Tony Robbins talks about how to unlock your true potential -- and high-fives Al Gore in the front row! A fast-paced, mind-expanding, motivating TEDTalk for high achievers and those who wish to be.

Inspirational Biography
“Success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want,” says Tony Robbins. For the past 15 years, Robbins has been doing exactly that. As one of the most celebrated motivational speakers and life coaches in the world, Robbins has come from humble beginnings to rise to the top of his game. He not only talks about how to achieve success; with best-selling books and seminars behind him, as well as being Chairman of five private companies that together generate over half of $1 billion, Robbins has himself become a successful entrepreneur and a model of what it takes in order to achieve your dreams.

Anthony J. Mahavorick was born on February 29, 1960 in Glendora, California, a low-income suburb of Los Angeles. When he was just seven years old, his parents divorced. His mother would later remarry twice, and he would take on the surname of his second stepfather, Jim Robbins. An ambitious child, Robbins dreamed of one day leaving his modest upbringings behind to become a sports reporter. He attended Glendora High School and in 1977, was elected president of his student body. The passion, for which Robbins has since become legendary, was not so beneficial to him as a child; at the age of 17, Robbins was kicked out of his house for being “too intense.”

It wasn’t long before Robbins found his niche. After discovering the motivational speaker Jim Rohn, Robbins became inspired. He began to read personal growth books by the hundreds – over seven hundred in just a few years. He also discovered that he had a personal knack for sales, where his early career excelled. With his voracious appetite for self-help books and his impressive sales technique, Robbins soon found himself in the seminar business.

Initially, Robbins found himself selling tickets for another popular motivational speaker. He had an impressive ability to sell tickets to almost anyone, even breaking all the sales records in his first month. By any measure, Robbins was a success and was now in an income bracket beyond his dreams. But, Robbins wanted more for himself.

“I remember the moment my life changed, the moment I finally said, ‘'I've had it! I know I'm much more than I'm demonstrating mentally, emotionally, and physically in my life,’” recalls Robbins. “I made a decision in that moment which was to alter my life forever. I decided to change virtually every aspect of my life. I decided I would never again settle for less than I can be.”

Robbins began compiling all the knowledge he had amassed over the years and developed a unique motivational seminar that he himself began delivering to public audiences. They were fast sellouts. Then, in 1983, Robbins discovered Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a radical and relatively new therapeutic technique that Robbins would go on to study and promote in his seminars. After only briefly studying the basic principles of NLP, Robbins hit the road with his new seminar; it turned out to be the road that would establish his career and turn him into the success he is today.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming promised instant results; by directly altering unconscious ‘programs’, Robbins and other proponents of NLP believed that it was one of the most promising new therapeutic techniques. Robbins created a new seminar based on NLP and hit the road with it. He began appearing on television and radio stations throughout first, Canada, and then the U.S. In 1989, he launched a series of infomercials to promote his product, which proved to be a very successful strategy. Since their initial introduction, Robbins’ infomercials have aired on average every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, somewhere in North America.

Robbins’s confidence in his new “technology of change” was growing. He began to publicly challenge psychiatrists by asking for a chance to work through their toughest cases in front of a live audience. In one of his early seminars, Robbins brought on stage a woman who had been being treated for her phobia of snakes for over seven years; Robbins cured her in fifteen minutes. Following that experience, Robbins exclaims, “I became a wild man! I stormed across the country demonstrating to people how quickly change could occur.”

Robbins also began offering personal therapy sessions, initially at a price of $500 per hour. Soon, he was charging $5,000 per hour and was guaranteeing transformation in one session. “If you see your therapist more than twice, your therapist has no integrity,” Robbins would say. Interest in Robbins’ seminars was growing across the country, the most famous of which was his four-day Unleash the Power Within seminar. It was here where Robbins demonstrated his now-famous firewalk, whereby people would gain mental discipline and confidence by walking over burning coals, and then apply that principle to other aspects of their lives.

Over the next decade, Robbins’ reputation as a successful entrepreneur and life coach would continue to soar. He has authored five internationally best-selling books, which have since been published in 14 languages throughout the world. His Personal Power development system has sold over 35 million audiotapes and he has given seminars to over three million people in more than 80 countries. Robbins also founded Mastery University, bringing together world leaders to train future world leaders.

Today, Robbins is one of the most sought after international speakers and advisors. From Fortune 500 CEOs to elite athletes to international leaders, including Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa, Robbins has met with, consulted or advised some of the most influential people in the world. Robbins is also a dedicated philanthropist and humanitarian, having launched the non-profit Anthony Robbins Foundation to help the homeless and disadvantaged and creating the Presidential Summit for America’s Promise. The Anthony Robbins Companies now include Namale Resort & Spa, Twinlab Corporation, Rebus Publishing, and Discovery Toys. Robbins serves as Chairman to each, with all of them being geared towards improving people’s quality of life.

When American Express asked its entrepreneurial clients who would be their number one choice of anyone in the world to personally coach them in their business endeavours if price were not an issue, Robbins was selected by an overwhelming margin. He represents not only financial success but also the passion and energy that entrepreneurs need to take their company to the top.

Success Electron #1: Your potential is determined by Self-belief
“The only thing that's keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself,” says Robbins. “What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.”

Robbins is a firm believer in the power of the mind; the only way to go from good to great is to believe that it is possible. If we believe we are destined for small things, then that is all we will ever achieve. Conversely, if we believe we are destined for greatness, we will settle for nothing less and we will not stop until we have reached that goal.

Success Electron #2: Passion and Purpose makes anything possible
If there is one thing that Robbins is known for above all else, it is the passion with which he approaches life. Whether he is speaking to an audience of 2,000 or a single journalist, Robbins can’t help but be passionate.
“Live with passion!” he exclaims. “There is no greatness without a passion to be great, whether it's the aspiration of an athlete or an artist, a scientist, a parent, or a businessperson.” According to Robbins, a life without passion is a life of un-fulfillment.
Over the course of Robbins’ career, he has seen numerous athletes, business people and world leaders alike who have failed to achieve their goals, not because they lacked passion, but because they lacked focus. “One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power,” he says. “Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.”

Success Electron #3: Create a vision and stick to it.
There is a powerful, driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream or desire a reality,” says Robbins. “I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk.”

In order to ever achieve that masterpiece, Robbins believes that you must have faith that it could actually happen and imagine your life as it would be. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible,” says Robbins. But, beyond that, success requires a vision; goals are only the stepping-stones on the way to that vision.

“Create a vision and never let the environment, other people's beliefs, or the limits of what has been done in the past shape your decisions,” says Robbins. “Ignore conventional wisdom.” Even in the face of doubt or controversy, have faith in that vision. Cling to it in the knowledge that you have the right to achieve nothing less than what you want for your life.