Good ideas and strategies to help you organize your life.

I loved this book.
This book helped me so much. It is the best self help book that I've read so far. It has had tremendous impact on me. I've decided to devote a part of my time each day to reading books like this.
I gifted a copy to my cousin with whom I've discussed ideas from other self help books.
I wish I had found this book earlier. Maybe my life would have been a lot more different then. But I'm really glad that I have found it now.
Tony is absolutely right when he said that knowledge left unused is useless. I have not yet used the principles and the techniques that the book has taught me but I'll get there.
I'll read this book multiple times for sure..

As a disclaimer, I must say at the beginning that I am not easily sold to the self-help genre and that Mr. Robbins had always looked to mee more like a model for toothpaste commercials than a man of any substance. Now to the review. I truly, honestly do believe that every single human being on this planet should read this book. There are no magic formulas, there is no 'secret', there is no power of positive thinking, no 'Universe loves you' nonsense, but Robbins had masterfully managed to put into simple terms decades of psychological research. Never condescending or judgemental he still manages to keep a healthy dose of authority while making you uncover yourself valuable insight into human behaviour while keeping up an engaging conversational style. If this book doesn't make you reflect, reevaluate or change something in your life, probably nothing else will. Almost every single page is so chuck-full with inspiring and provoking thoughts, that you will find it impossible not to follow through at least one of his suggestions.

Right mood, right book, right length of audio version.

His ideas are simple and straightforward. He gets right to the point. No long case studies or redundant padding to increase word count. The audio is only an hour and a half on regular speed.

UPDATE: I just looked at the specs on the physical book and it is 548 pages! So I looked at the audio version more closely and realized it was an abridged version. No wonder it was short and to the point. I'm not sure I'd bother to read the big long thing.

Often referred to by me as "The Book", I can't believe I've never written a review of it before. This book has changed and improved my life in a way that no other ever has. I casually refer to Anthony Robbins as "Uncle Tony" because his words feel like sage advice from a favorite uncle. It is constantly within easy reach, either on my desk where I spend most of my time, or on my nightstand by the bed. It it well-worn, highlighted and color-coded so that I can find key concepts at a glance any time I pick it up. I have purchased and given away many copies, to all of my closest friends. In my eyes, it is THE most valuable gift I can give to anyone, because as corny as it sounds, I feel as though I am giving the keys to LIFE. Yes, it is THAT important to me.

The crux of this book is finding and realizing the power within yourself to make any change and improvement. We all have amazing strength, power and determination within us. Once we learn how to utilize that, there is nothing that can stop us from achieving our dreams. Many have criticized Robbins for "merely stating the obvious", but you'd be surprised how many people miss what is right there in front of us all the time. What he does is guide you into taking your blinders off and helping you to step out of yourself to really SEE the forces that guide every action we take. What it all comes down to is this: in the simplest, most basic terms everything we do, EVERY SINGLE THING, is an action to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. And we will often go to far greater lengths to avoid (usually imagined or over-estimated) pain than to gain pleasure. Also many times we take the easy route to short-term pleasure that leads to long-term pain, rather then suffer through some short-term pain to gain long-term pleasure. Once you are able to determine the motivations behind your goals and actions, you will be able to use them to your benefit to overcome any obstacle and make all of your dreams come true. Anything is possible once you put these forces to work for you instead of against you. :)

My only criticism with this book is that Robbins relies heavily on personal anecdotes (frequently in conjunction with abundant name-dropping) that can easily come off as self-congratulatory. This is where my highlighting has been most beneficial because it allows me to skip over all of that to find the core message.

While I honestly have yet to read it cover to cover, just reading and re-reading the first 10 chapters have been enough to make huge improvements in my life. Currently I am working on reading the entire book finally. :)

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to ANYONE who is unhappy with ANY aspect of his/her life and wishes to make some changes, no matter how large or small. The person who turned me on to Uncle Tony said he used the principles in this book to get out of a bad relationship, quit smoking, stop using drugs, and put himself back on the right path. I have personally used this book to break out "learned helplessness" and feeling like I had no control over my life. Now I know that nothing controls my life more than I do. I am always referring back when I feel like I am in a rut. It never fails to give me a fresh perspective. :)

"Controlled focus is like a laser beam that can cut through anything that seems to be stopping you. When we focus consistently on improvement in any area, we develop unique distinctions on how to make that area better..."

Awaken the Giant Within was a super-interesting book, full of great actionable advice. However, it was way too long, IMO. Although I liked the content covered here by the author, the book's ~20-hour length had me frustrated more than a few times... In the end, I earmarked the last ~75 pages to read later.

Author Anthony Jay Robbins is an American writer, coach, speaker, and philanthropist. He is known for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books including the books Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal Achievement and this one.

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Robbins writes with an easy engaging style here, for the most part, and the book contains many quotables. I'll share a few below.
The scope of the book is actually quite broad-based, as well. Robbins covers many different themes and topics here.

He mentions his motivation to write the book early on:
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"My entire life has been continually driven by a singular, compelling focus: What makes the difference in the quality of people's lives? How is it that so often people from such humble beginnings and devastating backgrounds manage in spite of it all to create lives that inspire us? Conversely, why do many of those born into privileged environments, with every resource for success at their fingertips, end up fat, frustrated, and often chemically addicted? What makes some people's lives an example and others' a warning? What is the secret that creates passionate, happy, and grateful lives in many, while for others the refrain might be, "Is that all there is?"

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Here he talks about overshooting your goals:
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"If you're going to make an error in life, err on the side of overestimating your capabilities (obviously, as long as it doesn't jeopardize your life). By the way, this is something that's hard to do, since the human capacity is so much greater than most of us would ever dream. In fact many studies have focused on the differences between people who are depressed and people who are extremely optimistic. After attempting to learn a new skill, the pessimists are always more accurate about how they did, while the optimists see their behavior as being more effective than it actually was. Yet this unrealistic evaluation of their own performance is the secret of their future success. Invariably17 the optimists eventually18 end up mastering the skill while the pessimists fail. Why? Optimists are those, who, despite having no references for success, or even references of failure, manage to ignore those references, leaving unassembled such cognitive tabletops as "I failed" or "I can't succeed." Instead, optimists produce faith references, summoning19 forth their imagination to picture themselves doing something different next time and succeeding. It is this special ability, this unique focus, which allows them to persist until eventually they gain the distinctions that put them over the top. The reason success eludes20 most people is that they have insufficient references of succeeding in the past. But an optimist operates with beliefs such as, "The past doesn't equal the future." All great leaders, all people who have achieved success in any area of life, know the power of continuously, pursuing their vision, even if all the details of how to achieve it aren't yet; available. If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible."

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The book also takes a deep dive into the power of language, as well as the Japanese concept of "Kaizen" (改善, かいぜん), which can loosely be defined as slow, gradual, and consistent improvement in performance.

Robbins also drops this quote about the comfort and security-seeking nature of people. There is no such thing as security, he says:
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"The only true security in life comes from knowing that every single day you are improving yourself in some way, that you are increasing the caliber of who you are and that you are valuable to your company, your friends, and your family. I don't worry about maintaining the quality of my life, because every day I work on improving it."

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This one was tough for me to rate. Although the book contains a lot of super useful information, I felt that it was way too long. The audiobook version I have was almost 20 hours long. IMHO, it should have been split into multiple volumes.
I'm sorry to give this one 3 stars, when the content really deserves a 5-star rating. I got really frustrated with the presentation, however...

Sounds like a cheesy infomercial

This book should be required reading for everyone. Amazing. How am I just learning about Anthony Robbins? I have always been the most motivated, determined person I know in every area of my life, but lately I had begun to lose that. Robbins' book helped take me out of this dark part of my life and motivated me again to become something great during this one shot at life.

This is a long book, and should not be rushed through. You just need to read a little each day- I would read a chapter or two- and then think about what you have read in the next 24 hours. You should also do all the exercises it tells you to do, no matter how cheesy they may seem. They will make sense and help get you out of your rut of unhealthy thinking and living. An unexamined life is not worth living...

O carte lungă (718 pagini) despre cum să ne îmbunătățim viața pornind de la autocunoaștere până la transformarea modului în care gândim și acționăm.

Ce mi-a plăcut:
Aceata are multe instrumente de psihologie și poate fi considerat un manual de lucru transformațional. Recomand cu căldură.

Ce mi-a plăcut mai puțin:
Muuuulte pagini care doar construiesc anticipanție prin exemple pentru instrumentele de lucru care urmează să fie prezentate. Fără atât de multe exemple și “build-up” cartea ar fi mult mai scurtă.

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Menționez că eu am citit-o după ce am parcurs deja audiobook-ul Personal Power II, iar majoritatea informațiilor și exemplelor au fost recapitulări la ceea ce aflasem deja.

Recomand ambele produse, atât cartea cât și audiobook-ul.

It's was a slow read in the first half (felt like forever) but then picks up the pace in the second half. I'm really glad I read this book. It says alot about helplessness and what to do and not to do about it. Focus on resolving a matter. How to lift your life right now, creat self-discipline and fly towards success. I felt good after finishing.

This book was really good. I need to start reading it again soon so I can absorb more of the information. It is really helpful if you stick with it and do the activities too.

I'm listening to audio taps and reading the book in the same time
I love tony's voice :)