How To ACTUALLY Start Manifesting MONEY & SUCCESS Into Your Life | Tony Robbins

Hunger is the ultimate driver, because if you're hungry, you can get the strategy, you can get the answer. If you can't model it, you can find it. So the greatest gift you could give yourself is, I believe, to make that decision and say, life is too short to suffer. I think when you achieve things, it comes from incredible obsessive focus, massive action, and figuring out how to execute and do things effectively. Two things are involved. Some form of growth within ourself and some form of.

When you were growing up, you were really poor, right?

Extremely.

Extremely poor.

We had no money for Thanksgiving, for food. It's part of why last year I fed. I started feeding when I was 17. I started feeding families because I was fed when I was 11, and I fed two families, literally. And it was so moving. I said, I'm gonna double it. I went to four, and then to eight, and then it was like a game to see could I reach more people. And then I started with some of my employees, and then eventually I got to million people a year, then 2 million. Then I started matching my foundation with 2 million. So for 12 years, I fed 4 million people a year. And then when I was writing this book I'm interviewing, if you can imagine, all these people started with nothing and are multi billionaires at the same time. Congress cut food stamps, called SNAP now, but it was food stamps originally by $8 billion. So it's equivalent to give you an idea of every family that's being supported giving up all their meals one week out of every month for 12 months. So I decided I wanted to do something about it. So I got a $5 million advance for the book. I gave all the money to Feeding America. And then I said, if I want to feed 100 million people, what I got to do is I wrote a much bigger check. And now I'm. So we did 102 million people last year, but now I'm going to do 100 million again this year. And I got a plan to feed a billion people over the next 10 years. So I'm. It's. It's so full circle from where I began. It's crazy. And it's. It's. It's an incredible privilege to be able to make a difference like that.

How is. Why is it important to be thinking of giving and contribution in order to generate wealth? When people say that, well, I don't have much to give, barely making enough to pay my rent, my food. How can I have the mindset of giving in order to build wealth?

What would you say it's the only. You never get beyond scarcity. You got to start beyond it. You got to plant your feet. And, you know, so many people say, well, when I'm rich, I'll give some money. If you won't give a dime out of a dollar, you're not. I can promise you, you're not going to give 10 million out of 100 million. Not a trillion years. So if you. But if you start. What I always believe is it. It transforms you when you. I had a group of kids that I went to, like, when I was 31 years old. I was invited to this grade school in Houston, Texas. And I each grade did a little mini assembly for me of what they. How they used my stuff, you know, at that year. And at the end, I was really emotional, and I was like, you guys asked me to come inspire you. You've inspired me. And so the sixth graders had only done it for one year. And I said, I'm going to sponsor your college education. I had no idea how I was going to do it. I didn't have the money to do it. But I said I was 31 years old, I was doing well, but not that well. And I said, I'm gonna pay for your college educations. I said, here are the rules of the game. I just made it up. Laws right there. I said, you got to keep it B average. I'll get you mentors. There's no excuse not to be above average. You got to not use drugs, you not get yourself in prison, and you got to give me 20 hours of community service a year. And the reason I did that, I don't have a college education. But I knew if I got these kids who thought they needed something to be the ones to go give something, it would change their identity, would change their life more than college. And ironically, I think we had 70 kids originally. I lost 95% of kids I was gonna lose. I lost the first year, like 30 kids. And the reason was their parents did not want them to have to do community service. They said they should be receiving, they shouldn't have to work. And it was just staggering to me. But the ones that did it, I mean, some have PhDs now went through that process. So I. I really believe that the secret to living is giving. As corny as it sounds, I had an experience where I was driving on the 57th freeway not far from here in San Gabriel Valley, and it was midnight. I was driving my 1968 Volkswagen Bug Baja Bug. And I was. Been in business for a year, year and A half. And I was working my guts out. And I was so frustrated because I always say that most people overestimate what they can do in a year and they underestimate what they can do in a decade or two or three, right? So I'd been working for this year and a half as hard as I could work. And nothing was working the level I wanted. And I was so frustrated. I was mad with myself, I was mad with the environment. I was feeling overwhelmed, stressed. It's midnight, I'm exhausted. And all of a sudden this thought hit me and I literally pulled over on the side of the road. And I've always kept physical journals. I still have the journal to this day. And I wrote on this one whole page, the secret the living is giving. And I sat there and I cried because I just realized my life for the last year had gotten focused on why isn't it working instead of how do I give more? And I made that shift. And it was one of the most important shifts of my entire life. And for probably a year, things started to get better. And then, you know, you're in business, you make mistakes, you know. You know, I was young, young kid, and I found myself all of a sudden in a 400 square foot bachelor apartment. I'd lost the progress that I'd made. And I was so broke that I wrote about this at the end of my book because I was trying to. How do I get this thought across to somebody? And the most seminal moment for me was I had, I don't know, $21, $22, whatever it was to my name. I'm living in a 400 square foot bachelor apartment. I'm feeling sorry for myself. I'm watching Luke and Laura on General Hospital. I mean, I was a mess. I was a total mess. And I realized I've not paid my rent and I'm out of money and I don't have any prospects for some new cash in the short term. How am I even going to eat? So I decided to go to this all you could eat salad bar that they had around the corner of this place called El Torito. Still there, Marina del Rey. And I lived in Venice, so it was about a three mile walk. I didn't take the car because I couldn't pay for parking, you know, for the gas. And I walked there and I went in and I had this meal where I basically loaded up for the winter. I ate plates of food, just tacos and salads and everything else. And while I was sitting there, there was this little boy that came in. He opened the door and he was wearing this little vest, this little suit. And he. I don't know, probably 9 years old, something like that, you know, 8, 9, 10. And. And he held the door open, and in walks behind him this beautiful woman who was clearly his mother. And so, you know, I definitely took it in. And then he sat down, he pulled out the chair for her. And he was just so attentive to his mother. I mean, he was just so. So with her that, honestly, I was moved. And so I finished my meal, and then I got up and I paid the bill. And it was like $6 in those days, you know, for all you could eat. Salad bar, whatever it was. And so I had whatever's left. 17, 18, $19. And I walked over to this little boy before I left, and I said, hi. And I introduced myself, I said, I'm Tony. And he told me his name was Paul or whatever it was. I don't remember his name. This little boy. I said, paul, I said, you are a class actor. I said, I saw. I held the door open for your woman. I saw how you pulled up the chair for her. I said, taking her out to lunch like that, that is really cool. And he goes, well, she's my mom. And I said, that's even more cool. And I said, take her to lunch. She goes, well, I didn't take her to lunch. He goes, you know what? I think he said it was eight or nine. He said, I'm nine years old. I don't have a job yet. And I said, yes, you are taking her to lunch. And I reached in my pocket and I took all the money I'd left, whatever it was. 17, 18, $19. And I dropped it in front of him. I had no plan to do this. It wasn't like, manufactured. I wasn't trying to impress this woman. And he looked up at me, like shocked. And he goes, I can't take that. And I said, sure you can. He said, how come? I said, because I'm bigger than you are, right? And he laughed like crazy. And I didn't even say another word. I just walked out the door, didn't even look at his mom.

You didn't get her number, huh?

I didn't get her number. And I got to tell you, it was the most powerful experience of my life because I didn't walk home. I kind of flew home. And I should have been like, what is the matter with you? You have no money for food. You get the last little pennies you have left. But I Had no fear. I had no scarcity. And I got home and I realized what I'd done. I was like, I have no money now. No money, nothing. Right? I was trying to conserve by going there, you know, And I don't. I don't know. I just. I've worked on a plan. I figured, I'll make some. I'll figure this out. And the next day, I got the old snail mail and came in around, like, noon, and I pull out this letter, and there's a young man that I had loaned $1,200 to, and he had not paid me back. And I was desperate for cash. I probably called him 10 times trying to track him down. Not a single response. And I was so hurt and pissed. And here's the letter from this guy saying, I'm really sorry. I know you've been trying to reach me. I've been avoiding you, and here's the money you owe, and I'm going to give you some interest as well. So I got, at that point, that was like, more money than anything. And so once again, I'm sitting there, tears going down my face. I'm an emotional character. And I just thought to myself, you know, why did this happen? And I chose to believe. I don't know if it's true, but I chose to believe that it's because I let go of trying to just take care of myself. I did what was right. I didn't plan it. I did it spontaneously. I saw it. It felt right to me. I did it. And I felt no scarcity. And I can tell you I've had plenty of tough times. You know, 18 companies and 12 I manage actively. I got 1200 employees on multiple continents. We do 5 billion a year in sales across different industries now. I mean, it's a different world for me now. But since that, and I've been near bankruptcy multiple times in companies and things like that, I didn't. I pulled it off, always. Never went bankrupt. But I faced really tough times. I never went back to that level of scarcity, not since that day. So it's a long way of saying when you have nothing is when you need to give. You know, if you're going to wait till you think you have something, you're never going to have something of any size or scope. There's something inside the human psyche that when you do what's right and you get outside of yourself, there's something that'll click for you. And also, you know, tithing is a perfect example. I don't know anybody Regardless of religious belief, who's tithed 10% of their income for a decade and not prospered massively. And Sir John Templeton, who was the first billionaire investor, was the first person who said that to me, said, tony, I know you tithe. But he said, tithe more. He said, do more, give more. And he said, you'll receive more. Just how it works. And I found it to be absolutely true. Really?

You continue to give more and more every year?

Yeah, I'm just writing checks for 5 million bucks. I mean, work on a book for four years and gave up all the profits. And then I wanted to feed more people, so I wrote another big check above that. So. And now I'm doing it this year. I'm going to do it for the next 10 years.

Amazing. Incredible. I love hearing this story. I've heard this story before, but it always captivates me. Who was the most influential person in your life growing up?

Well, my mom was in that. She taught me to. She demanded that I show up in a different way than most people would. Meaning she wanted me to grow, she wanted me to be successful. She pushed me incredibly hard. But also she was kind of. She was a drug addict, prescription drug addict. She overviews those. And she was an alcoholic. We had no money. We lived in a 1200 square foot house and my four different fathers all lived in the living room at different stages. She had her own room and she would call me every day on the phone. 1-1955. So you ring your own phone, I'd pick it up and she'd give me instructions and I'd go to the store on my bicycle and I'd buy the groceries and I'd make the meal. I really literally didn't see my mom most days and I didn't understand any difference. So she gave me an incredibly high standard and she gave me a big challenge. And she was physically abusive. She smashed my head against the wall till I bled. She poured liquid soap down my throat till I threw up because she thought I was lying. And yet I loved her and I knew she loved me. So it's confusing as hell. But she made me a practical psychologist because I had to figure out, I have a younger brother, five years younger, younger sister, seven years younger. And I had to figure out, how am I going to keep them from getting hurt? And if she had been the mother I thought I wanted, I wouldn't be 1/10 as driven. I wouldn't. You know, I suffered so much. I don't want anybody else to suffer that's why I'm as driven as I am. I don't have to do anything at this stage of my life, but I'm more driven today than when I began. So she was the most influential person, the next most influential person were a set of mentors I had. Jim Rohn, personal development speaker I went to work for when I was 17, massively influenced my philosophy. John Grinder, who started NLP, taught me strategy. He taught me how to produce results that people thought would take decades and days and minutes. And I became his top student and so forth. So. And then along the way, I've had incredible mentors. Peter Guber owns the NBA warriors and the LA Dodgers and, you know, Mandalay Pictures, one of my dearest friends for 30 years, plus Marc Benioff. You know, I've been coaching him for 16 years from the day he started Salesforce. You know, he told me, tony, I'm leaving my company because of you. I'm going to start this company, salesforce.com, we're going to do 100 million a year. Now they're doing 8 billion. So I've got some really Steve Wynn as a mentor for me. So I have a lot of brilliant people and I'm always. I coach others and I get coached by others.

You've been doing the work for 40 years, right?

Well, not quite. Almost 40 years, 39. It's my 39th year.

This is a question a friend of mine, Ed o', Keefe asked. He said, with all the tools you've learned and that wealth of information, over 39 years, almost four decades, strategies to break people through, to help them overcome their challenges. If you can only have. If you had to strip them all away, you can always use one strategy or one thing to use. What would that be?

I wouldn't. Part of why I'm effective is because I don't buy that. I'm always looking for more strategy, because one strategy will work with one person, not with another. But philosophically, I would say that the capacity to strengthen and increase your hunger is the one common denominator amongst the most successful people. You know, Richard Branson's good friend of mine and Peter Guber, Steve Wynn, all these guys, they've never lost their hunger. Most people are hungry to achieve a certain amount, make a certain amount of money, and then they get comfortable and relax or to get a certain level of fitness and then they relax. But, you know, Richard is as driven today as when he was 16 years old starting. I mean, he's like on fire and he's 65 years old. Warren Buffett is 85 years old. He's as driven today as when he began the journey, right? And so people that have that hunger, I believe intelligence. I love people that are wickedly smart. And I work to be wickedly smart by educating and training myself and so forth and training my brain. But intelligent, there's a lot of intelligent people can't fight their way out of a paper bag, right? Hunger is the ultimate driver. Because if you're hungry, you can get the strategy, you can get the answer. If you can't model it, you can find it. So hunger modeling would be maybe the next best skill. Knowing that success leaves clues like why reinvent the wheel? If someone took this plane, was Mickey's plane, who owns the Miami Heat and owns Carnival, right? I mean, you can learn so much from the man like Mickey, it blow your mind what this man has been able to do in his life. And so why would I go learn by trial and error and maybe take 10 or 20 years when I could learn from somebody in a few weeks or a few months or a few hours, something that could save me a decade? That's what it is. That's why. That's why I read 700 books in the first seven years. Because I was like, if somebody takes 10 years of life, they pour into a book and I can read that in an hour, two or three or four. Why wouldn't I?

So how does someone continue to stay hungry or re. You know, rediscover what they're hungry about?

The best way is get around where it's better and things will hit you.

Say it again.

Get around where it's better and things will hit you. Who you spend time with is who you become. So, you know, when I started coaching all these billionaires, you know, there's a part of me that said I, you know, I'm as smart in certain areas as they are. I gotta step my game up. It's not about the money. It's about how can I take the invisible and make it visible? How can I find a way to add more value to other people to such an extent where economics are not a question whatsoever? And then I can take those economics and do even more where I'm not there. I look as money as portable power. I can leverage my money to do things for people even when I sleep. I love doing these for people. And I work 18, 20 hour days still. But it's really nice to have the leverage of that as well.

Sure, sure. In a few sentences, what would you say is your current vision for life? What's the vision you have, and what's the legacy that you want to leave behind?

I saw. Have you seen Hamilton, the play in New York?

I hear it's incredible.

Everyone's raving about it.

You've seen it, right, Nick? Yeah, it's amazing.

Isn't it? Extraordinary? Yeah, I loved it. I thought it was a lot. Might be a lot of hype, but it was as good as the promise. Really. There's a line in Hamilton that I thought was really interesting. It says, legacy is planting seeds in a garden that you'll never see. I thought it was really interesting, but. So for me, what's the garden you.

Want to create you'll never see?

For me, it's human lives. For me, my life is about being a blessing in the lives of the people I meet. I hope that whoever decides to watch your video, I hope something here will strike them and they can say, you know, I got to get in proximity or I got to raise my standard or I'm gonna go master my damn money. I'm not gonna dabble. I hope that it stimulates someone in a way where it becomes a blessing in their life. And my legacy is the lives that I've touched, and my legacy is the institutions that I'm building right now that when I'm gone, will continue to touch people. My foundation, the work that I'm doing with mentoring with kids, I mean, the ability to touch another generation. But my heartfelt prayer every day is be a blessing. And, you know, it's interesting. Sometimes you're a blessing just by giving somebody a few moments, just by loving on them, just being with them. Sometimes you're being a blessing because you coach them or you intervene with them. You can be a blessing in so many ways. But that's my daily focus. And it's not what I'm going to build for the long term. It's really, what am I going to do right now?

Why is that? Why do you want to create that legacy again?

It's less about legacy than it is about doing what I'm made for while I'm here and maximizing. I, you know, I want the end to have me. I want to be climbing the mountain when I die, not sliding. So to me, it's about growth and it's about giving those the only things that fulfill human beings. I always tell people, if you want to be happy, it's one word, progress. If you can make progress, and if your progress is not only within yourself, but it's actually doing something of value for more than yourself. You're going to be a damn fulfilled person.

Yeah. How do you stay grounded in your personal and intimate relationships when everyone wants a piece of you? You know, you sell out events, 10, 20, 30,000 people come to your conferences, pay tens of thousands of dollars. Everyone wants to interview you. You're coaching presidents, billionaires, world class athletes. They call you, they want you to help them break through the next level. How do you stay grounded in your marriage or with your kids or with, you know, friends?

My mom's craziness gave me a great gift. I wanted to be a professional athlete and want to be a professional baseball player. And when I got cut from the junior high school team, I figured out I'm in trouble. So I decided to become a sportscaster and sportswriter. And so I took typing. When I was in junior high school, I was the only boy in an all girl shorthand class. So I could capture everything because I wanted to be the best reporter, best sportscaster. I, I interviewed Howard Cosell and Woody Hayes and Dodgers and Rams. I got a job working for a daily newspaper when I was 13 and then I got this huge break which was I got these interviews no one had like Joe Namath when he was so famous. I got these interviews and here in LA, KTTV, Channel 11, it's now a Fox channel, they were trying to get viewership and so they kept trying different kinds of sportscasters. They even tried Fanny, Fox, the stripper. And somebody watched some interviews I did and went, Holy shit. This 14 year old kid, I was about to be 15, he's brilliant and he's getting interviews nobody else is getting, you know. So they called me up and they offered me the job to be the nightly sportscaster as I was turning 15. Wow. And I was out of my mind. Like the dream I was going to have when I was like 25 or 30 was happening. You know, I'm going to be 15. And my mom said to me, your ego's too big and if I let you do this, you're getting bigger. And, and she not only would not let me take the job, she made me quit my job working for the Progress Bulletin, which was a daily newspaper in Pomona, California, doing sports. And I hated her and I was devastated. But it created a sensitivity inside of me that, that along with I think watching athletes who would not sign a card for a kid because they were making money selling cards would make me so angry that I said I'm never going to be one of Those people. And so I'm not, you know, I certainly have plenty of pride in what I've been able to accomplish and people I've been to help, but I always know I'm just a guy. And while I worked my ass off, I've also had grace in my life, you know? And I think when you achieve things, it comes from incredible obsessive focus, massive action, and figuring out the how to execute and do things effectively. And it's grace. And I never forget that. That's a part of the formula for where my life is today.

Do you think people need a little bit of ego to have that kind of drive and insanity or obsession? Or is it more just belief in a bigger vision?

I think, you know, ego can produce drive, but that kind of ego will make you not be fulfilled. Yes, and we all have it until we get a few hammers. Because in the beginning, when you're young, especially a young man, I think even more so than a woman, you know, you're trying to find yourself. You're trying to prove yourself to the world, and really, you're trying to prove it to yourself. Like in the very beginning, for me, I used to tax psychiatrists and psychologists because I care about people so much and because I learned how to handle them in an hour, and they're working with someone for seven years, and I just go crazy. But I was also attacking them because I was also defensive because I didn't have a degree. And so I figured, I'm gonna be on the offense. I'm gonna show them. But as I grew up, I realized, holy shit, these people care just as much as I do. Now, I've trained 100,000 therapists around the world with my partner, Chloe Madonna. So we make films of people's lives, like suicidal people, people who've been through hell. And you get to watch how I do it as I do it, and then you get to see them two years later know it really worked.

Do you ever question choices or decisions you make today? And does. Does everything you touch turn into what you want it to be?

No, of course not. No. Failure is part of life. I mean, the difference for me, though, is I look at failure as a stepping stone to success. It's a speed. Speed bump. I know I'm going to fail, but it's not failure if you learn something. And so, gosh, I've made so many mistakes. I've screwed so many things up, but every time I do, it just becomes. It becomes a way for me to explain to someone else what it Takes, you know, it's like, here's what I've done. I think I have the ability to influence people because I talk about my failures, I talk about all the things that mess me up, but I show people that didn't let it stop me. And you don't need to stop you. And I think, I think that's really the secret matter.

And if everything you touched was successful, you probably won't be able to relate to people as much.

No, you'll be relate. And also it'd be total bullshit and everyone know it's bullshit. And also you'd be bored silly. I mean, think about it. If you just said, I want this to happen, I want this, and it happened. You know, people don't value what they don't fight for. You know, it's like you see kids sometimes in it, you know, your parents will say you're not going to value this if you don't work for it. And your kid going, I'll value it, just give it to me, right? But it's true, you know, the things we've worked the hardest for, we value the most. So I think, you know, the purpose of a goal is not getting it anyway. The purpose of goal, you know, is what who you become, who you become is going to make you happier. It's going to make you sad. So I'm not looking for an effortless approach. There's no such thing.

Now I'm curious about relationships and building wealth. Is it important to, or how important is it to help have the right partner in a marriage or an intimate relationship? And relating to building wealth, does it matter who you choose their mindset? Does any of that play effect in how much you're going to make?

Or it won't affect how much you make, but it'll affect how your relationship a lot, right? You know, getting on the same page is really, really important. But when my wife and I met my wife, we both grew up very poor. But I decided that I was going to find a way to add so much value that money would never be a question for my family. And, and it would never stop me from giving or doing or sharing anything. I made that decision early on. So I became an earner. I have ways of earning. She became a negotiator, a cost manager. Her mom's number one thing is somebody comes in, she goes, sharpen your pencil. That's not a good enough deal. And so when we first met, I remember we were in New York City. And this dates me how old I am, but I remember when they first came out with digital cameras, the very first digital cameras from Sony, and it was like such a cool thing. You could take 12 pictures or whatever it was in those days. But we were down in New York City, we're in Times Square, and we went into one of those camera shops and it was Christmas time. And I saw the camera and I was like, so excited about this camera. And I said, you know, I'm gonna get one for my brother, my sister, my mom. And you know, I came up with, I don't know, it was like 12 cameras and they were very expensive then. I think they were like $1,200 or $2,000 each. They were really crazy.

Now they're like 200 for the same.

Yeah, no, not even. It's a million times better. But I go into the counter and the guy goes, oh my God, Tony Robbins. Can I take a picture with you? I'll put it on the wall. And so I said, sure. And she goes, hey. She goes, sharpen your pencil. What kind of deal are you going to get my boyfriend here? And I wanted to grab her by the throat, just go, what are you doing here? It's like, what are you doing? And she's like, no, no, what's the deal here? And he goes, oh, well, I give you 10% off. She goes, Sharpen your pencil. 10%. You're not taking a picture of my boyfriend. And I'm wanting to murder her, right? And I was so mad. I mean, I was so mad. And so she got like 15% off and free camera cases and all this stuff. And I'm shaking my head. When we left, I was like, I'm. So we have this big fight today. I just call her Squeaky. She's my squeaky girl. She wants to go to Walmart. As if we'd ever need to go to Walmart. And what I do is I'm delighted by the difference. And I go, you know what? What a beautiful gift. I've been in relationships before where I gave everything and the people were totally unconscious with money. So to answer your question, it's nice to be on the same page. But you know, one day I told my wife I was coaching someone and the person gave me a quarter of a million dollar bonus. I don't care who you are. It's mind boggling. It was like, he didn't have to. It wasn't part of the deal. He pays me a million dollars a year plus a piece of the upside. And he just said, tony, you did so much for me. I Just want to give you this additional quarter million dollar bonus. And it wasn't the money. It was the generosity that just knocked me off my chalk seat. And so I called my wife. I said, honey, Paul just gave me a quarter million dollar bonus. I mean, it's like, he's so generous. And she goes, oh, that's nice, honey. Hey, do you know what I'm making for lunch?

And I'm like, wow.

So I used to get upset about it. Now I'm like, that's my squeaky little girl. I'm thrilled she doesn't have to think about it. I'm in charge. And so I don't think your partner has to. One of you has to master it, and you have to have some alignment.

Okay. But you don't want them to be against you, essentially.

Well, sometimes they're gonna be. We were against each other. In some ways, we're having fights. But what you eventually decide is, do I want to be right or do I want to be in love? There you go. I'd rather be in love personally. Right.

That's a good quality.

And then also, I just said, you know, to her, I said, listen, honey, I'm. I understand your intent. I had to go to her intent instead of being frustrated with her saying, this is really actually a cool quality. And she's my opposite in that area. And it's a. We're a good. We're a good balance together.

Right?

Right.

You know, there's a lot of people that I grew up with who were poor who had a negative mindset around money. They thought it was evil, that it was bad. What would you say to someone who has that mindset where they just. They have a story around money that isn't a positive one. They think of money, they think of evil, bad, corruption, whatever it may be. How does someone shift it? Like, what's. Is it a daily practice? Is it something they can do right away?

It's the truth. Get to the truth. The truth is simple. Money does not change people. Money makes you more of what you are. It's a magnifying tool. If you're mean, you got a lot more to be mean with. If you're generous, you got a lot more to be generous with than give. So it's bullshit that money is anything. All money is is a symbol. And we all project on that symbol different things. You can, you know, if you feel out of control of money, then you're going to project it as evil. If you feel incompetent and you see someone else more Successful. Oh, they're the 1%. They're the jerks. Usually, by the way, they're the.01% you're pointing at. Right? But it used to be aspirational to be in the 1%. Today there's this new mindset that says they're evil. They're wrong. The people in our society that say that the 99% are lying because half this planet lives on $2.50 a day, right? $900 a year. If you are considered in poverty in the United states, you are the 1% of earners in the world. You are the 1%. Poverty in poverty in the U.S. poverty.

You're the 1% of the world, the.

1% of the world's earners. So what you're doing is saying, poor me while you're typing on your Apple computer or drinking a cup of Starbucks, somebody showed me a picture of the people that were camping out and they got these great camping tools. I mean, they got all these brand name corporations that they're doing. They think they're the 99%. Now, don't get me wrong, I wrote an entire book exposing the abuses in the system. But here's what I said. The system is rigged against you, but you can still win. But what you have to do is understand the rules of the game instead of complaining and whining. And what I did is I went to the very best and said, how can you possibly win when 70% of the stocks every day are being traded by high frequency traders? So before you choose Apple on E trade and hit it, as you hit it in microseconds, they see what you want, they get in front of you, they buy and sell it multiple times and make money off of you. If you're a trader, that's a pain in the butt. But if you're an investor over the long term, it doesn't affect you at all. And what I really try to detail for people is how to get from where you are to where you want to be. If you're a millennial that's got all this debt and you don't think you can ever be free, I show you how. If you're a baby boomer and you're older and you think, I don't have any money, I'll never have it, I show you how to get that piece. And it's not. None of this is from my perspective. I teach the emotional part, but it literally is the 50 smartest minds in the world.

And we were talking before we started the interview that you learned Something new over the last six months or year since writing the book came out.

Can you share with us something new and disappointing?

Can you share with us talking about fiduciaries?

Yes. Well, the first thing that I did was most people don't understand that there are lots of things you can't control in the system, but there are a few things you can control and that's what you focus on and you can win. And one of those is you can't control the markets are going to go, real estate, stock, anything. But you can control fees. And that sounds so third grade. Like, what does that matter?

Not sexy.

Not sexy. But when I met with Jack Bogle, who created Vanguard, the largest index fund in the world, they got $3 trillion with a T and 63 years in the business, he said, tony, I know you care. You've got to uncover for people where the fee structures are. Like, for example, most people in America have their money in their home or their 401k and there's more 401ks than there are homes, right? He said, tony, the abuse in that system is so bad. So when you uncover the fees, and I did this in the book, I created a system where people could go into showmethefees.com if they had a 401k and it showed you exactly what the fees are and what it means to compound it, because every 1% in fees, you pay more than you need to because of compounding means you gave up 10 years of income when you go to retire. So, for example, the average person puts their money in a mutual fund. They don't know which mutual fund to go to. They look on MorningStar, maybe it's five stars. If it's five star, you're already overpaying for, it's not going to stay a five star. And the average mutual fund pays 3.12%. All right, that's the cost. You think it's 1%, but there's a 35 page document that if you know how to read it, you'll find 17 of the pages. Well, why does that matter? It's only 3%. It's 3% compounded year after year. So what happens is you go out and you put yourself in this position and you could have paid for Vanguard, for example, an index fund, 14 basis points, that's 14, 100 of a percent of 1%. The other person is paying 3% for the same product. It's the exact same set of stocks. So what's the difference? Well, those 3% are going to cost you to give you perspective, 60% of what you earn is going to go to somebody else that didn't have to go to them just because you were ignorant. So it's kind of like, do you want to buy a Honda Accord? An example I always give is $20,000, but in this case, $20,000 Honda Accord you're paying a million two for. That's the difference between 0.14, 3.12. And so there are people living next door to each other that are paying 1,000% more, most of them 100% more than their neighbor for the same product. There's no industry in the world except the financial industry. We can do that. And the way they do it is by confusing you so much that you give up and say, just, you know, manage my money. And so they take it away from you. So in the book I explained how to do that, I also built a site, another site called portfolio checkup.com and I built it so you could put all your accounts in there, not just 401k. It pulls them for you in two minutes, shows you all the costs, shows you how much risk you're truly taking, and compares you to some of the best portfolios in the world. So you know how it compares. I don't. Just like the book I donated all the profits from. I didn't do anything. And then if you wanted to work with someone, I taught everyone, 90% of the people in the financial markets that you go to as a wealth manager, investment manager, they're a broker. And there's nothing wrong with a broker except they're just a salesman. And they're going to sell you what the house tells them to sell you because the house always wins. And they're going to sell you underperforming assets because mutual funds, 96% of them never match the market over any 10 year period of time. So it's going to underperform and they're going to overcharge you. So I said, go to a fiduciary. New word for everybody, the F word fiduciary. All it means is there's a small percentage of the population that's required by law to put your needs ahead of their own. Meaning. If I told you I'm a fiduciary and I tell you to buy Apple this morning, then the stock drops and I buy it later today for myself, I have to give you my stock. That's how strong the law is. Yeah. Small group. They're called RIAs, registered investment advisors or fiduciaries. So I built this platform, gave away all the money, and then said, go to a fiduciary. And I recommended the seven largest fiduciaries in the country. And then five months ago, I had one of the guys on the platform, his name is Peter Mallook, and he has a company called Creative Planning. And Creative Planning is the number one rated firm in the world. Number one independent wealth manager by Bloomberg for three years in a row. That's. No one's ever done it for three years, two years in a row for cnbc. And he built this family office. It's like billionaires have a family office. It's a place where they have eight or nine people who. One works on protecting you, one works on your mortgages, one works on your taxes to make sure you get the most efficiency. One's working on your investments. All billionaires have a family office. He built a family office for people that are multimillionaires. And so he comes to meet with me and he said, tony, I want to share something with you. He goes, there are these hidden rules in the law, these gray areas that if people are on the edge legally and everyone on your platform is doing this. And he said, it's called dual registration. What's that? He said, I tell you, I'm a fiduciary, so now you trust me, and legally I'm responsible to take care of you. But I have this dual registration. So in the middle of the conversation, I can switch hats and become a broker, and you don't know it. And I can sell you some product that costs 2 or 3 or 4% and it underperforms and you don't even know it. You think I'm giving you independent advice, and it's not independent advice. And I did the homework. And every firm, including some people I really liked, were doing it because it was a way to get more margin for their business. So it's not right. So I kicked everybody off the platform and I sat down with Peter and I said, you're the only guy size. He has 20 billion in assets. He's approaching right now. I said, you're the only guy and you're number one. I said, I want to recommend more people. You, but you only do billionaires and multi millionaires. I said, keep doing that. You got the greatest practice in the world. But how about you build something, another division that'll work with people with as little as $50,000 and give them the CPA, the tax, give him everything the same, and he charges less than 1%. 1.2 is the highest or somebody like no money, it goes down to 25 basis points. I said, people charge more than that just for the financial advice. You're doing everything. I said, if you do that, I'll partner with you. So he took three weeks, came back to me, went back and forth, started building a new division. Over the last five months he's been building it. So now I'm on his board of advisors and I'm also the chief of investment psychology. So I educate both the general public and his people on how to meet people's financial needs at a different level. And I got him to create a second opinion, which means if you had a health challenge, anybody smart knows, no matter what this person tells you, get a second opinion and go to the best. Because there's so many opinions about to do health wise, there's so many opinions what to do financially. So I said, why don't you give a second opinion from the number one firm on earth? Why don't you provide that? Give people a plan and then they can implement on their own if they want or for less than 1% they can go with you. I think most people end up going with you. So he's agreed to do it. And anyone who wants to congratulations go to the number1firm.com, the number1firm.com or they can go to creative planning.net and you can just apply. They'll interview you, they'll take you through a process, they'll build a plan for you and then you can go implement it or you can work with them.

Amazing.

Amazing.

A few questions left for you. That's cool. And we'll have all this linked up.

Here at the end.

So if you're listening to the podcast, I'll give you guys a show note information soon. If you're on YouTube watching this, this will all be linked up below. And also I'm going to do something for anyone watching this on YouTube. The first hundred people to leave a comment and share this video. I'm gonna buy you a book. I'm gonna send you one of his books, a paperback copy for the first hundred people that do that. Because I want to get the message out there.

By the way, every book that is bought, 50 people are fed.

There you go.

All the money still goes out in the paperback just like that.

You should buy one as well and give it away. That's what you should do. Final few questions. What are you most grateful for in your personal life?

My wife by far. I mean, I love my children completely, but my wife is truly the Greatest gift in my life. My kids are adults. I'm so proud of them. But she is nothing but love. She's as mission driven as I am. She doesn't have the same constitution I do. So you know, I'm a crazy person. 50 hours in a weekend on stage, you know, I do literally 18 miles on the first day. You've seen going around, jumping off the stage, getting people involved.

I've walked on flyer, I've done it all.

It's amazing. I do literally 26 miles to 27 on the third day where I start at 8:30 in the morning and finish at 1am with one one hour break. So the demands I make on my body are intense. My wife has the same will I have, not the same physical. So I try to take care of that way. But her love, her joy, her happiness lifts my soul and spirit. People say, who inspires you? I always say my wife. In the first place, I love my children. I'm so close. One of my sons, Jarrick is, I know, a friend of yours. He's a tremendous coach. I'm really proud of him. One of my other sons is a partner in some of my financial businesses. Josh. So my family is involved with my mission, which I'm really grateful for because people talk about work life balance and it's bullshit. Anybody who's an overachiever, you're not going to find balance. Balance is like a teeter totter. You know, if you're in a teeter totter, you get balanced for 10 minutes. You and I, what are we going to do after 10 minutes, somebody's going to start jerking this around to have some fun, right? You're going to be bored out of your mind. So I think of it as work life integration. And the more you can get the people you love involved with what you do for your mission or for your work, then you don't have to worry about that work life.

I love that. I love that. That's a good answer.

Thank you.

I don't think I asked you this question last time, so I want to see what your answers are. I've been asking everyone else recently though. This is many, many years down the line. It's your last day. It's a very happy day. Everyone's there. You created everything you've ever imagined. The seeds you planted are happening and the gardens are being created everywhere. But everything you ever produced, physical books, audio workshops, videos have all been erased for whatever reason. And you have one piece of paper, your great, great, great grandchild says, here's A piece of paper. Can you write down three truths, three things that you know to be true, that you could. That we could remember you by since we don't have anything else. But these are the three things that is like your bible. The lessons that we should be remembered remembering to use and to follow for the rest of our lives. What would you say those three things?

Love is everything. The secret to living is giving. And remember that the most important decision of your life is deciding whether you're truly committed to being happy no matter what. Because life is going to throw all kinds of curve balls at all of us. There's the one thing that's in common in this lifetime is extreme stress. You're gonna experience it if you haven't already. And even if you have, you will in the future. How you like this positive thinking. But it's just true. Someone you're gonna care about is gonna die. Someone's gonna take advantage financially if you're not careful. You're gonna find yourself in a position the government might change the rules and you can't do what you're doing. Before some may call, like I've gotten a call saying you got a tumor in your brain. Those days when alter you. And if you decide that you're going to live in a beautiful state of mind, that doesn't just mean happy, it means people say, oh yeah, I'm committed to be happy, but my wife left me. Well, then you're not committed to being happy. You're committed to be happy unless your wife leaves you. And you can't control that. You can certainly influence it. You can't control it or I'm going to be happy. Except my friend died. Your friends are going to die, your family going to die. So the greatest gift you could give yourself besides making this life about love and making this life about giving, because to give you have to keep growing. Is I believe, to make that decision and say life is too short to suffer. And most achievers like you and I, we never use the word suffering. But we get stressed, we get pissed, we get overwhelmed. Some people get sad or depressed. And those are all forms of suffering. And all your entire life, you live in one of two states. States of suffering or beautiful states of being. And in a beautiful state of being. Hey, guys. In a beautiful state of being.

We're still filming a couple minutes. Sorry.

That's good for your film. Thanks, Kirby. Yeah, I know we're late. We're finishing right now.

Yeah, last couple minutes.

Sorry. There you go. And you can leave that in it's. The real thing. In beautiful states of being, it doesn't matter what happens. You're going to find something to enjoy and appreciate. And you know, you and I both have interviewed people I'm sure, I'm sure you have, that are born with no arms or legs or they've been, they've lost their sight and they're happy. And then you meet billionaires or people, families, they got beautiful kids, beautiful husband, beautiful wife and they get miserable over anything. I really believe you have to make, that's the most important decision of your life is that no matter what happens, I'm going to live in that state. And then you have to do the work, which is, I got a 90 second rule. I get pissed off or frustrated. Suffering comes up, it always shows up. But what I decided is within 90 seconds I kill it. Because in that suffering state, I'm not going to be there for my wife or my kids. In that suffering state, if I solve it, I'm going to be miserable even though I solve it, right? I realized I would give away my happiness so easily because Look, I got 1200 employees plus in 18 companies on multiple continents, multiple industries. What are the chances that today somebody's going to screw up something? It's 100%. And so I would be like, oh, I was so happy. And then John did this or this person, what were they thinking? Or he opened the door in the middle of the interview or whatever. There's always something, right? And so I decided that's the shift that's going to happen. That's part of, you know, having multi billion dollar companies and lots of industries so going to enjoy it. And when something doesn't work out, we'll learn from it, we'll grow. It's all small stuff, right? You don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff. So I've really experienced in the last year that's probably the greatest growth for me is not letting that suffering last and calling it suffering because it's inconsistent with my identity and probably yours as well, right? So I'd never do that stuff. So I don't. And I call a spade a spade. Pissed off is suffering, worried is suffering. Stressed out is suffering. And so if there, if I know it sounds esoteric because we're doing this in two minutes. I usually take people now to like a day of experiences where they uncover this. I ask people, if I asked you, what are two of the most magnificent experiences of your life so far?

The first two things that came to the top of my Head was visiting a third world country and building a school for kids and seeing their joy and being in that experience and then two others was achieving a dream of being an all American athlete when I wanted to early on when I worked for it for so long. And then also not to pitch myself, but writing a New York Times best selling book and having a dream and creating that dream. So.

And then let's. Now there's a pattern to those examples. I'm not just listening to the content, I'm listening to. Tell me what you felt. What did you feel when you helped build that school?

Incredible joy. It was like, it was like I was able to give. I was able to use what God had created for me to give back and support other people. That contribution, that service for me was a major thing to see what I was capable of doing for so many other people beyond myself.

And when you became an all American, what did you feel?

I felt a sense of. Well, actually the first time I was an all American, I was really happy and I was really sad. I was really upset because I was driven by anger to prove people wrong, that I would become it. So I made it happen by this willing it and this commitment to like proving everyone wrong and all the people that screwed me over, like, here's why you're gonna accept me and why you're gonna love me me.

And it didn't work.

It wasn't fulfilling. It was for a moment and then I was like, this sucks. What's the point of this?

So. So you, you just so beautifully demonstrated what I want to get across. Whenever we have our highest experiences of life, two things are involved. Some form of growth within ourself and some form of contribution beyond ourself. I don't. I could ask a hundred people as I've done this with thousands, and they always tell me something, that where they face the fear overcame something, but also in doing it, it benefited their family or benefited somebody else or like what you did with the building. Whenever I ask people the worst experiences of their life, they will tell me something. And it was all about them.

You, what happened to them.

Yeah. So one of the reasons you valued that experience is there was growth in that experience. Become the all American. But because you did it all just about you, it wasn't fulfilling.

Exactly.

That's when I say life's not about me, it's about we. And that's also why when people are suffering, it's always because you're obsessing about yourself. You're obsessing that something happened and now you have less. You think you have less, or something happened and you've lost something, lost love, lost money, lost significance, lost attention, lost something. Or because you did this or said that, or because I did something myself, I'm never going to have something. Loss, less, never are the sources of suffering. And when you say, no, I'm suffering because my children are doing well. No, you're suffering because you failed your children. In your mind, it's about you. Still. When you get that all suffering is obsession with self, you can snap out of it. And all you have to do is stop expecting and start appreciating. You look around and appreciate things outside yourself, the people around you, the friends sitting across here, anything of that nature, and then starting to enjoy something. If you start to learn or grow from that, if you love, which to me is an action, if you love, if you give, if you're grateful, suffering disappears instantly. But you have to tell yourself the truth. The only suffering is in your mind. It's because this brain is not designed to make you happy. It's 2 million years old. It's designed to make you survive. Happiness is your job, and happiness is a decision. And it's a daily set of practices. And the difference for me from before, if you said, do you have a beautiful, magnificent life, I said, are you kidding me? I mean, it's like I have this incredible mission. I work with millions of people. I have this beautiful family, I love my wife. I'm physically strong and healthy. But it's like a business. If you measure the business annually, you feel good about the business, but you're going to have some bad years. If you measure it monthly, the worst you're going to have is bad months daily. When I take over a company turnaround, I find usually a dozen elements of that business. And I'll measure five, five times a day in the beginning, because the more you measure, the better you can adapt and change. And I make everybody have to focus on it. Well, what I've done with this area of my life is instead of saying, is my life beautiful? Of course it is. Or magnetic, of course it is. I now measure it moment to moment. So if I feel that, that suffering, that frustration, that whatever's coming up, I go, this is the mind I breathe in my heart. I find something I can appreciate. I become entertained by the experience and go, you know what? I'm gonna live in a beautiful state no matter what, because not everything can I control. And the things I'm most upset about, they're fleeting anyway. Most of course.

I love it. One final question before I ask it. I want to acknowledge you, Tony, for everything. When I was 16, I told you this last time. When I was 16, my dad got me and my mom a ticket to go watch you in St. Louis at a big arena. Actually, Donald Trump was speaking there. Larry King, who I just had dinner with recently, was speaking over. Over a tv.

Yeah.

And.

Yeah.

By Skype or whatever it was then, 20 years ago or something. And I. I never heard about you before. My dad said, you got to go do this. Because I was going through a lot. Going through a lot emotionally. And I remember listening and watching and be. I was more inspired by, like, the football coaches that were there and the.

The athletes. I think Jerry.

Yes, he was there. I think Jerry Rice might have been there or something else like that, and I was more interested in that. But at one moment, you walked downstage, you walked up next to me, stood.

There, and I remember.

I don't remember what you said, but I remember the way you made me feel, the energy. You were a catalyst for possibility, and I want to acknowledge you for creating that in me. But so many people around the world for just being the catalyst for the next level. Yeah.

So I'm really glad that was there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was a great moment. It was a great moment. I didn't know that I would be doing, you know, a lot of similar things that you're doing. I didn't know where it would lead me, but it helped me in my sports and my relationships and in high school and college from that moment. So I appreciate that.

Thank you.

And the last question is, who in the world right now is a definition of greatness for you? And what is that definition?

There's so many people. I mean, there, you know, my dearest friends, you know, Marc Benioff, Steve Wynn, Peter Guber, Paul Tudor Jones are all great. And what makes them great to me is they're not only extraordinary, the best in the world at what they do, but they are all givers. They're all. You know, Paul Tudor Jones created Robin Hood as the largest, most effective foundation. He's given away, like a billion two, I think, so far in New York City for people. But he doesn't just give it away. He's invested in getting the outcomes and the results. Like a person doing investments, he wants to make sure the result happen. I was in San Francisco recently. I'll give you somebody who inspires the. Help me. I think it's great. I read in the Census Chronicle that there's A group of nuns in the Tenderloin district that are being evicted. They feel the homeless, and they're being evicted because the man wanted to sell the property, found a loophole, and he's a victim. So they literally have no place to go and no money, and they're going to be homeless themselves. And I'm like, in a town full of billionaires, how has this not been handled right? So I flew in, I went and met the nuns, and I said, let me work this out for you. I said, I'll find the leverage with this man. And I went to find the business owner. I said, instead of making him wrong, I go, I'm a business owner. I could see you want to sell your building, but I. You're pretty dumb if you do it right now. I said, you're gonna get hammered by the media. So why don't you and I make a deal? I'll give you a year's worth of money for them in advance at the higher level you want, and you let them stay for a year. And my promise is I'll get them out within the year. I'll provide the resources, get them out. So I was gonna just lease them a place, help them get a thing going. And then I hung out with these nuns for a day and a half, and then a million conversations with them by phone constantly. And these women live in a 200 square foot little room with no windows. And all they do every day is get up, make the food, and love these people. And I mean love them. They don't just, like, feed them, look down on them. They love them. I was so inspired by them. For Easter, I went and bought them the soup kitchen, right? So they have their own soup kitchen now. No one can ever evict them. Everything is set. But I talk to them all the time. They call me up. They call me Mr. Tony, Mr. Tony. They tell you what's going on today, and they inspire me, their greatness. Someone that commits their life to something greater than themselves is great. And someone who can achieve and give, I think is unique. And I love those people. I know that most people. I'm not dumb. Most people are not happy every day of their life. They're not physically fit. They are not financially free, and they're not in a relationship where they're really passionate. Most people aren't, but a few are. And I'm obsessed with finding the few who do and figuring out what makes them different than everybody else and then teaching them. And it looks like you're doing the same thing.

I love it. Tony Robbins, thanks for being here.

Appreciate it.

A lot of people start taking pride in how bad certain things are in their life.

It gives them significance.

Very much so. You nailed it. People start getting pride because they're there. My memory is so bad, if I don't write my grocery list in triplicates, I won't remember it. And, like, oh, you think you're forgetful? This is how forgetful I am. Or this is how bad. People also have this with business.