Business Lessons Learned from Attending the Tony Robbins UPW Event

Last week I attended Tony Robbins’ 4-day Unleash the Power Within (UPW) seminar in San Jose, California, along with 6,000 attendees. One of the staffers told me it was the largest event Robbins has held to date. And yes, this was the event that has been heavily reported due to 21 people seeking treatment for injuries during the firewalk, which I wrote about here.

The first day started around 2pm and was a big energy fest. There was a lot of music pumped into the convention center—everything from Katy Perry to Eminem—and attendees were urged to dance, jump around, high five and even hug their neighbors. In between all of the activity, Tony told engaging stories from the stage. All of this went on until close to 11pm, when the entire audience was led two blocks over for the infamous firewalk experience. I was fortunate to complete the walk without incident, along with 5,979 others.

On day two, a substitute speaker took the stage. It seems that Robbins has developed polyps on his vocal chords and must give his voice a rest in between the marathon training days. Day two covered business mastery tactics, though I never left my hotel room. I was exhausted from the prior week of travel to another event plus the emotions of the previous day, and decided to take the day off. My friends who attended each reported leaving early and feeling a bit like day two was a sales pitch for the business programs Robbins offers.

Tony Robbins returned on day three and so did I. The event kicked off around 9am and he was on stage until close to 1am—at least that’s what I heard. I lasted until about 10pm. During the entire day we had just one break. Tony is known for his high energy and he definitely brings it. He has to in order to command a stage for 14+ hours!

Day three was an emotional journey that involved identifying your limiting beliefs—the things you tell yourself that hold you back from reaching your goals. The room was darkened so that participants could identify the origin of these beliefs and let them go. I have never been in a room with such incredible intensity. There were people sobbing and howling through the exercise. The pain in the room was palpable. After that, we were told to replace those beliefs with the opposite statement—something positive to move us forward. A musical celebration followed with lots of jumping around and dancing.

On day four, a replacement speaker returned to cover material on how to master a high-energy life. Though I’m sure I could have learned a few things there, I headed home. I had what felt like a hangover and felt like the journey was complete for me.

Here are some highlights and lessons I learned at the UPW event:

• Tony Robbins knows how to make money. Aside from the infomercials he has aired for years, these events create huge paydays. Though a lot of complimentary tickets were given out based on the many discussions I had with attendees, the numbers are still huge. Assuming the average revenue earned per ticket sale was $350, multiplied by 6,000 attendees, that’s a total gross revenue of $2.1 million. And these are conservative estimates.
• Of course sales didn’t end with tickets. Audio programs were offered at special discounts, starting around $150 each. On the first day attendees received a “product scratcher” that offered a special one-day only discount of an additional 10% to 30% off. Cha-ching!
• There were also programs for the business university ($10k), vitamin supplements, coaching, and travel opportunities to Tony’s resort in Fiji. Who knows how much additional revenue was generated.
• There were items available for purchase to benefit the Tony Robbins charitable foundation, including a silent auction with lots of signed merchandise. Items ranged in price from starting bids under $100 to over $5,000.
• There were dozens of staffers on hand to high-five us as we entered, usher us to our seats, and keep the motivation wheels spinning. I understand that they volunteered to be there—another interesting and lucrative business decision given the amount of money generated at the event. These folks were definitely heads of the Robbins fan club!
• Tony Robbins knows how to tell compelling stories, something that every speaker should be able to do. This is one of the most powerful ways to captivate an audience.
• He’s a talented coach. A 21-year old with a stuttering problem stood up and received some live coaching from Tony about breathing patterns and focus. Miraculously he began speaking clearly. The whole thing was pretty darn moving.
• The content is meaty. Tony teaches a lot of principles and philosophies that he has developed over his 30+ years of “studying human behaviors.” Some of it feels like common sense, though there are revelations that come in between.
• One of my favorite lessons from the event was how to immediately change my state of mind. Rather than worrying about something or getting caught up in mindless chatter, I can choose to focus my mind on a feeling that is powerful. Seems like something we should already know, but Tony did teach us some tools for making the transition quickly and easily.
• Tony recommends that we all need a mentor or coach to guide us toward our goals, and that we should study how others achieved success before us. Agreed!
• My favorite analogy came from a story about when Tony wanted to learn how to golf. He is strong and had no problem hitting the ball off into the distance, but it always fell to the left or the right. But his golf coach showed him that a simple two millimeter correction in his club position made all the difference. For many of us in business, this is a great metaphor for how close we can be to achieving success. Sometimes we just need a very minor correction to help us reach that next level.
• There are a lot of people out there who literally worship the ground that Tony Robbins walks on. That made me a little uneasy because it felt almost cult-like. I get that we all need coaches and mentors and inspiration, but some people took it a bit far.
• All the touch-your-neighbor stuff was downright awkward. At several points participants had to massage each other’s shoulders, hug each other, and even divulge personal challenges to total strangers. I don’t think that was comfortable for anyone.
• Many of Robbins’ stories involved people who are celebrities or high-income earners. This bordered on a little arrogant and I found it distracting.
• There were several dozen kids at the event ranging in age from around 8 years through teens. At first I thought this was pretty fabulous, however, there was a ton of profanity in the lectures and I’m not sure I’d want my young kid exposed to that. Though I do think it would be beneficial to bring a mature teenager to the event.

Bottom line: I’m glad I went and I kept it all in perspective, as I do with any kind of learning opportunity. I took lessons that applied to me and that I agreed with, and left the rest behind. Overall I found it valuable. I don’t expect that I will attend again anytime soon (some people proudly professed to attending UPW more than a dozen times), but I do find it had some solid substance and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their life circumstances. Nothing wrong with that provided you can keep it all in proper perspective!

Stephanie Chandler is the author of LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business.
She is also CEO of http://AuthorityPublishing.com, a custom publisher of
nonfiction books, and http://BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of resources
for entrepreneurs. Also visit http://StephanieChandler.com

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