Awakening the Giant: Tony Robbins is Born “Success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want,” says Tony Robbins. For the past 15 years, Robbins has been doing exactly that. As one of the most celebrated motivational speakers and life coaches in the world, Robbins has come from humble beginnings to rise to the top of his game. He not only talks about how to achieve success; with best-selling books and seminars behind him, as well as being Chairman of five private companies that together generate over half of $1 billion, Robbins has himself become a successful entrepreneur and a model of what it takes in order to achieve your dreams. Anthony J. Mahavorick was born on February 29, 1960 in Glendora, California, a low-income suburb of Los Angeles. When he was just seven years old, his parents divorced. His mother would later remarry twice, and he would take on the surname of his second stepfather, Jim Robbins. An ambitious child, Robbins dreamed of one day leaving his modest upbringings behind to become a sports reporter. He attended Glendora High School and in 1977, was elected president of his student body. The passion, for which Robbins has since become legendary, was not so beneficial to him as a child; at the age of 17, Robbins was kicked out of his house for being “too intense.” It wasn’t long before Robbins found his niche. After discovering the motivational speaker Jim Rohn, Robbins became inspired. He began to read personal growth books by the hundreds – over seven hundred in just a few years. He also discovered that he had a personal knack for sales, where his early career excelled. With his voracious appetite for self-help books and his impressive sales technique, Robbins soon found himself in the seminar business. Initially, Robbins found himself selling tickets for another popular motivational speaker. He had an impressive ability to sell tickets to almost anyone, even breaking all the sales records in his first month. By any measure, Robbins was a success and was now in an income bracket beyond his dreams. But, Robbins wanted more for himself. “I remember the moment my life changed, the moment I finally said, ‘'I've had it! I know I'm much more than I'm demonstrating mentally, emotionally, and physically in my life,’” recalls Robbins. “I made a decision in that moment which was to alter my life forever. I decided to change virtually every aspect of my life. I decided I would never again settle for less than I can be.” Robbins began compiling all the knowledge he had amassed over the years and developed a unique motivational seminar that he himself began delivering to public audiences. They were fast sellouts. Then, in 1983, Robbins discovered Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a radical and relatively new therapeutic technique that Robbins would go on to study and promote in his seminars. After only briefly studying the basic principles of NLP, Robbins hit the road with his new seminar; it turned out to be the road that would establish his career and turn him into the success he is today.