Awaken the giant within by Anthony Robbins is one of my favorite books. I think everyone should read this book in their lifetime.

I’ve been a huge fan of Tony Robbins for a long time. I first learned about him by watching some youtube videos. I was most likely googling something depressing and found out that Tony has a ton of talks on how to change your mindset.

This book goes over how to craft a successful life.

Check out my youtube review of this book

Who is this book for?

If you are floundering in your life right now and have no idea where to start, this book will provide a ton of guidance. Even if you don’t relate to a lot of the advice in this book, you will find something that you can utilize because there is so much good info in this book.

What the book covers

The book covers goals, values, mindset.

You have to remember that this book was written in the 90’s so it doesn’t have all the mindfulness stuff that’s common in today’s self-help books but that doesn’t matter. That’s also another reason that I find that this book is great. There are so many books on mindfulness but not books on mindset like goal setting and vocabulary.

Why this book is so great –  It has exercises

This book has tons of exercises. I am a big fan of exercises or challenges when it comes to self help. People don’t remember most of the content of the books they read. People also don’t change themselves by reading books to often and that’s why I like exercises. Exercises make you sit there and do the work on yourself. Additionally, Tony Robbins has people fill out exercises at his seminars. I’m pretty sure a lot of the exercises in this book are what people fill out in his seminars that cost thousands of dollars, so this book provides a ton of value.

Top Tips from the book

Your beliefs drive your life

What you believe drives every single thing in your life. If you believe that life sucks or that people are bad, the way you operate in life will be centered around that. Analyze all your beliefs and make sure they align with what you want your life to be. You can’t think that life sucks and is unfair and think you are going to be a millionaire. You need to rely on people and think positively in order to achieve any positive outcome.

Are your values correct?

Another very interesting concept along the same lines of beliefs is analyzing your values. You need to audit your values and make sure they align with your goals. If you are dissatisfied with your life, it is most likely because you are not meeting your values. If you value freedom but aren’t getting it in your life, you either need to get rid of something that is tying you down or reassess what you consider freedom to be. Tony has some great exercises and examples of what values are so that you can figure out and prioritize your values.

Change your mental vocabulary

You need to change the vocabulary that you use because it will also change your mental state. Don’t say that you feel good, say that you feel exceptional. Instead of saying that you are pissed off or mad, say that you are peeved. The vocabulary that you use in your everyday life can change your mental state.

Use appropriate metaphors

This is another insight that I never considered. What are your metaphors for life. Do you think life is a joke. People are terrible or that work is just work.

What metaphors do you use in your life. Are they positive or negative? If they are negative, start rewriting them now.

Goals

This book doesn’t just tell you to set your goals it provides you insight on which goals are the most important and the timeline to set them in. You need to set your goals. Get this book to help you accomplish your goals.

Another important thing about goals that this book covers is the difference between ends goals and means goals. Tony Robbins and others have popularized this distinction and it is important to learn. Means goals are goals that society has set up for you like getting money or meeting someone. Ends goals are what you ultimately want to

Use of Questions

You need to make sure you ask the right questions. If you aren’t making progress in your life, it could be because you aren’t asking the right questions. Tony has some cool questions that you should ask yourself every morning and every night. I’m a big fan of this because it primes your mind to get into the right mindset everyday and every night. This is similar to many other self help specialists who tell you to write the things that you are grateful for every morning and night.

Focus

You are what you focus on. If you consistently focus on the negative in life, then that’s what you will feel. You will feel down in the dumps and like you can’t overcome anything.

You should change your focus to more positive things like positive goals that you want to achieve in the future.

Change your habits

Changing habits isn’t only about trying not to do something bad. It’s about creating a new habit that you enjoy more. Tony makes a good point that this doesn’t just help with simple bad habits but that it also helps with major habits like alcoholism or drug habits. People with addictions tend to go back to their addiction because they have nothing else to turn to. Find something positive to turn to in your times of need and condition yourself to go to that during bad emotional experiences.

Trust your emotions

Don’t try to avoid your emotions. Emotions are signals in your life. You shouldn’t run away from them. You should learn what they mean and use them your advantage. You can use an app like Daylio to track your emotions or you can use a journal.

Based on my experience with self help, emotions are everything. You have listen to emotions. Emotions are what drive you to do drugs or fall in love. Emotions are what keep you from making progress in your life. Do not ignore them.

In Awaken the Giant Within, Tony describes emotions in detail and tells you what they mean.

Turn bad experiences into cartoons

Another thing that Tony Robbins is well known for is his use of NLP. One of the key techiques of NLP is to remove negative thoughts and memories. One way Tony suggests to do this is imagine your bad experiences as movies in your head and shrink them and turn them into cartoons. There is more detail on how to do this in the book and in other NLP books. The good thing about Tony is that he doesn’t let you live in the past or in trauma. He really wants people to move on and create a good future no matter what their past is. I agree with him about this approach 100%.

Key takeaways

It’s not pleasure that drives us but the certainty that pleasure provides.

Everything in life is a result of your thoughts and your mindset.

Change can happen in an instant of you are willing to associate massive pain with inaction. Don’t think that you can’t change your life.

Summary

Awaken the giant is all about life hacking. Everything that you need to change your life. If you aren’t happy with your life, it’s because you’ve been using your mind all wrong. You are probably punishing yourself for no reason.

You have to realize that in order to do your best in life you have to focus really deep in one area and you have to be positive about it. You have to believe in your ability achieve it. You can’t distract yourself. Get rid of your distractions and negative thoughts and start achieving your dreams today. If you need more help, make sure to pick up a copy of Awaken The Giant Within today.