Awaken the Giant Within By Tony Robbins Book Summary

Tony Robbins is a self-help coach, motivational speaker, and businessman who went from working as a janitor with no college degree to making millions of dollars.

He has inspired thousands of people with his books, programs, and speeches, and fed millions with his philanthropic efforts.

His book Awaken the Giant Within became one of his most recognized classics. It’s a quick read, and I want to share the top insights I gained from the book so that you can unleash your potential.

1. What You Focus On Expands

Most people focus on the negative. They’re always complaining about the things that have gone wrong.

But what you focus on expands, so focus on what you want to achieve one day. Focus on the positive.

A lot of self-help gurus recommend that the one thing you shouldn’t focus on is money. Rather than money, focus on the value you’ll bring to others in exchange for the money, and the money will come.

2. Great Results Come From Making A Decision and Committing 100%

All change comes from making firm decisions. “Soft decisions” are not real decisions.

A firm decision requires committing 100% to doing something. Most people don’t make a firm decision because they want to leave all the doors open if it doesn’t work out. This analysis paralysis never pushes them through.

Like Napoleon Hill or Kevin Planck of Under Armour says, you must commit — burn your Plan B and go in.

To make a decision to be healthy, demolish any doors that open you up to being unhealthy.

In my opinion, this is an interesting, extreme approach. There’s a certain level of intensity that unsuccessful people lack. However, I wonder if there are some moments when it’s best to have a smart Plan B, like how Michael Dell, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg had college and a career as a back-up if their company failed.

3. Replace Bad Behaviors With Great Ones and Reward Yourself For Even The Smallest Victories

According to the book The Power of Habit, science has shown that habits have a standard process of being formed: there’s a trigger, the habit occurring, and a reward.

If you love eating junk food, it’s because you like the taste.

Find a way of rewarding yourself for good behavior. For example, Tony played cheerful, celebratory music each time he pushed his plate away when he was full when there was still food on there. Perhaps, you can find a reward that works for you.

4. We All Move Towards Pleasure and Away From Pain

Tony asserts that every action we take moves us towards pleasure or away from pain. He admits it might simplistic , but it’s true for most, if not all, of what we do on a daily basis.

You can use this to move towards where you want to go by removing bad behaviors and creating good ones.

If you want to improve your dating life, it’s because you hate the pain of being alone, for example, or you want the pleasures of a relationship. If you’re at the gym working out, you’re accepting the short-term pain of the workout for a long-term gain of looking sexy. Similarly, others may continue eating junk food and avoiding the gym because they enjoy the comfort of the food and fear the pain of exercise.

Let’s say you’ve identified a bad habit, such as procrastinating. How can you make a good habit more pleasurable and less painful? Can you make your work more fun somehow?

5. Visualize Your Dreams Constantly, No Matter How Crazy They Are

Tony had some pretty crazy dreams of living in a castle and having an office overlooking an ocean when he had nothing. He also dreamed of helping many people and speaking on stage.

He visualized all of this, and at the time, it seemed pretty preposterous to most people. Within a decade, he went from working as a janitor with no college education to achieving all of those dreams and more.

6. You Don’t Have To Be Too Specific With Your Goals

Tony Robbins says you don’t need to too specific to the smallest degree with your goals. For example, knowing that you want a big mansion with a lawn out front in a tropic climate is enough. You don’t need to go into detail about the specific flowers you want in your yard and the design of your wallpaper.

But don’t be too vague with your goal either. A goal that is way too broad is “I want to be rich” or “I want to be happy” or “I want to do good.” How about something more specific, like a numeric amount: “I want $100,000 a year” or “I want to help homeless kids in India area get out of poverty.”

Make sure you follow Napoleon Hill’s specific visualization and goal-setting formula in his books. I also mention it in this post.