Awaken the Giant Within : How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!

Would you like to live a more pleasant life? Wouldn't it be great to solve your problems using effective questioning? Are you feeling unclear of what your true destiny is? Do you desire to quit a bad habit? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I recommend that you pick up this book and implement every exercise and techniques that he teaches within the book. I picked up the book, "Awaken the Giant Within" because I came across Tony Robbin's audio on youtube that had a similar theme. The hour long audio made me feel empowered enough that I wanted to know more about the author. I recommend this book if you would like to discover your true life's purpose and the steps to achieving your goals efficiently and effectively while taking complete control of your life. Tony Robbin's has a reputation as a successful businessman and he teaches people how to master their emotions. He is our nation's leader in peak performance and an expert in the psychology of change. In his early life, his mother was an alcoholic who has had several husbands, while his father was absent in his life. He's like many of us, but decided without any formal education in psychology to begin his own work as a self-help coach. Within this book he emphasizes how beliefs, values, and your rules affect your behaviors. He links pain and pleasure as the reason why people make decisions. For example, if an individual is overweight and desires weight loss, but links a lot more pleasure to eating unhealthy foods and pain when it comes to exercising, then they aren't making a change to their behavior. Tony Robbins gives step by step tips on how to associate pain to your bad habits so that you can ultimately stop those decisions or bad habits and make better life choices. Tony also explains the importance of asking your self quality questions. He regularly uses "Seek and you shall find" and describes how your mind will find whatever you tell it to seek. If you ask lousy questions, you will get lousy answers. He then explains how our every day vocabulary and metaphors can affect the way we are feeling. For example, using the metaphor, "I hit a brick wall" means "I'm feeling stuck" and Tony teaches how to break those metaphorical patterns by responding to this by saying, "Then climb over the wall" or "Then go around it." He describes how we can use our everyday language to benefit our daily lives. Tony later mentions within the book that our identity is what we make ourselves to be. For example, an individual can identify them-self as an alcoholic and this will cause them to desire alcohol. In order to stop drinking, the person must start seeing themselves as a non-alcoholic to begin creating lasting changes. The person would have to create a new experience and reference points to provide them with this newer, beneficial belief. Even small successes that occur will give an individual the belief that they WILL succeed. He then mentions the, "CANI" attitude meaning "Constant and Never Ending improvement." By going beyond what we set our limits are is enough know that we CAN be successful. The attitude is, "If I CAN do this activity, what other activities, CAN I do?" This attitude is about how accomplishments can cause you to do activities that you may have felt wasn't of your ability. As your confidence increases with your accomplishments, you will begin to believe that you CAN do more. The difference about this book and many other self-help books is that it gives several examples and also gives a more interactive experience with the exercises he has within this book. This book has benefited me because I feel more in control of my emotions. I used to stress out a lot but found that it was so much better for me to put my energy in a more beneficial place. Because of the knowledge I have obtained from this book, I have found myself noticing patterns of people's behaviors and how it benefits them and also how it ruins them. I found that Tony's techniques have been useful is creating a more pleasant lifestyle that is healthier for my body and the people around me. I can confirm that because of this book, the people I have surrounded myself with have changed as I became better. I am now surrounded by more successful individuals, and people who have similar interests in being in control of their life. This book will give you a fresh perspective on your life and the factors that contribute to why you are where you are. I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for the assistance of this book.

I am mystified by some of the mixed reviews here. I must admit I had some scepticism of Mr Robbins based on his infomercials, mainly because he tells what his material can do, but not how it works. In this book though he delivers the goods. This book contains some profound methods to improve your thinking and improve your life. I am still working through this book, yet already I have successfully used some of the concepts. For example, there is a chapter about asking yourself the right questions, which can instantly change you into a more positive and empowering state, rather than feel victimized as people often do by adversity. I used the transformative language technique to resolve a situation where I was angered by the behavior of an associate. Through using the word disenchanted instead of angry to describe how I felt, I immediately lessened the emotional intensity of the situation, and was ultimately able to resolve the situation peacefully. This book also contains practical and powerful NLP techniques, such as repatterning and swish technique. While it may be true to say that some of Robbins work is derivative of the works of Erickson, Bandler and Grinder I have rarely seen the material presented in such a user friendly way. There truly is magic in these concepts. If you can imagine leading a better and more effective life the concepts in this book will show you the way. What I particularly appreciate about this book is how well written it is. It has a really flowing easy to read style. I highly recommend this book, and I have a great deal of respect for the writer after reading it. I hope you find this review helpful.

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. :)

This book was really helpful for my personal growth. The book is over five hundred pages so it took me about a semester in college to read the entire book. Despite the length the book was fantastic it was informative, insightful, and provided several understandable examples that one can relate to. If you have never read a Tony Robbins book I highly recommend giving this one a look. It won't hurt. Although I really enjoyed the book Part four I didn't enjoy so much (only a very small part of the book). It seemed as if he was somewhat biased against certain issues (beef eaters, prison systems, homeless, and amount one should donate). Now of course this isn't the reason why I deducted a star. For at least ten to fifteen pages near the end I felt as if I were reading an infomercial about why you should go through his programs and donate to his foundation. I believe these resources may be great, but it would have been better to save them for later. He also states why you should read books x, y, and z to truly gain an understanding of the material. This happened consistently throughout the actual content of the novel! I don't mind banner advertisements at the absolute end of the book which he also included, but when reading a novel (and many others agree also) we don't like all of the unnecessary fluff. It's always easy to criticize something, but I am highly impressed by this book as a whole. In fact I am looking forward to reading it again within the next year! The different workbook problems helped provide interactivity to ensure that the reader takes full advantage of what he/she absorbs. Despite the very minor offset I mentioned I strongly encourage anybody who is willing to grow as a person to check this book out. It's worth the buy.

I decided to write a review after reading some of the negative reviews on here. They were actually very thoughtful, well articulated reviews, which usually ended in a promo for some other author's book. But I felt that most of these people are in search of a magic pill, which is probably explains all the plugs for other books. For me, I could care less about who wrote this book, what his credentials are, whether he's a false prophet, or a narcissistic self-promoter. Big bird could have written this book for all I care. I care about how the words in the book resonated with me. I continuously found amazing concepts that I was able to internalize and help develop a conviction that I can transform into a better version of myself. And, a la Tony, a conviction is something we do not question because we have absolute certainty about it. This book helped me develop that conviction that no matter what, I will always be improving my state of being and the quality of my life. I've internalized many of the concepts from this book. One major concept is that we can physically re-wire our brains, creating powerful neurological pathways that allow us to move towards feeling good all the time, while dissolving the old pathways that led us into pain, and ultimately into reading this book. Eventually, it is actually harder to develop those old feelings of pain than it is to experience the new feelings of pleasure. This book provided me with great clarity as to how our brains operate and how we experience pleasure and pain. With this new-found sense of clarity, I have actually been able to develop my own concepts and guidelines that I follow to constantly improve my state. If you're looking for a magic pill, don't read this book. Then again, magic pills don't exist.

I was in a coma 18 and a half years ago. I could feel my legs but not move them. I had worked in hospitals for over twenty years and could see the respirator next to my bied. I was calm and had no fear or pain. It was a spiritual experience. It took me two months of physical recovery at home before I could begin other treatment for my bipolar illness and my alcoholism. My self esteem was so low that I asked someone about a meeting that had wheelchair access and was told their self esteem was low. I told them I was so low I didn't think I had any. I said that I would take low. I went to Serenity Hall in Skyway Washington. It is just a short distance from Seattle and Renton. I read this book and got the positive attitude to make changes to have a life. I worked the 12 steps of AA, continued treatment for my biplolar and I slowly began to have a life., I went back to school and got my MBA. I began writing and also started an alpaca ranch from scratch and did well. I am now a photographer and an owner of a corporate online business called CHS Online Ventures LLC. I love my grandchildren. I love myself. I help others with problem with drug and alcohol use as well as bipolar illness. I have worked over 40 years as a protector of animal abuse and have received a wonderful award from the The Humane Society of the United States. I am a HSUS Humane Hero. I have worked with the development desiabled and I have a sister I have been guardian of for over forty years. She went from being in the well known Rainier School in Buckly Washington with a helmet on her head banging her head against the cement wall which she did most of her 25 years there. She lives in Lakewood Washington (Just shy south of Tacoma) and has two roommates and has such an active lifestyle and social calender that I have to schedule time with her. It's not that bad but that is a miracle. Awaken the Giant was exactly what I needed. I had many of his talents before but I needed to relearn them. I like it as a reference book so I bought it for my kindle. I have used many of his quotes and techniques in working with others. Please look for my book I hope to be out iin 2015 called "Picking of the Pieces" by Carol B. Schroeder. Take your life back and go for the gold. I have and I am sober over 18 years one day at a time. The perfect compliment to making changes in your life and not only getting your life back but a life you never imagined. I use it as a reference book. My sister recommended it for me and that was the best thing she could have done when I was in recovery and on a walker.

I enjoyed every chapter. I enlisted a close friend to read it as well for accountability. Being retired recently, we need to find a new identity. This book certainly provides great practical tools to do just that. Enjoy the ride of a thrilling new life!

Although I have always been impressed with Tony Robbins because of extraordinary philanthropic record, my respect for him skyrocketed when I read “Awaken the Giant Within.” This is certainly one those “change your life” books. Tony starts the book with the three steps to success, and then spends the rest of the book inspiring and guiding the reader to improve his life dramatically. The first of the three steps that Tony says is to raise your standards. By reading his approach to this fundamental concept of self-improvement, I realized that I was accepting so many things in my life that, if I would only raise my standards, would be so much improved. From the standpoint of running a business, I began to see how many more people I could help, and in my personal life, too, I realized that I certainly could increase the time I spent with my family and also pursue other personal goals as well. In fact, since I finished the book I have now gotten my spoken French to a much more fluent level and have even performed a short stand-up comedy bit to group of about fifty people. One of the themes that Tony constantly teaches is that everything we do is for one of two reasons: increase pleasure or avoid pain. He often uses weight loss strategies as a way to help readers think of ways to use the pleasure/pain principal in their lives. I decided to apply that, and started on a weight loss program, too. Although I wasn’t suffering from being terribly overweight, I had certainly let a few too many pounds slip on over the years. Moreover, I had also moved towards a less healthy diet. By internalizing Tony’s approach, I have not only cut out all processed sugars from my diet (no cakes, cookies, candy) which will lower my chances to get diabetes one day, but I also was able drop about 15 pounds, bringing me almost to my ideal weight (where I expect to be within another month or two). These are just a few examples of how reading “Awaken” has improved my life. There are many more, and I am just one of millions of people who’ve had their lives improved because of Tony Robbins. I strongly suggest this book to everyone.