As the Chief Psychologist at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, I see so much human misery, not just in the mentally ill patients we treat, but also in the “normal,” “healthy” staff that treat them. I also see the same unhappiness in the high-functioning, relatively successful people I treat in my private practice. Quite often, the pain and misery are unnecessary and finally end when the people take charge of their beliefs, feelings, and actions in order to modify the process of their lives. Unfortunately, most of the time they don’t. They wait, then try to alter the bad result or, often, go to a shrink wanting just to complain about their awful life or in some way be “fixed” by someone else.
Empowering people to realize that they determine the outcome of their own lives is not always easy. In fact, it’s usually an overwhelming task. Consequently, I’ve always searched for new methods and technologies to pass along at the hospital and to my private patients. It was five years ago that I first heard about Tony Robbins’s work and attended one of his seminars in New York. I expected and received a truly unusual evening. What was unexpected was Tony’s genius in the realm of human behavior and communication. That night I learned that Tony shares my belief that anyone who is basically sane can take command and live life fully. Soon afterward, I attended Tony’s two-week Certification course and passed on much of what I learned there to colleagues and patients. I called the course “a basic training for life.” I then began recommending his tape series and his first book, Unlimited Power.
Although some of my colleagues are offended or surprised when I recommend the works of such a young man who doesn’t have academic credentials, those who actually read or listen to Tony come to agree. In addition to comprehensive, good information, Tony has a talent and a compelling style that make his material easy to grasp.
Eventually, my wife and I took the Date With Destiny™ course which contains many of the concepts that are in Tony’s latest work, Awaken the Giant Within. That weekend gave us the means to make alterations in our own values, rules, and controls, which, over the past two years, have allowed our lives to become much more productive and fulfilling.
I see Tony as a great coach in the game of life. His accurate insight, intelligence, passion, and commitment are always present and inspiring. Reading this book is like actually sitting across from Tony and becoming engaged in an engrossing and entertaining conversation with him. It should be referred to again and again, like a user’s manual, whenever life presents a new challenge or requires a change in course. It provides an arsenal of tools for lasting change as well as lessons for enriching the quality of life. In fact, if enough people read this book and sincerely apply its teachings, it could put me and many of my colleagues out of business.
FREDERICK L. COVAN, PH.D.
“Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action.”
—ORISON SWETT MARDEN