Tony Robbins says fulfillment isn't about winning. He points to Robin Williams as proof: you can have fame and money and still be miserable. The fix is a choice to live in a beautiful state, grateful and generous, rather than stuck in your own head about what went wrong.
Chapters
Fulfillment is an art. What's going to fulfill you is different than the other person next to you. You're not going to learn that from anybody else. And you got to find it. Because success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. And I get those phone calls all the time for the multi billionaire entrepreneur or politician or business person or the person just won their Academy Award and they're depressed and they can't tell anybody because they got all their goals, but they're not fulfilled because they really don't have that sense of meaning in their life. They went for something and they got it. They achieved. And if you doubt this, what I'm saying is relevant to you or us or anyone, just think about a year, what, a month ago, we lost what I consider to be a national treasure, Robin Williams. How many of you loved Robin Williams? Look around the room. Keep your hands up. Look. And most of you didn't know him. Almost every. And then where you go in the world, people love Robin Williams. By the way, was he great at achievement? Oh, my God, that guy. He said he wanted to become a great comedian. He did that. I want to make the world laugh. He did it. I want to make my own TV show. He did it. I want to have the number one TV show. He did it. I want to make movies. He did it. I won an Academy Award for not being funny. Not his skill set, drama. And he did it. I want a beautiful family. And he did it. And then he hung himself. Make everybody happy but yourself. Not a good plan. So if I had a gift to give you, it would be maybe make a different decision. And the decision is that no matter what happens in your life, you're going to live in a beautiful state. A beautiful state. And that could be happy, that could be grateful, that could be being generous. Those are all beautiful states, aren't they? It could be curious, it could be fun, it could be playful. You're not limited to one state, but it's different than suffering. And most people suffering and all suffering I've ever seen. I traveled 100 countries. I've dealt with presidents of countries and, you know, presidents of businesses, CEOs. I've dealt with people in prison. I've dealt with, you name it, average people. Suffering always comes because you're obsessed about something related to you. You can only be depressed. If you're focusing on yourself, you say, no, I'm depressed because it's my kids and they're not doing well. No, you're depressed because you feel you failed your kids. It's about You. It's about. About how you think what you should have done or shouldn't have done or what someone did to you or didn't do to you in the past or the future, which don't even exist. So I have a simple goal. My goal is help people make a decision that says, I don't know what's gonna happen. You might get a divorce even though you don't think so. You might find a family of your family with cancer. You might have your house get burned down or have a tornado go by. And if you live in the same place, it happens every two years and you move back, we should talk. But some people seem to do that for some reason. You can't control those things. I can't control those things. I don't want those to happen to you or anybody I love or anybody who's even a stranger to me. But they're going to happen. True, not positive things, just the truth. So if that's gonna happen, I say make a decision now that says I'm gonna live in a beautiful state and I'm gonna find beauty in whatever life brings me, because life is too short not to. We only suffer when we think about what's being done to us or what people are gonna think or what they should have done or hadn't done. And you can't control that stuff anyway. I mean, why be pissed when people are going to do? Are people going to be mean? Yes or no. Are people going to be unfair and unjust? Yes or no. Are people going to be beautiful and generous? Yes or no. You just never know when that's going to happen, so might as well enjoy yourself along the way. And I suggest today, if you want, if there's any gift I came by to give you, it's to tell you what you know already, but get you to make a decision about it, to actually decide. I'm going to live in a beautiful state. That doesn't mean I don't get angry or tired or, you know, suffering arises and you end it the moment you go, I'm thinking about me. If I do this, I'll always be suffering. The human mind is always looking for what's wrong. The human brain is not designed to make you happy. It's designed to make you survive. Happiness. That's your job. And you only get it if you draw a line in the sand. That's how it's going to be. And I can tell you the few people that do it. I know a few people that have done it. They have magnificent lives.
