Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jerry Scott. We hope you enjoy Jerry’s wisdom and perspective.
Last January I was browsing in Barnes & Nobles and noticed Tony Robbins on the cover of Success magazine. He was promoting an article on pushing past your comfort zone to achieve the extraordinary. He looked older and more serious than I remembered. I picked up the magazine, looked at Tony, and smiled a big smile with soft eyes. God knows I love that man.
The picture of Tony forever etched in my mind is the youthful Tony on the cover of the 12 cases that make up the 24 audio CD’s of Personal Power II I purchased for the extraordinary sum of $297 in 1996. You see, more than anything, I needed to change my life.
I had a decent enough upbringing and my Mom did her best. But troubles at home at a sensitive and formative age sent me to the Sodom and Gomorrah of a major college campus with a chip on my shoulder and a rebellious streak my Mamaw Goodrum would say was “wilder than a Bessie bug”. I got a degree in Economics and went to law school. I dropped out of law school, moved home, and entered full-time work where my first mentor pushed a mantra of work hard/play hard as an overarching philosophy enabling his alcoholism.
The next 11 years of my career is diplomatically described on my LinkedIn profile as diverse experience in sales, manufacturing management, and restaurant management best characterized as a master’s degree from the school of hard knocks. It was pretty much a train wreck. Flashes of brilliance leavened with a lack of focus, commitment, and seriousness of purpose.
I had managed to get another entry level job in a good and growing company. I had married an amazing and righteous woman and had a beautiful five year old daughter. But the old patterns were pulling me back down the wrong path. One day I looked in my daughter’s eyes and knew I had to be a better man. I had to be someone she could be proud of for all her life. I didn’t know how to change. And then I met Tony.
I think I saw Tony on Oprah or maybe on an infomercial about Personal Power II. Something about what he promised resonated deep in my soul. So I bought the CD series with a credit card and spent the next 30 days immersed in his teaching. Modules like:
- How to Shape Your Destiny Now
- How to Get What You Really Want
- How to Create a Compelling Future
- The Ultimate Secret of Lifelong Success
- Moving Beyond Procrastination to Unlimited Power
- How to Increase Your Energy
- The Power of Successful Relationships
- Turning Fear and Self-Sabotage Into Confidence and Success
People don’t wake up suddenly one day and find themselves in a bad spot. They drift into them slowly over time. Habits of behavior and thinking form into massive trenches of inertia and trap you into a loop of bad outcomes. It takes a right thinking overhaul and massive action to change your life and destiny. And Tony’s profound contribution is the process to make those changes. He taught me how to change my life one step at a time and to believe that the past does not equal the future.
He taught me how to recognize what I wanted out of life. He taught me how to identify what was holding me back and keeping me from changing what clearly wasn’t working. He taught me the power of gratitude.
Success is not about positive thinking alone. It’s about seeing your situation as it is and telling yourself the truth. It is about taking action on that truth and harnessing the power of momentum. In essence, he taught me the process for change in exactly the same way you can feed a man for a day with a fish but for a lifetime by teaching him how to fish.
I count the ability to change as my most cherished and valuable skill. I have used it in my career, relationships, health, and finances. Having that ability makes me more confident and hopeful about the future. I know I can adapt to any challenge I encounter down the road.
My life for the last 19 years feels like a miracle to me. I have been blessed with an astonishing career and related financial success, and have been by all accounts a good and honorable husband. We raised a confident and creative young woman in a dysfunction-free home and sent her off to craft a beautiful life. I spend my time now doing good work with my friends at Gibson. All of this, in some deeply significant way, I owe to Tony Robbins.
So when I see Tony’s face, I smile and think atta boy.
What’s The Risk?
It is a rare person indeed who doesn’t face challenges throughout their life. It is so easy to drift into debt, poor health habits, relationship problems, addiction, or to be unhappy in career choices or prospects. The saddest situation of all is a person who is miserable but is unable or unwilling to change their circumstances.
Our employees are human beings and we must attend to their overall wellbeing if we are to harness all of their potential. Many employers are beginning to take a broader interest in wellbeing and offer support in many new and innovative ways. I hear Tony’s new book Money: Master the Game is extraordinary! Maybe a book circle is in order.
This content was written and shared by guest blogger, Jerry Scott. Connect with Jerry on LinkedIn and Twitter.
