Tony Robbins

[Agent Starling]

I was reading some stuff online yesterday about what makes people end up in cults or follow gurus, very interesting :rolleyes: ...read some stuff about the Stanford prison experiment (Zimbardo) relating to that, kind of stuff I haven't thought about since college psych classes...and then read the Landmark Forums thread...and was curious about whether anyone is into Tony Robbins...any opinions, pro or con? Has anyone gone to his seminars? :D

Agent Starling

[Slick]

I have no direct knowledge of Tony Robbins and doubt most psycho-babble. There is always the opportunity for the counselor to manipulate the situation. On the other hand many people seem to benefit from an outside program.

BTW I like myself as I am. If I ever got help I just wouldn't be me. Then again some people wish I weren't me.

Didn't Bill Clinton have Tony Robbins over to the White House? Look how that turned out.

[stonyman]

Agent Starling, I do not have any personal ties or knowledge of his material. I know there are many motivational speakers out there that have you leaving a seminar feeling good...............when asked what did you learn, the reply is "I do not know, but I feel good!" :confused:

I love learning new things, especially things that can be applied to everyday life. Take care and God Bless!

[RIOT]

hes just some motivational speaker, companies use him alot for sales teams on how to reach goals and get what you want out of life to be a better person

but honestly he has a **** good scam and it works for him, made him rich

btw i have gone to one of his seminars through the old company i worked for as a broker, lol it was a big waste of time and it dragged on and on forever, if i learned anything from it though i learned you can always look at soemthing bad and learn from it to make it better

the place held like 30,000 seats and each seat was $500.00 and it was sold out every seat, like i said he has a great scam and it works for him and maybe other people that feel low about themselves and need someone elses advice.

[MANIXWORLD]

The secret to all motivation is finding your inner 'ness'/usefullness,hapiness,kindness etc...Add that 'ness' to YOUR name,and feel how much motivation that adds to your day.:-):-)

[amen74]

Have any of you seen the movie, SHALLOW Hal, starring Jack Black? There is a guest appearance in it with Tony Robbins. I think it about sums up exactly what Tony does. He actually plays himself in the movie. :p

[Spyharpy]

Not into any of these motivational speakers. Even the publicized seminars with people who made it real big. To me, it's more of a rally to get you pumped up. Real vague or no details on the core of how they achieved their success but lots of talk on motivation to go out and do it. After you leave, the motivation goes down as you're not sure how to get started on the road to success these speakers tell you about. You're just a lot poorer in the end. For me, I'm more interested in the finite details of how the success was achieved, I mean *real* finite (let me peek at your business plan, see your roadmap on how you started, etc.), not paying to attend a pep rally cheering you on.

[Bolster]

Isn't Tony Robbins from the NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) tradition? I think he is. My impression is that Robbins takes a mishmash of various theories and reworks them into his own unique blend...but that also describes NLP. My point being, I don't think Robbins is traceable to any particular recognized discipline...he pulls from a wide range of material.

I think Tony easily escapes the 'cult' or 'guru' category, which includes: (1) strict authoritarian control (2) inward focus (3) use of deception in recruitment (4) coercive influence techniques (5) replacement of identity (6) curtailment of free choice. Those are the traditional elements of a cult, and I don't recollect that Tony can be accused of more than one or two of those, if that.

Also, Tony doesn't work with any sort of "front" group, does he? Whereas real cults seem to be forever changing their names and identities and inventing new front organizations for themselves as people catch on to their old identities.

So, to my thinking, he's relatively safe...just expensive, and don't expect gilt-edged empiricism backing up everything he says. But, I am not up to speed on Tony so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Hey Starling, care to share your sources? What you were reading sounds interesting.

[telemeister]

I was reading some stuff online yesterday about what makes people end up in cults or follow gurus, very interesting :rolleyes: ...read some stuff about the Stanford prison experiment (Zimbardo) relating to that, kind of stuff I haven't thought about since college psych classes...and then read the Landmark Forums thread...and was curious about whether anyone is into Tony Robbins...any opinions, pro or con? Has anyone gone to his seminars? :D

Agent Starling

Man, I haven't though about the Stanford experiment in ages. It makes for great reading. You should suss out the Milgram experiment as well.

As for Tony Robbins, I'm not really into him, sorry.

[zenheretic]

There is only one motivational speaker worth watching. I can't remember his name, but I distinctly recall that he lives in a van, down by the river...

[The Mastiff]

If you want good motivational speaking talk to someone who is facing prison time. It's downright inspiring.

[Kaizen]

Over the years I've read quite a lot of different books and programs that would fall under the category of "self improvement/personal growth, etc". I've read 2 of Tony Robbins books and have listened to some of his audio stuff. I've also studied NLP for some years now.

One of the things I look at when looking into critiques of self development programs/ cults/ various philosophies, etc is arguments for or against specific issues or concepts. Generally speaking I've found most of the broader statements to be of little value. I've never met or read of someone who I've agreed with 100%, so it comes down to exactly it is I disagree of agree with. If I conclude that the fundamental presuppositions or axioms are bunk or too far "out there", I don't give much attention to the rest of the philosophy (for example, Scientology).

One of the very real traps of any of these "programs" is the mental or emotional type of dependency that I've seen so many people fall into. For what ever reason, some people find temporary satisfaction in "learning" something new or from a new angle and do nothing about their situation and then repeat the process over and over, continually spending all of their money and time for nothing of value in return.

With all of that being said, I like a lot of Tony Robbins material. I would suggest it for those who are willing to entertain new concepts without being so naive to accept them without sufficient scrutiny and skepticism (not cynicism).

If anyone would like to discuss specific issues he talks about, I'd be glad to debate for or against is with them.

[tonydahose]

There is only one motivational speaker worth watching. I can't remember his name, but I distinctly recall that he lives in a van, down by the river...

you mean this guy zen? i was thinking the same thing :p

[Fred Sanford]

"My name is Matt Foley and I am...a Motivational Speaker."

He is the best. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRoGS8hZsEI

What's so funny is that if you watch it you can see David Spade trying really hard to not laugh.

-------------------

To answer your question Agent Starling, I don't know anything bad about Tony Robbins. He seems alright. But then again, I don't follow that stuff. I only follow Matt Foley.

[amen74]

Chris Farley was awesome. :D R.I.P.

[Agent Starling]

"My name is Matt Foley and I am...a Motivational Speaker."

He is the best. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRoGS8hZsEI

Thanks for that link, David, that was hilarious!!! :D

Agent Starling

[Agent Starling]

Hi Spyharpy,

To me, it's more of a rally to get you pumped up.

Seems so...then I guess they'll sell more books, DVDs, etc. from that too!

Real vague or no details on the core of how they achieved their success but lots of talk on motivation to go out and do it...For me, I'm more interested in the finite details of how the success was achieved, I mean *real* finite (let me peek at your business plan, see your roadmap on how you started, etc.), not paying to attend a pep rally cheering you on.

(ellipses mine)...
You've verbalized my thoughts exactly...I read both of Robbins' books about 10 yrs ago and I noticed the same thing...although I did get some useful stuff out of those books...

Agent Starling

[Agent Starling]

Hi Kaizen,

One of the things I look at when looking into critiques of self development programs/ cults/ various philosophies, etc is arguments for or against specific issues or concepts. Generally speaking I've found most of the broader statements to be of little value. I've never met or read of someone who I've agreed with 100%, so it comes down to exactly it is I disagree of agree with. If I conclude that the fundamental presuppositions or axioms are bunk or too far "out there", I don't give much attention to the rest of the philosophy (for example, Scientology).

I'm w/you on the Scientology...that's waaaaay too kooky for me!!

If anyone would like to discuss specific issues he talks about, I'd be glad to debate for or against is with them.

My biggest point of disagreement with him is diet...I'm not against eating more healthfully...what I totally disagree with him on is telling people they should go on his one-size-fits-all diet...I know from personal experience and from that of some of my family, that there are some people that can't live on tons of carbs and no meat...eveyone's physiology is different and some of us can't not eat meat...IIRC from what I read in his books long ago he tells people to follow the Fit for Life or food combining diet or something like that...I think that diet is crazy and it's total BU!!$h1*...!!

Agent Starling

[Kaizen]

Hi Kaizen,

My biggest point of disagreement with him is diet...I'm not against eating more healthfully...what I totally disagree with him on is telling people they should go on his one-size-fits-all diet...I know from personal experience and from that of some of my family, that there are some people that can't live on tons of carbs and no meat...eveyone's physiology is different and some of us can't not eat meat...IIRC from what I read in his books long ago he tells people to follow the Fit for Life or food combining diet or something like that...I think that diet is crazy and it's total BU!!$h1*...!!

Agent Starling

I've never seriously looked into his diet plan. I personally don't think that's his expertise to be addressing. But I can't blame him for pushing what he thinks works for him.

[SoCal Operator]

Tony Robbins looks like he wants to eat me. End of story.