
Actor
Professional speaker
Peak Performance Coach
Years active     ۱۹۷۸–present
Height     ۶ ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1][2]
Spouse(s)     

Becky Robbins (m. 1982–۲۰۰۱)
Sage Robbins (m. 2001)

Anthony “Tony” Robbins (born February 29, 1960) is an American self-help author and motivational speaker. He became well known through his infomercials and self-help books, Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal Achievement and Awaken The Giant Within. Robbins writes about subjects such as health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships. Robbins began his career learning from many different motivational speakers, and promoted seminars for his personal mentor, Jim Rohn. He is deeply influenced by neuro-linguistic programming technique and a variety of philosophies.

Robbins’ work has been featured in major media including Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, Life, GQ, Vanity Fair, Businessweek, Tycoon, and SUCCESS magazines, the CBS Evening News, NBC News, ABC’s Prime Time Live, Fox News, CNN and A&E as well as newspapers, radio programs, and Internet media worldwide.[3][4] Robbins has been mentioned or featured in 15 major motion pictures. In 2007, he was named to Forbes magazine’s “Celebrity 100” list.[5]

Robbins’ programs have reached over 4 million people from 100 countries around the world.[6][7]

Robbins was ranked among the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World” by Accenture’s Institute for Strategic Change.[8] Robbins has spoken at Harvard Business School[9] and was ranked by the school among the “Top 200 Business Gurus” (Harvard Business School Press, 2003).[10][11][12] It was estimated by Forbes Magazine that Robbins earned approximately USD$30 million from his various business activities in 2007.[13]
Contents

    ۱ Early life
    ۲ Career
    ۳ Seminars
    ۴ Books
    ۵ Movie appearances and TV show
    ۶ Anthony Robbins Foundation
    ۷ Lawsuits
    ۸ ۲۰۱۲ Firewalking Event News
    ۹ Celebrity status
    ۱۰ Personal life
    ۱۱ See also
    ۱۲ References
    ۱۳ Publications
        ۱۳٫۱ Books
        ۱۳٫۲ CD/DVDs
        ۱۳٫۳ Other
    ۱۴ External links

Early life

Robbins was born Anthony J. Mahavorick in North Hollywood, California, on February 29, 1960. He later moved to Azusa, California, and attended Glendora High School. Robbins says that he lived in a small low-rent apartment in the Los Angeles area during his early twenties and had dreamed of living in a mansion for years. In 1984, as his career began to take off, he bought the Del Mar Castle, designed by Richard Requa, for $1.7M. He sold the property in 1988 for $3.25M.[14]
Career

Robbins began his career promoting seminars for Jim Rohn. According to Robbins, Rohn taught him that “happiness and success in life are not the result of what we have, but rather of how we live. What we do with the things we have makes the biggest difference in the quality of life.”[15]

Later Robbins began his own work as a self-help coach. He taught neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and Ericksonian Hypnosis after training with NLP co-founder John Grinder. In 1983, Robbins learned to firewalk from Tolly Burkan[16] and began to incorporate it into his seminars.[17][18]

Robbins promoted his services as a “peak performance coach” through his books and TV infomercials, gaining strong public recognition and lucrative sales. He conducts a large range of seminars and live events around the world dedicated to achieving greatness in his participants by unleashing their personal power and helping them align their values with their individual life goals.[19] In 1997, Robbins began the Leadership Academy seminar, in which participants learn to “[c]reate an identity for them self as someone who can help ‘anyone’, no matter what his/her challenge may be.”[20] Robbins is a featured speaker on the seminar circuit sponsored by Learning Annex. Robbins appeared as a featured speaker at the 2007 Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference. His talk is among the top ten TED talks viewed online.[21]

Robbins is involved with the Robbins-Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention, which focuses on personal, family and organizational psychology, and claims to help people “find breakthrough strategies and solutions for overcoming the problems that confront us all.”[22]
Seminars
Tony Robbins giving a talk at a Twitter conference in 2009

Robbins also conducts seminars, including his four-day Unleash the Power Within (UPW) seminar, Mastery University and Business Mastery.[23][24][25]

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”).[26]

Mastery University is promoted at the UPW seminar.[23][24] Mastery University is composed of three seminars:

    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.

    Wealth Mastery, espouses Robbins’ ideas about what makes for a wealthy lifestyle.

    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.[27]

In 1997, Robbins initiated his Leadership Academy seminar,[28] 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”.[20]

In 2009 Robbins created his Business Mastery program,[25] designed to provide business leaders with tools to manage and grow their businesses. The seminar is conducted live by Robbins and features entrepreneur guest speakers. Past speakers have included Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts,[29] Peter Guber (Chairman & CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group)[30] and Tony Hsieh (CEO and Founder of Zappos.com).[31][32]
Books

Robbins has published two best-selling books, Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within.

Unlimited Power, published in 1987, discusses the topics of health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships.[33] One reviewer called the book “uplifting and idealistic” and referenced the “dynamic enthusiasm” of the book;”[34] and another describes Robbins as “a persuasive communicator who spends more linage on step-by-step details of his recommendations than in self-boosterism.”[35] while another reviewer said it’s “too wordy” and “reads like a transcript of a series of talks.”[36] Other reviewers dispute the book’s originality, pointing to ideological similarities with Maxwell Maltz, Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill, and Dale Carnegie, all of whom Robbins acknowledges in his book.[37] Some have criticized the chapter called “Energy: The Fuel of Excellence” which includes information on food combining, lymphology, and deep breathing to promote health. Robbins makes reference to the book Fit for Life and its authors, Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, whom he refers to as his “former partners”.[38] The National Council for Reliable Health Information wrote a critical review of the chapter and called his sources unreliable.[39][40]

Awaken the Giant Within, published in 1992, was an expansion of his personal development techniques and strategies taught through a motivational self-help type approach. Robbins made the distinction between his techniques, coined as Neuro-Associative Conditioning as distinct from Neuro-Linguistic Programming because the trademarked difference is defined by the application of “conditioning” to a newly learned personal development technique and/or skill or strategy rather than “being programmed” and suggest-ably fixed once and for all by someone else who had more power than the individual to make a change.[41]
Movie appearances and TV show

Robbins has cameo roles in the 2001 movie Shallow Hal, the 1994 movie Reality Bites, three episodes of The Roseanne Show and an episode of The Sopranos.[42] In July 2010, NBC debuted Breakthrough with Tony Robbins, a reality show that followed Robbins as he helped the show’s participants face their personal challenges.[43][44] NBC canceled the show, after airing two of the planned six episodes, due to low viewership of 2.8 million.[45] In March 2012 the OWN Network picked the show up for another season beginning with the original first season set to re-run and thereafter leading directly into the new 2012 season.[46]

In April 2012, Robbins began co-hosting “Oprah’s Lifeclass” on the OWN Network[47]
Anthony Robbins Foundation

In 1991, Robbins launched a charity, the Anthony Robbins Foundation.[48] It is dedicated to empowering students and prisoners through food drives and learning programs based on his teachings.[49] According to the official website, the foundation has “products and programs in more than 2,000 schools, 700 prisons, and 100,000 health and human service organizations.”[50] These programs have been written about and featured in many dozens of articles, appearing on various websites, like Cherish Our Children International[51] and Harmony With No Limits.[52] The independent charity watchdog, Charity Navigator, gives the foundation a rating of two out of four stars.[53] The official website states that “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”. 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 needy families.[48]
Lawsuits

Federal Trade Commission: In May 1995, Robbins Research International (RRI) responded to Federal Trade Commission charges of misrepresentation of potential earnings to franchise investors. RRI and the FTC entered into a stipulated settlement agreement, in which RRI agreed to pay $221,260 (USD) in consumer redress. RRI did not admit guilt under the settlement.[54]

Wade Cook: Financial seminar guru Wade Cook also sued Robbins for copyright infringement and plagiarism, alleging that Robbins used proprietary terms in his seminars and in his book Wall Street Money Machine. In 1998, a Tacoma, Washington, jury ordered Robbins to pay Cook US$650,900 in damages. The order to pay damages was temporarily withdrawn[55] until 2000, when the 9th Circuit Court ruled that the trial judge had misinterpreted the statutes.

The verdict and damages were reinstated with a statement that “The Court found that U.S. District Court Judge, Jack Tanner, erred in “finding a conclusion contrary to the jury award” and sent instructions to reinstate the award. “This is a landmark decision by the 9th Circuit Court because of the high profile players and issues at stake” said lead attorney and Wade Cook General Counsel, Troy Romero. “The Court is telling individuals that, no matter who you are, the protection of copyrightable material will be preserved.” Robbins was forced to pay the entire amount.[56]

In 2001, Robbins filed a lawsuit against the Vancouver Sun newspaper, alleging defamation and libel. The judge determined the Vancouver Sun defamed Robbins when it called him a hypocrite. Awarding Robbins $20,000 in damages, the judge wrote “While damages are presumed, the plaintiff’s failure to take the witness stand and to testify about his feelings and the impact of the defamation upon his reputation leaves the court somewhat in the dark about these matters”. The court awarded Robbins his attorneys’ fees and costs in addition to damages.[57][58]
۲۰۱۲ Firewalking Event News

In July 2012, a media outlet disseminated a disputed and ultimately retracted report (picked up and re-published by a wide number of media outlets) about a Tony Robbins’ Firewalk Event conducted in San Jose, California, on July 19, 2012. On August 8, 2012, Fox News’ program “Fox and Friends” issued an on-air retraction and correction to the inaccurate report, with regards to the Tony Robbins’ Firewalk Event conducted in San Jose, California, on July 19, 2012. On Fox and Friends, 8/08/12 at 7:52:45 am ET, Steve Doocy stated:

“During a recent segment concerning a Tony Robbins’ Fire walk experience in San Jose, California, we reported more than two dozen participants were hospitalized with burns. While a few of the six-thousand received minor burns akin to a sunburn, they received on-site medical attention and continued to participate in the event. None were hospitalized and there were no reported third degree burns. … news reports to the contrary were inaccurate.” [59][60]

Fox News’ statement, and a similar corrective article published by Huffington Post, were in response to prior inaccurate statements and articles that medical services in San Jose had to treat a small number of people who suffered burns while firewalking at a Tony Robbins motivational event.[61][62] As reported by the Huffington Post, “the article in the San Jose Mercury News was taken at face value, and like a bad case of telephone gossip, repeated and embellished across various media outlets around the world … which then became quickly duplicated by others in the media.” The Huffington Post further corrected the prior reports (including the since retracted report from Fox News), stating “According to the medical professionals on site, while several participants received minor burns and blistering and received medical attention on site or afterward, these exaggerated reports apparently became the basis of a story then told around the world. Dr. Bart Rademaker, M.D., a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who was a member of the on site medical team, said he was incredulous about the misleading news coverage.”.[59][61]
Celebrity status

In his book Awaken the Giant Within, Robbins recalls meetings with various celebrities, saying he was a student of their success. People he mentioned were Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, François Mitterrand, and Princess Diana.[63] In Robbins’ infomercials, celebrity appearances were made by Fran Tarkenton, Pamela Anderson, Quincy Jones, Erin Brockovich and Anthony Hopkins. Robbins stated that they came without any compensation.[64]
Personal life

In 1984, Robbins and his ex-girlfriend, Liz Acosta, had a son, Jairek Robbins.[65]

In 1999, Robbins and his first wife Becky Robbins (née Jenkins) separated. Their divorce was finalized on June 21, 2001. Becky already had three children from two former marriages. Robbins considers them his own children.[65]

In June 2001, Robbins married Bonnie Humphrey (now known as Sage Robbins)[66]

Robbins alludes to his personal belief in a higher power in Unlimited Power, giving the grand complexity of life as evidence of an intelligent designer.[67]
See also
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    Self-help

References

    ^ “HotFlick Film & Actor Bio Page”. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
    ^ “CNN’s Larry King Live Interview”. CNN & Larry King. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
    ^ A&E Biography: Tony Robbins – The Secret of His Success (2000)(TV)
    ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730288/publicity
    ^ “Tony Robbins”. Womensconference.org. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^   Niurka. “Tony Robbins Unleashing the Power”. Success Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ “Tony Robbins’ Breakthrough TV Series”. Oprah.com. July 26, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ “Accenture top 50 business intellectuals – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”. En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ Tony Robbins Delivers Personal Power, The Harbus, March 2, 1998
    ^ Harvard Business School Press, 2003
    ^ Tony Robbins on Decisions and Destiny, The Harbus, April 17, 2007
    ^ Vongova, Brenda (April 17, 2007). “Anthony Robbins On Decisions and Destiny”. The Harbus. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ Robbin’s short biography on IMDB
    ^ San Diego Travel Tips (2009-10-24). “Tony Robbins Estate in Del Mar”. Sandiegotraveltips.com. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
    ^ “My first mentor was a man named Jim Rohn. He taught me that happiness and success in life are not the result of what we have, but rather of how we live. What we do with the things we have makes the biggest difference in the quality of life.” (Robbins 1987, p.409)Rolando Ponce de Leon. “Anthony Robbins: A true motivation life”. MotivationLife. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
    ^ Sternfield, Jonathan (1992). Firewalk. Stockbridge: Berkshire House. ISBN 978-0-936399-04-1.
    ^ “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)
    ^ Robbins, A., 1992 ‘Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny’; ISBN 0-671-79154-0
    ^ “Anthony Robbins Event | AnthonyRobbins.com”. Tonyrobbins.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ a b Robbins, Anthony (2005). Leadership Academy Manual. San Diego, California: Robbins Research International, Inc..
    ^ “Counting down the Top 10 TEDTalks”. TED Conferences, LLC. Retrieved Retrieved April 1, 2012.
    ^ “Robbins-Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention Products”. Robbins-Madanes Center. Retrieved Retrieved October 10, 2011.
    ^ a b “Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within Event Website”.
    ^ a b “Robbins’ Mastery University Event Website”.
    ^ a b “Robbins’ Business Mastery Event Website”.
    ^ “Success Guide Website – Testimonials list”.
    ^ “Robbins’ Date With Destiny Event Website”.
    ^ “Robbins’ Leadership Mastery Event Website”.
    ^ “Steve Wynn on Fixing The US Education System (as told to Michelle Obama) | Business and Finance”. Business.tonyrobbins.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ “What can Peter Guber and an office full of monkeys teach you about Business? | Business and Finance”. Business.tonyrobbins.com. March 15, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ Embed Video Subscribe to comments Post Comment. “Zappos – Tony Robbins – Business Mastery – 01-16-10”. Slideshare.net. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ “Tony Robbins Seminar Webpage listings”.
    ^ Robbins, A (1987) ‘Unlimited Power’ Publisher: Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) ISBN 0-449-90280-3
    ^ “He comes across as a dedicated, idealistic, and brilliant young man; it is impossible to read his book without absorbing some of his dynamic enthusiasm.”(Printed in Magill Book Reviews, Jan 1990) Salem Press. Pasadena, California.
    ^ “Unlimited power”. 1986. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
    ^ “…the text is too wordy–it reads like a transcript of a series of talks–and it also needs more structure and organization. Though it strives to be upbeat and encouraging, Unlimited Power leaves mixed feelings.” (Printed in Library Journal, Aug 1986) John Moryl. Yeshiva University Library. New York, New York.
    ^ “Reading UNLIMITED POWER, one keeps hearing echoes of such self-help classics as Dale Carnegie’s HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE, Norman Vincent Peale’s THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, Napoleon Hill’s THINK AND GROW RICH, and Maxwell Maltz’s PSYCHO-CYBERNETICS. Robbins freely acknowledges his indebtedness to these and others…” (Printed in Magill Book Reviews, Jan 1990) Salem Press. Pasadena, California.
    ^ “An excellent source for a thorough treatment of the subject of food combining is Herbert Shepherd’s Food Combining Made Easy. Also, my former partners, Harvey and Marilyn Diamond have written an excellent book called Fit for Life…” (Robbins, 1987. Unlimited Power. p. 177)
    ^ “Fit For Life: Some Notes on the Book and Its Roots”. Quackwatch. 1999. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
    ^ title= “A critique of Mr. Clinton’s self-help guru.” National Council for Reliable Health Information. (Printed Jan/Feb 1995 NCAHF Newsletter. Vol. 18 Issue 1, pgs 1,2.)
    ^ “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)
    ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730288/
    ^ Schneider, Michael (February 9, 2009). “”Variety”: “NBC Picks Up ”Breakthrough with Tony Robbins”””. Variety.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ “Breakthrough with Tony Robbins to Debut July 27”. TVGuide.com.
    ^ “Tony Robbins’ series pulled from NBC schedule”.
    ^ “Tony Robbins, Parts 1 and 2”. Oprah.com. 2012-02-19.
    ^ Gallo, Carmine (February 24, 2012). “How Tony Robbins Gets in Peak State for Presentations”. Forbes.com.
    ^ a b “Anthony Robbins Foundation Official Webpage”.
    ^ Anthony Robbins Foundation (2006). “Anthony Robbins Foundation Programs”. Anthony Robbins Foundation. Retrieved September 20, 2007.
    ^ “Anthony Robbins Foundation Programs”.
    ^ “Cherish Our Children International”. Cherishourchildren.org. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ “Our Supporters”. Harmony With No Limits. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ Charity Navigator (2006). “Anthony Robbins Foundation”. Charity Navigator Ratings. Retrieved September 20, 2007.
    ^ 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.
    ^ “All Business web site, October 6, 1998, Anthony Robbins Cos”. Allbusiness.com. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67157103.html
    ^ “> News > News Item”. Stockwatch. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ “۲۰۰۵ BCSC 1634 Robbins v. Pacific Newspaper Group Inc. et al”. Courts.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
    ^ a b Doocy, Steve (August 8, 2012). http://training.tonyrobbins.com/1986/fox-news-retracts-and-corrects-false-news-statements-regarding-firewalk.
    ^ Doocy, Steve (August 8, 2012). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qlu4ar9r1M&feature=youtu.be.
    ^ a b Schnall, Marianne (July 31, 2012). “Tony Robbins Sets the Record Straight About Fire Walk ‘Controversy'”. Huffington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
    ^ Kurhi, Eric; Gomez, Mark (July 21, 2012). San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_21125630/san-jose-21-people-treated-burns-after-firewalk. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
    ^ Robbins, Anthony (1992). Awaken the Giant Within. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-79154-4.
    ^ Personal Power (1989) (1992, 1995) and Get the Edge (1997) (2000)
    ^ a b “YouTube Jairek Robbins Interview”.
    ^ Stockwatch (2005). “CanWest’s Sun opponent Robbins thanks supporters”. Stockwatch. Retrieved September 20, 2007.
    ^ “…I believe all the world problems are factors, but I also believe in a source much larger than my present understanding. To say that there is no source of intelligence that we may call God is like saying Webster’s Dictionary is the result of an explosion in a print factory and everything came together perfectly and in balance.” (Robbins, Unlimited Power, 1987, p. 392)

Publications
Books

    Robins, Anthony (1986). Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 448 pages. ISBN 0-684-84577-6.
    Robbins, Anthony (1992). Awaken the Giant Within. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 544 pages. ISBN 0-671-79154-0.
    Robbins, Anthony (1994). Giant Steps. New York: Fireside. pp. 416 pages. ISBN 0-671-89104-9.
    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 0-684-80056-X.

CD/DVDs

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

Other

    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