The Tim Ferriss Show Transcripts Episode 37: Tony Robbins .

I have what I think in advance, and I have what the moment showsme. And I think the blend of that is really valuable because in themoment, people can show up in all kinds of ways. Somebodycould show up -- the meanest person on Earth can be kind in themoment. The kindest person can be very mean in the moment. SoI really like to grab both those. And then what I want to do when Imeet them is I want to try and understand what is it that they reallyneed, not only what they want.Because what you want -- I'm sure you've experienced this; I havein my life -- gotten what you want. And then you're like, "Is thatwhat it is?" It's like, "What the hell?" Because what really makesus fulfilled as human beings is what we need. And there's only somany needs, so I dig under what the needs are. I look at, 'What'stheir model of the world? How do they approach meeting thoseneeds?" And every model has limitations and challenges, mine,yours, anybody's. And so that tells me before I even meet themwhere the real challenge is, and then I listen for what the surfacechallenge is. And my goal is solve the surface challenge, but alsogive them more than they bargained for, solve the deeperchallenge.And ultimately, my goal is that they have a greater quality of life.And most people I work with have an extraordinary quality of life;they may not realize it. They may have forgotten it and lost trackof it unless I'm dealing with somebody -- which I also deal with -who's coming back from Afghanistan with PTSD, and they gotlight sensitivity. They can't sleep at night. They wake up in coldsweats, and they're shaking while they're talking to me. That's adifferent game. Boom, that's something that's got to be dealt within a different way. But when you're talking about peakedperformers, their challenges are usually they're hungry for me.Right, that's the nature -- probably people listening to this, they'regoing to listen Tim Ferriss.They're listening for more. Give me something beyond whateverybody else is talking about, and you're always seeking to tryand find that by not limiting it to yourself, same as myself. Let'sgo find whoever is best in these areas, and let's pull it together.And let's find the organizing principles that codify this. So I'mlooking to figure out what is that more that they want, or what is itthat's stopping them. And then I go into the experience and justabsorb what's there. And the combination of the two is how I'mable usually to get pretty extraordinary results. But without theprep -- what most people don't know me is the level of prep I do.Copyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

Like I can get up and with my pinky do six days in a row without anote or anything of that nature at this stage. That's not intelligence;that's experience. That's the 40,000 hours, not 10,000 hours overthe years. But I still prep because what I do is I activate in mynervous system that knowledge base of what I want to be able toserve somebody with. I try to bring that to the surface, so it'sreadily available.It's the difference between emotionalintelligence and what I call emotional fitness.Emotionalintelligence is the capability to deliver something. Fitness is thereadiness to be able to make that happen. So I'm more interestedin being emotionally fit or being emotionally fit for that person inthe moment.Tim Ferriss:And when you -- when you interact with people -- for instance,Paul Tudor Jones, legendary investor and trader, or Agassi oranyone who is at the peak of their game and suddenly enters aslump, what are the commonalities, if any, that you've spotted inthe best of the best who then cease for a period of time being thebest of the best? What triggers that type of downslope?Tony Robbins:Well, everybody has got different triggers. There's some commonpatterns. One pattern is doing so well that you go beyond yourvision, and it's the astronaut syndrome. What do you do whenyou're 31 years old, you've flew to the top of the mountain, youliterally looked back at the Earth and saw the picture we've all seenphotographed, come back, shake the President's hand, have theticker tape parade. Okay, now what do you do with the rest ofyour life? And so most of those astronauts, if you know theirhistories, they went through some really tough times.Some were alcoholics, some got addicted to prescription drugs.And so in some cases, that's why I enter people's world is they'vedone so well -- they've called the market almost hour by hour or aweek in advance, and they made more money in a day than mostpeople have ever dreamed of when everybody else lost their shirt.And everybody wants to know what to do. Okay, I've done that.Now what do I do after I've called the market during the worst dayin history? Most people lose momentum then because they getdistracted because it's like we need something to go for. We allneed, what I call, a compelling future, something that will get usup early, keep us late and excite us, at least the nature of a highperformer.And if you don’t have that, life feels very dead for those people.And so President of the United States, I remember Bill Clintonsaying to me -- I was with him in Aspen -- I was there at aCopyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

fundraiser, and he asked me to come visit him. And he threw inthe car and said, "Come down the hill with me." It was one ofthose serene moments, lights are flashing -- we're coming downRed Mountain in Aspen, if you know the area. And he's sittingacross from me right after the blue dress incident had come out.And he said, "Tony, it's just like I'm still so young. What am Igoing to do when I leave? What am I going to do in my 50's?" Isaid, "If I were you, I'd get the hell out quick."Because he's talking about, "I'd run a third time if I could" and Iwas teasing him about it. But he found a compelling future, andBill Clinton today has something even greater in his life that he'sgoing for. So the slump shows when people outrun their vision, orthe slump can show when they meet their vision but it's notfulfilling. Or the slump shows when people just end up developingsome patterns they're unaware of that cost them. And it can besuch a small thing with an athlete than can occur. And sometimesit shows like a Tiger Woods when something happens in theiremotional life.And while they try to say, "I'm an athlete here, and I'm a humanbeing over there" they don't separate. And so what I got to do inthose situations regardless of what triggered it is I've got to comein and get them to re-anchor in their nervous system what madethem so effective. And you understand myelin, the idea that themore you do something, the more you wire yourself. It's likemyelin, the white portion of the brain -- it's almost like using -- if Ido something over and over again, I literally wire myself with thismyelin.It's like having high-speed cable in there or whatever theappropriate -- I don't know what it is anymore, what high-speedreally is these days, the proper term -- but versus having dial-up. Ifyou do something over and over again, you can process so muchmore rapidly. So I will find -- where is that myelin in that person?What specific pattern will hook that back up again to that part oftheir brain where it's effortless, to that brain where they instinct,and they don't even think. Andre Agassi was decades and decadesago -- he's been No. 1 in the world, and all of a sudden, hedropped to No. 90 or something at that stage, like 90, 91, 92,whatever it was.And nothing worked because he kept working on his swing, and hekept working on his wrist. And he was really upset with his fatherwho was his coach. There was all these dynamics going. Nobodywants to talk about -- he was actually to the point later on that heCopyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

was thinking about quitting playing the game -- this was early inhis career. And he's gotten injured. And Andre is very frustrated,and Brooke Shields brought him to me. They were just dating atthat time. And he said, "I don't need positive thinking." And shesaid, "You know what? Tony is not positive thinking. He's goingto show you these strategies." So he comes to me. I sit down withhim.And I said, "Andre" -- He's telling me about how he's doing this. Isaid, "Think about the time you hit a tennis ball perfectly." I said,"Don't think about it. Go to it." I got him in state, got him kind ofin that place where the myelin is being fired off. And then I said tohim, "Okay, you feel that? You feel that?" I go, "Were youthinking about your wrist?" He says, "No." I said, "Then how thehell would you think you'd ever get back to that peak performancefocusing on your wrist?"So I've got to get them back into the pattern that made it work.And then oftentimes I've got to help them resolve some other issuethat's distracting them, that is something else in their life that'spulling them apart from peak performance.Tim Ferriss:His story is an amazing one. Open, the autobiography is one of thebest --Tony Robbins:Isn't it wild?Tim Ferriss:I've ever read.Tony Robbins:Yeah, it's wild.Tim Ferriss:It's such a fantastic book. So looking at the longevity of yourcareer, the scope and scale of the Tony Robbins empire, so tospeak, your endurance has really impressed me. And so I'mwondering after these decades, what are some of your dailyroutines? For instance, what do you typically eat for breakfast ifit's up to you?Tony Robbins:Yeah, I have salad and fish. It's like standard; I'm boring as hell.Because I just know it's fuel. Now before I met my wife -- we'vebeen together more than 15 years, I was completely anal. I was -like I hadn't had chocolate, I hadn't had ice cream in like 15 years.It was just crazy. And then she came into my life, and I thought,"God, this woman is incredible. She's a phlebotomist. She doesthe blood. She's an acupuncturist. She's a nutritionist." We'rehaving these green drinks. We have this lunch, and afterwards, sheCopyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

ordered a hot fudge sundae. And I thought, "What in the hell areyou doing?"She goes, "Living you bastard." So she loosened my ass up, whichwas great because I loved her. So she calls it zigging and zagging.We zig zig zig, and then she zags or we zag. And when I was firstwith her, I was like -- we were travelling through Europe, Romeand Italy and various parts of the South of France. And I was like,"You seem to be zagging every day." And she goes, "Well, I'm onvacation." And then later on, we were travelling. I said, "Youknow what the problem is?We're always travelling, so you're always on vacation." But she'sthin as hell in great shape. But I'm fish and salad. I'm high-greens,protein type of guy, very low carbs. But my regimen is I start withsomething to strengthen and jolt my nervous system. Everyfreaking day, I will sometimes ease into it. I'll go in the hot pools,and I'm fortunate to have multiple homes. My home in SunValley, I have natural hot pools that come out of the ground juststeaming hot. And I go in the hot pools, and then I go there in theriver. Here, I go in a 57 degree plunge pool that I have, and everyhome I have, every one -Tim Ferriss:And this would be immediately upon waking up?Tony Robbins:Waking up because it's just like boom, every cell in the bodywakes up. And it's also just like training my nervous system torock. There is no -- I don't give a shit how you feel. This is howyou perform. This is what you do. Even when I'm takingvacation, I do it. I don't know. Now I like it. It's a -- I like thatsimple discipline that reminds me the level of strength andintensity that's available at any moment. Even if I'm relaxing, Ican bring that up at will; it's myelin. And I also have a cryotherapyunit in all my homes. Have you tried cryotherapy?Tim Ferriss:I haven't.Tony Robbins:Do you know what it is?Tim Ferriss:Maybe you could help. I can put the two words together andprobably guess.Tony Robbins:Oh my God. With all that you do, you're going to love this. I'mglad I'm teaching Tim Ferriss for the first time.Tim Ferriss:I've done ice bath, not the first one.Copyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

Tony Robbins:Ice baths suck. Ice baths suck, trust me. I'm on stage on theweekend. I do my Unleashed Power program. It's three days, 50hours. You got to come as my guest to an event sometime.Tim Ferriss:I would love to.Tony Robbins:But I'm going to give you an idea. People won't sit through athree-hour movie that somebody spent 300 million on, and I gotlike Usher or Oprah going on, "Tony, I love you. But two hours isthe most I can do." And twelve hours later, Oprah is standing onher chair going, "This is the most incredible experience in my life"on camera. And Usher is like, "Dude, I'm in for all three days."But for me, one of those days alone -- I wear odometer Fitbit, andit's 26.5 miles on average. We start at 8:30 in the morning. Ifinish at 1:30 or 2:00.There's one one-hour break. People can vote with their feet. Noone leaves. There's on average 20 minutes of just crazy assstanding ovations, music, stuff that happens at the end becausepeople are just -- it's like a rock concert; it's so much fun. But thewear and tear of doing basically marathon after marathon on theweekend back to back is pretty intense. And so over the years, theinflammation in my body, the demands, I've had to do everything Ican to reduce it. Nothing has come close to cryotherapy.Cryotherapy was developed in Poland and Eastern Germany in theEastern Bloc countries. And what it does is it uses Nitrogen, sothere's no water unlike an ice bath which you do -- you get spasms,and you got to do them still if you're a boxer, a runner, an athlete,which is what I would do before -- hated them. There's none ofthat process, but it reduces your body temperature to minus 220Fahrenheit. And you do it three minutes, and it's mind-boggling.In fact, I have one here, and I'll throw you in at the end if you wantto get the experience.Tim Ferriss:I would love to. That'd be great.Tony Robbins:I have a unit here. I'll do it for you. But what it does is -- and I doit about three times a week usually, and when I come back from anevent, I do it a couple days in a row -- and what it does is it takesall the inflammation out of your body. And you know whatinflammation to every aspect of the body in the breakdown. But italso -- it sends and merges signals to your brain, so you're resettingyour neurological system because your brain is going, "You'regoing to freeze to death." It sound horrific. It really isn't. You'llCopyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

find out it's not that painful. Going in my pain plunge, 57 degreesfeels more jolting than this does even though it's colder because thefluid of water versus the nitrogen around you is different.Tim Ferriss:Right, the conductivity.Tony Robbins:The conductivity. Exactly right. So what happens is your nervoussystem gets these signals. So it's like everything in your bodyconnects because it's like an emergency. Every part -- it's a resetof your nervous system. You get an explosion of endorphins inyour body, which is really cool. So you get this natural high. Youfeel this physiological transformation, and you get the reduction ofinflammation. What it was used for originally is for people witharthritis.And I found my first one because my mother-in-law would becalling up, and she was just crying in pain. And no medicationwas enough for her. And I hate somebody medicated anyway.And so I started to do all this research, and it just started to come tothe US, and now the LA Lakers, most football teams -- it'sspreading like wildfire amongst the sports teams, and so that'swhere it took off. And so I went and got her one, and it took her -I think three sessions, and she's out of pain.And now, there's not a day she's in pain. Now most people can'tafford to go buy a unit, but there are local places now that arepopping up all over the United States where athletes go, wherepeople go for rejuvenation. And it's amazing for the skin. But it isone of the greatest things. I got it for her, so I got it for me. Andnow I'm addicted. So I've got one -- and three minutes-Tim Ferriss:What type of unit? Do you know the actual model and brand thatyou use?Tony Robbins:Yeah, there's two of them that are the best out there. Was it Java?Junka -- J-U-N-K-A I think it is. I'll get it for you when we godownstairs.Tim Ferriss:And I'll put it in the show notes for those of you who want-Tony Robbins:Yeah, for everybody that wants to do it. But like if you're in LA,there's a place on -- I'll give it to you to put in your notes. Acouple of the locations there, there's some great guys. I'm gettinganother unit; this is a brand new home, and I'm building anadditional guesthouse and an additional site. This one, it just goesup to your neck. But I’m getting one that encloses a full room, andCopyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

the reason is about 70% of your nervous receptors are from theneck up. So when you step into one of those, it's even morepowerful. But other than that, I don't do that much different withmy life.Tim Ferriss:I don't believe that entirely. I'll keep digging. But you have theeither -- the sort of contrast there being the hot-cold, thecryotherapy -- you have salad and fish. How far after -- if youwere to kind of spec out the first hour of your day-Tony Robbins:Well, the first -- every day, I do the water. I take in theenvironment, and then the first thing I do before I do anything elsein my day is I do what I call priming. And priming to me isdifferent than meditating. I'm never really a meditator per se -- Iknow the value of it. But the idea for me of sitting still and havingno thoughts just didn't really work out for me. It was just a pain inthe ass, and I just thought that's not natural. And it's like that's whyit works. But when I'm in nature, I feel that form of meditation.When I stand on stage and someone stands up, in my brain, it'sdone.I don't even know what it is, but person is suicidal -- I've never losta suicidal in 37 years. Knock on wood, doesn't mean I won'tsomeday. But I never have out of thousands, and we followed upwith them. So it's like there's something that comes through me,and it's quite meditative. It's like I experience it as a witness. Andafterwards, it's one of the most beautiful gifts in my life. So Iknow that meditation. But for me, priming is if you want to have aprime life, you've got to be in a prime state.And weeds grow automatically. I don't give a damn what it is.And my teacher Jim Rohn used to say that. And so what I do is Iget up, and I do a very simple process. I do an explosive change inmy physiology. I've done the water already. Right? Cold-hot.Then I do it with breath. I know you know all forms of Easternmeditation. All understand that the mind is the kite and breath isthe string. So if I want to move that kite, I move the breath. So Ihave a specific pattern of breathing that I do. I do 30 of thesebreaths, and I do them at three sets of 30. And that creates aprofound physiological difference in my body.And from that altered state, I usually listen to some music. And Igo for -- I usually promise myself ten minutes, and I usually go 30-Tim Ferriss:And you do that in this room that we're sitting in?Copyright 2007–2018 Tim Ferriss. All Rights Reserved.

Tony Robbins:No, I do it all up this one. It's where I do it. This has got a greatvibe. I'll do this one. I'll do it at night. I usually will go outsidebecause I love the wind on my face, and I love taking the elementsand so forth. But I do it multiple places. I'm on the road -- itdoesn't matter what day. I do not miss priming. The reason is -you don't get fit by being lucky. You don't get fit by working outfor a weekend.You know -- you live your life that way. Fitness is because itbecomes just part of who you are. So what I do during that time isI do three simple times, and I do it minimum of ten minutes. Threeminutes of just me feeling back inside my body and outside myhead, feeling the Earth and my

Coyote Tea. Here's Tony Robbins. Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is Tim Ferriss. Welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferriss Show. I have a very exciting episode for you and a very exciting guest, Mr. Tony Robbins. Tony, thank you for having me in your home of all pl