After 5 hours of sleep on day 1, then leaving the event around 12:30 am on Day 2, we really had to rally to get ourselves & get pumped for another full day. Luckily, day 3 started a little bit later, as Tony & his team knew everyone needed a little bit more sleep. Tony came on stage around 11 am, and we followed along in the workbook until breaking for some more serious emotional work. Day 3 consisted of growth, creating an extraordinary life, figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of different areas of out lives, pillars of progress, breath & meditation work, values & beliefs, and limiting beliefs.
Day 3 was my favorite day, as it forced us to go deep & feel a lot of things & face a lot of fears & let go of limiting beliefs. To start off, Tony talked about 7 areas of constant growth for an extraordinary life:
We went through and graded ourselves on each area of our life on a scale of 1-10. This was done in a wheel format, so we could see the imbalances of each area of our lives:
This is a screeenshot of my “Wheel of Life.” The goal of this exercise was to see where we were happy & thriving in our lives, and what areas we were not. As you can see, my wheel is a little off balance! We were asked, If you were to put this wheel on your car, how well would it work?? Obviously, not very well.
The areas that are the highest-rated (for me) are areas I put a lot of time into. For example – working on friendships & intimate relationships is challenging & important to me, so I devote a lot of time to people. I also work out a lot because I care about my body, and I make time for myself to have fun & bring myself up – so the physical & celebrate area are higher. If I wanted to have a more well-balanced wheel, I would put more time & effort in being more efficient with my time, as well as investing more effort into creating a career that is fulfilling for me.
A few tips given to improve different areas of your life:
Celebrate yourself when you do something difficult or something you don’t want to do – this helps speed up your progress!
2 mm rule: the smallest change can make the biggest difference!
Train yourself – repetition is key! Devote time everyday to doing small things to work towards improving different areas of your life.
If you haven’t mastered something, don’t surround yourself with other people to hold you accountable. Find someone who is a master, and learn from them!
Tony then led us through a breathing technique to increases energy & bring gratitude into our daily lives:
3 sets of 10 (pause in between sets)
Lift arms up & breathe in
lower arms down with elbows in & exhale
A gratitude exercise (takes 5-10 minutes!):
Hands to heart
Think of 3 things you are grateful for – be there in the memory, 1 minute per each event, and really feel it
Feel the energy in you – energy comes in and heals every cell, organ, thought, etc. Visualize energy as a light, coming from the center of the earth, through your body, and up towards the sky. Then, send out to everyone else
Think of 3 things you are going to create. Envision the result, and celebrate inside as if they already happened (1 minute per idea)
After going through all of this, Tony began talking about values and beliefs. They determine and control everything in your life, whether you realize it or not.
Values are the emotional states that we believe are important to either experience or avoid.
Basically, we will always believe and act on our values in attempt to meet our basic needs (of certainty, love, etc).
After talking more about beliefs, we wrote down our top 2 limiting beliefs (ex: I am not good enough, I’ll never be loved, I don’t deserve happiness, etc). Then, all children aged 10 and under were asked to leave the room. Tony then led the entire room through the Dickens Process. This exercise was incredibly hard, as it forced you to literally feel your deepest fears, and to force you to see what life would be like if you never changed. It was painful, emotional, and really, really difficult. However, it was such an emotional release for me, and it was exactly why I came to the event. It forced me to be incredibly vulnerable, scream, cry, and feel really uncomfortable emotions.
After Tony led us through letting go of our limiting beliefs, he then had us reprogram new beliefs to replace what we let go of. The entire process lasted from 2 pm to 6 pm, and we were standing for almost the entire time. While it was exhausting and hard, it was (for me) the best part of the event!
You might be asking how the heck anyone had any energy after all of this, and here is video proof of what went on to keep us in state of constant alertness and energy:
Basically, there was a dance party every 10-20 minutes. Music was put on, and we had to get up, move our bodies, and interact with the people around us. It forced us to stay alert & keep our moods up so that we couldn’t get into a negative or sleepy state. The psychology of it all made sense, and it was nice that we weren’t just sitting for 18 hours straight taking notes! Also, if you really want to get as much as possible from the event, I recommend committing to going all 3 days & putting 150% in, as there are many times that you will want to lay down or leave! Between jet lag & 4-5 hours of sleep a night and 14-18 hour days, there were many times I needed a break. However, I made a commitment to myself that I could push through – and I did!
After the Dickens process, we were given a break to eat & come back around 7:30/8 pm. The rest of the night consisted of talking about Career Mastery, someone coming on stage and speaking about how Tony’s programs changed his life, and a sales pitch to attend ALL of Tony’s events (Date with Destiny, Business, UPW, Cleanse retreat, etc). They gave a discounted price, and told everyone they could meet with Tony & get a picture with him if they signed up & committed to the programs.
While it all sounded great, it was a lot to process, and it was a lot of money to commit. I understand Tony has a great system, and if that is something you want to throw yourself at full-force, that is awesome. It’s all about where you want to go in your life & what feels right for you! With that being said, I will definitely attend another event in the future, but when it feels right. I went to UPW to experience what I needed, and it was exactly what I needed at that moment in my life.
At the end of the night, we all danced a little more and ended up leaving around 2:30 am. My cousin & I’s flight was scheduled to leave at 12 pm the next day, so we ended up skipping out on the last half day of the event. The good news is, the workbook given provided a LOT of in-depth information on health/energy/food/diet, which I was able to read on the plane. I consider myself a really intuitive, healthy person in great physical shape, so I felt like it was something I could afford to miss out on.
Overall, the event was amazing. It was a completely different experience than anything I’ve done before, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for growth in their lives!
So that’s it! 52 hours of learning in the span of 3 days, 13 hours of sleep, and 12+ hours of traveling to get to the event – all completely worth it! Has anyone else attended UPW or any other Tony Robbins event? I’d love to hear about your experience! Or, if you are thinking about going, leave a comment below!
After an intense 1st day with Tony Robbins, the 2nd day was not as long, and we had a different speaker come on stage: Joseph McClendon III. Joseph comes to talk on day 2 & the final half day, since 3 days of straight talking is too much strain on Tony’s vocal chords.
I liked day 2, as we actually followed along in the workbook that was given to us on Day 1. There was more structure, more laughing, and we actually had a break for dinner! The main things discussed on day 2 were setting individual personal goals, breaking patterns, lasting change, momentum, beliefs, and what we wanted to work towards. We were able to sit down and reflect on a lot of what he talked about, and it was a great way to set up a specific path towards our goals. Below are some of my favorite takeaways:
Neuro-Associative Conditioning: a system that describes the process of change in human beings and is based upon the premise that there are two determining reasons for human behavior:
1) the need to avoid pain and/or
2) the desire to gain pleasure (http://www.sportshealth4u.com/nac.html).
All progress comes from breaking patterns
Joseph talked about NAC as a way to cure phobias & change the way you think, just by associating different emotions with experiences/ideas/people/etc. Basically, program yourself to feel a happy emotion when encountering something you normally fear. This is one way he explained how to do this:
Get leverage: Attach immediate, unbearable pain to not changing, and attach immediate pleasure to things you should do. If you can’t, you MUST
Interrupt the pattern through an immediate change in physiology or thought, and
Create an empowering alternative – celebrate or reward yourself for not continuing a negative pattern!
Example: I want to lose weight. 1) attach unbearable pain like having a heart attack if I don’t change my diet, and attach eating healthy with spending time with your family. 2) Thinking about being overweight, catching yourself & think about how good you will feel when you take action & lose weight. 3) Every time you walk away from a donut or eat something good, give yourself a high five or a pat on the back, or say something nice to yourself!
Find your passion – find what pushes you, what you really want, what drives you in life, what you love, etc.
Decide, Commit, Resolve – decide what it is that you want!
You can pick ANY passion/emotion & CHOOSE to focus on that. Just pick 1 passion & run with it like hell!
Take immediate & consistent action – create a plan, and do little things at a time to work towards it. Consistency is key in following through & being successful in everything you do!
Be honest with yourself – continuously strengthen it, change it based on your end goals and whether it is rewarding to you, reinforce what is working, and continue to take new action
We don’t get what we want – we get what we believe we are.
Joseph and Tony were both very passionate about the same message the entire weekend – Always be aware of what state you are in – mentally – and know that you have the choice to change it at any time. We have all conditioned ourselves to be in a specific state – I call this our “base point” – which is what we will always revert to every time we come down from a high, or up from a low state/emotions. By continuously working towards being aware of what state of mind we are in, we can reprogram ourselves to a higher base state of mind, which in turn will change our beliefs and perception of our lives & every experience we have.
There are many ways to change your state, but again, consistency is key. Constant diligence of what is going on in your mind & choosing to only put attention to things that uplift you is what will change everything. I swear, I am living proof of this! From being constantly depressed, to now literally living my dream life = it’s all in your thoughts and where you put your focus. All it takes is consistent focus & belief in yourself!
My favorite quote ever is “Have faith in your ability to create” – I never believed that I could create a beautiful life, because I had so much doubt. Belief in yourself changes everything… And if you don’t believe in yourself – always challenge the thoughts that tell you you can’t do something. Because… they are wrong!
Friends I met at a Kyle Cease event 4 years ago… reunited all for the purpose of growth 🙂
Joseph walked everyone through an exercise in the workbook that allowed us to “close the gap” – between where we are, and where we want to be. It gave us the chance to specifically break down steps on how to get to where we want to be (in life, career, relationships, etc), which was surprisingly easy to do!
At the end of day 2, there was more info for those at the event looking to start or improve their business, including the importance of a team & the people you surround yourself with. People’s lives are a direct reflection of the expectations of their peer group – so surround yourself with great people, or people that you look up to!
Find a team that will challenge you, not just support or accept you.
There was a LOT more that was covered, but these were the things that stood out to me the most. I went into this event with no expectations, and a goal of next steps in life/ways to improve my mental state of mind. I also met some pretty incredible people there, including a 75+ year old man who I partnered up with for the first half of Day 2! It just goes to show that there will never be a point in your life that you cannot reinvent yourself or improve upon yourself. Growth is the driving force for purpose, and it never ends.
Next up: Day 3! For me, the most (emotionally) impactful day of the weekend. Stay tuned…
Have you ever experienced days, weeks, or even MONTHS where you just.aren’t.motivated?? Yep, we’ve all been there. Procrastination sets in, the internet/social media/netflix distractions become the norm, and we seem to lose sight of where we want to be in life.
So WHY do we let this happen?? Because it’s comfortable. Because it’s safe, and change can be scary. The biggest issue of not moving forward in our lives is FEAR. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of change… These fears control our lives, whether it is conscious or not. So if you find yourself saying things like “I can’t find the motivation”, or “I’m not motivated”, this is the perfect time to figure out WHY. Why are you not motivated? Why does it seem like others are go-getters & more successful than you?? Guess what.
Motivation isn’t something that some people are just blessed with – it’s a mindset. It’s a state of being.
And at any time, we have a choice to change our mental state. Some days and moments might seem more difficult to get out of our heads & pump ourselves up, but once we begin to practice being aware of our moods/state of being, it gets easier. By working our mental muscles & pushing ourselves to a new mindset, eventually there is less resistance. Whenever you tell yourself you are tired, or you don’t want to do something – take a step back. Evaluate the thoughts that have been running through your mind, and find a different perspective. Just get out of your head.
It can seem like a never-ending cycle of feeling great, then feeling low… However, if you find something that works for you and stick with it, you will notice an immediate change in your life. I’ve been through this never-ending cycle, and I get it. However, once I began to implement daily changes, my life began to take a turn for the better. Motivation was not something I waited for – it was a state of being that I could talk myself into, no matter how I was feeling.
Below are a few tips that I’ve put together from my own experience to help YOU or anyone else struggling to get motivated. It’s something I’ve struggled with off & on for most of my adult life, and I know I am not the only one. It might seem a little overwhelming at first, so just read through & take a little time to let it digest. Then… take action 🙂
Repetition
The number one thing that has changed my life is repetition. You know that great feeling of reading a good book, or being inspired by something, then nothing coming from it? It’s because you aren’t constantly focused on it. What I mean is this: we all have a certain mindset or base thoughts that we revert back to at any time. For most people, it’s not consciously known because it is the norm. So, when you have moments of motivation, it tends to be short-lived, because it is not your base mindset. Lucky for you, and for anyone, this can be changed.
By constantly barraging your mind with positive, motivating content, you are essentially replacing your own thoughts or your base mindset with NEW thoughts – all different than what is normally going through your mind on a daily basis.
You can change your base mindset by finding every moment you have free time, and then filling it with new content. Over time, your base mind set will eventually change to a new state – or whatever you have been filling your mind with. Below are a few ways you can accomplish this:
Podcasts
My current faves are Hay House & The Competitive Edge. I also search for people that are inspiring, or topics that I am currently interested in.
Books (on audio, kindle, or a regular old paperback)
Sometimes I like to read success stories on MDA (who doesn’t like a good story where people end up happier/healthier in the end??) or articles on Elephant Journal. If you are on social media, make sure you are following people/accounts that bring you up/are in line with your goals. Meaning, when you read something, do you feel good or bad? Make your decisions based on what makes YOU feel good – you know what’s best.
CD’s
Every time I enter my car, I either pop in a Tony Robbins CD or my spanish practice CDs. I RARELY listen to music anymore, unless I am in a really great mood or I feel like my mind needs a quick break (or someone else is in the car!).
Be Social
Hang out with mentors/people that you look up to/inspire you to be a better person. By communicating & interacting with others that have a mindset you strive to achieve, it automatically lifts you up & puts you in a different mindset.
Find your free time
So you might be telling me, NINA. I HAVE NO FREE TIME. And you know what, I used to say the exact. same. thing. Because honestly, I didn’t think I did either. I had to take a big step back and be honest with myself. Our minds like to trick us – it wants to stay comfortable, so it will come up with any excuse to prevent change.
The first thing you can do is track your time. I spent an entire week tracking my days in 15 minute increments to figure out exactly what I was doing with my time. There are different apps that you can plug your information into, but I created my own spreadsheet and customized it based on my lifestyle. You can access the spreadsheet here if you want to customize/edit to your own schedule. Also – different things are important to different people – personal time to create my yoga classes, study, or read is very important to me – same with meditating 2x a day. So, customize to what is important to you & relevant in your life right now. (Please note that you WILL need to be a little savvy in excel to edit the formulas if you change categories. If you need help, shoot me a note/leave a comment and I can help you out 🙂
The spreadsheet is filled in with exactly how I spent an entire week this summer – and as you can see above, there were several areas where I could have spent less time on my phone & been more productive during my drive time. By doing a self evaluation of your own time, you will find that there are times throughout your day that you really DO have time – While driving, getting ready, doing housework, etc. Yes, you can pop your headphones in while sweeping the floor or putting on your makeup every morning and listen to a motivating podcast. It’s really that simple. One last side note – not every week will be the same – however, by tracking your time, you become more aware of where you spend your time, and it helps you become a little more creative with how you can spend your time.
What are your Goals
Unless you have a WHY in your life, there will be no growth or change. And if there are no goals to work towards, then what is the point of even being motivated? Insert your WHY. Below are the areas in your life that you MUST take the time to sit down & create goals for. Whether it be as simple as saving for a weekend trip, or as big as getting yourself out of debt, you need to write down a vision to have something to work towards. It’s a LOT easier to get motivated if there is something you REALLY want – so take a look at the areas below, and take a few moments to get clear on your WHY. Once you have a goal, you have something to work towards!
Career – what is your ideal career/what is important to you in a job?
Mentally – what is your ideal mood/attitude/mindset?
Physical/Health – what is your ideal feeling of overall health/physique?
Relationship(s) – what is your ideal partner/marriage/friendships?
Finances – what is your ideal financial situation?
Personal – something specific you are working towards (college, a race, etc)
Overall – ideally, how do you want to feel every day of your life?
Not Optional
Anytime you aren’t feeling motivated to do something, get it in your mind that the task is NOT optional. Sometimes, when I don’t want to work out, or I reallllly don’t want to meditate, I buckle down and don’t take no for an answer. There are literally no other options except to do this one task. To me, I view these things as something that will benefit me. I know I will feel great or accomplished afterwards, so I look at these tasks like brushing my teeth or taking a shower. It’s something I just have to do.
Music
Although I mainly only listen to music while in the shower/creating playlists for my yoga classes now, there are times that I will put on some music to get me going. For example: waking up at 4:30 am every Wednesday to teach yoga = loud music is needed to wake my ass up & puts me in a good mood for class! So for some, music is a way to inspire, get your day started, and get you in a better mood. Find what works for you!
Make a list
The next time you are feeling really motivated, take a look at what you have been doing in your life for the past few days or week. You will begin to correlate certain habits or routines with how you feel. And when you begin to identify the specifics, make a list. For example: When I feel my best, I am working out everyday, giving others compliments, meditating daily, and taking cold showers (seriously, science!). Find the things you do when you feel your best – and if you NEVER feel your best – observe other people and find out what they are doing. It can be something as small as meditating or setting aside 20 minutes of “Me” time a day to decompress. Don’t be afraid to try new things, toss what doesn’t work, and keep what does. Literally no one else knows you as well as you – so have fun & take the time to figure out what gets you going 🙂
Move your body
This is probably the quickest way to get motivated, and there are a few ways to do this:
Can’t get out of bed? Literally jump out of bed like someone threw a bucket of ice cold water on you. Jump around a little bit, do a few stretches… You’ll be awake and motivated to keep moving
Go workout – if you are having trouble getting motivated to workout, the best thing you can do is get moving. As soon as your body begins to warm up, endorphins will be released, blood flow will increase, and you’ll begin to feel better within the first 5-10 minutes of your workout.
If you are feeling sluggish at any point in your day, get up and move. Jump up and down a few times, do a few push ups, or maybe a few jumping jacks. Physical movement releases endorphins, and it reduces stress hormones in your body. It literally changes your brain! If you don’t want people seeing you do push ups at your desk, go in a conference room – no one will ever know 🙂
Moving Meditation – this is actually one of my favorite things to do! While out on a run, I’ll create a mantra or a saying and repeat it non-stop:
“I have unlimited energy”
“Every breath & every step, I have more & more energy”
“My body is in perfect alignment”
“My body is a fucking machine!”
“I can do anything!”
Sometimes I will repeat a mantra for 20 minutes or more, doing nothing but staring straight in front of me as I run until I start to FEEL whatever statement I am saying is true. When you combine a clear intention with an elevated emotion, it becomes a new belief/memory much quicker.Moving your body elicits an emotional & physical response, so movement works wayyy better than just standing in front of you mirror and saying affirmations over & over again. As silly or crazy or corny as it sounds, just try it. I swear, it is crazy how well this works – I noticed a HUGE increase in energy every day once I started doing this. You can also say statements about other areas about your life, like feeling confident, finances, whatever… It’s all about focusing & repeating until you feel that elevated emotion
Personal Development
I am a firm believer that depression & unhappiness in your life is caused by becoming comfortable. Stagnation happens when we work 9-5, come home, watch tv, and repeat, 5 days a week. Life is easy, but it isn’t challenging. Yet, we aren’t happy, even though we have everything we THINK we want. Insert: Personal development. By continuously learning new things, we are challenging ourselves, stimulating different parts of our brain, and creating new neuro-pathways. By finding ways to push ourselves & get out of our comfort zones, motivation is something that comes very easily – especially when it’s something that is cool or different than what is currently happening in your life. There are a few ways that I pursue personal development:
Travel solo around the world (Yes, it’s scary. Yes, it opens your mind to new people, ideas, places, etc. Yes, you should do it)
Randomly bought a guitar & have been teaching myself to play (literally spend hours banging away on this thing… it is no easy task to learn an instrument!)
Go to personal development workshops – I’ve been to a Kyle Cease weekend workshop, and am attending a Tony Robbins event in November
Cooking classes (Yes, I go alone. No, it’s not awkward)
Read. Apply what you’ve read to your life. Repeat.
Personal development can mean different things to different people – it can be changing how you think, going to seminars, going back to school, learning a new skill, etc. If you don’t know what you want to work on, try anything. Seriously – you could take a class on how to cook with different cheeses, or even learning how to juggle! As long as you are getting out of your everyday mindset, you are stimulating your brain in new ways.
So that’s it! (for right now!) There are so many more ways to get motivated, but these are the ways that are most influential in my life at the moment. I’ve spent my entire 20’s reading, learning, searching for ways to change my life, get motivated, and better myself. However, it’s been a struggle being able to translate & communicate everything I have learned in a way that makes sense to me and to others. Teaching yoga for the past 1.5 years has helped boost my confidence, and has challenged me to learn how to express myself more openly so others can understand me.
I want to be able share my journey with others, in the hopes that it helps anyone who comes across my blog.
Just like anyone else, I’ve been through a lot of struggles in my life, and I know what that feels like.
So if I can make life a little bit easier for just one person, or my writings can get someone to think a little differently about themselves/their life, then my goal is complete 🙂
As always, thanks for making it all the way to the bottom… If there are any other really great tips for getting motivated that I missed, leave a comment below!
-Nina Elise
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