(Intervention at Business Mastery in Amsterdam)
I’ve attended numerous Tony Robbins’ events over the last couple of years. In programming, Tony offers a chance to be part of the Platinum Partnership. It’s basically traveling around the world for a year with Tony on long weekends every two months or so with about 200 plus like-inded people soaking in Tony’s knowledge. You are able to personally ask Tony , at times, some questions for coaching. The plat members go on smaller trips with Tony that are more intimate. This plat year was on my dream list of things to do in my life, but I simply couldn’t afford it; nor could I afford the time. Something happened to me during a retreat. I took my limiting beliefs and placed them somewhere else with a dash of a miracle and a sprinkling of a blessing I said YES to an adventure with a man at the helm who has his audience dancing, laughing, crying and just wanting to be the best they can be. So, I enrolled my mom to take my son Raphael on some long weekends; I also took my son on some retreats for a unique education that’s more crucial for life than anything he could learn in a classroom (as far as I am concerned). And for the days I couldn’t get my mom to take my son on a seminar where he couldn’t miss school I hired a babysitter I’ve been working with for years. All of a sudden the impossible seemed more possible. In terms of the financial aspect, to be able to take part in this program, the heavens opened up for a one-time event (I would love for it to happen again, and again and again), and my journey started on August 15, 2016.
I’m not going to repeat what Tony teaches. To do so would require books and tapes, and Tony has that so well covered. What I am going to share with you are my “aha” moments; my breakthroughs; my challenges during this once in a lifetime, life-changing experience. Perhaps, if something can be learned as a result of something in this blog, this whole year has paid me back a zillionfold. Sometimes, to save a life is just to make small shifts in your beliefs that over time will pay huge dividends emotionally, physically and financially.
To start with, as Tony says, you have to know where you’re going. So, I set my goals for the year. I had four goals in mind for my Plat Partnership:
1) My first goal was to find the love of my life and to be the best I possibly can be for that person through the distinction I learn about relationships in this seminar.
2) My second goal was to educate my son with this training. I want him to learn the life skills of confidence, courage and compassion . Also, I would like him to learn and understand that he is accountable for his own emotional state.
3) My third goal was to take my non-profit, Save1person.org, to the next level since I’ve hit a plateau and have not moved ahead for many years. My dream is to have numerous media outlets start their own Save 1 units. This would be where the broadcaster alerts their audiences to those people who are in urgent need of a medical miracle and ask that their respective audiences save a life. A mechanism should be created in the media to eternally save lives through numerous media outlets. Now, a life is saved when there is sporadic media coverage. My vision is to have thousands of media outlets cover these needs on a consistent weekly, daily, or hourly basis which would save many lives.
4) My fourth goal is to earn 10 million dollars so I can have a life of financial freedom.
Now, I know where I want to go, but how do I get there? I’m not close to any of these goals. Is achieving them even possible? . Putting all these thoughts aside I need to get to work with meditation, strategies and serious dancing and laughing per Tony Robbins.
(My goals for the next year and my Toward and Away Values)
Before I begin with my “aha” moments, I think it best to explain who Tony Robbins is to me. I’ve given this some serious thought. He really is not my GURU. I saw in a magazine that they called him the CEO whisperer. I thought that this describes him perfectly. Tony Robbins is your courage whisperer; your confidence whisperer; your creative whisperer; and he’s the CEO whisperer. Sometimes, though, Tony is really not a whisperer. He’ll yell straight in your face: ” you idiot, wake up”. Or, when you’re telling your limiting story, he’ll ask you to rub your breast in a circular motion and tap your head at the same time. Why? So as to break the pattern of your limiting story and start a new story that empowers you and others. So, Tony to me is my whisperer. He is that voice you hear in your head when you need the courage to follow your heart, your spirit and your dreams.
My first life lesson on this journey began in Leadership Academy. The most profound lesson was breaking a two inch piece of wood. On one side you put your limiting beliefs . For example: I’m not good enough; I’m unworthy, etc. On the other side you put the gifts of your soul: I am joy; I am courage; etc. You are taught how to break the wood with your hand. It was an exhilarating feeling breaking that wood with music playing in the background pumped up high. I felt ready to take on the world when I saw my piece of wood break.
Soon I would hear from others how their five year old could do the same thing. Yes, it’s true, and it does not diminish the accomplishment. This exercise simply shows to young and old that anything is possible when your attention is focused.
(In Jaipur, India at Camel Polo Match)
My next out of this world adventure/enlightenment was in India. My two “aha” moments during this journey were the blessing ceremony and a trip to Varanasi where the dead are celebrated for accomplishing their mission. They are finally free and transition from this world to the next.
First, at the blessing experience, I saw a totally different side of Tony. Here he was a deeply spiritual man, not sure if he belongs to this world or the heavens above. Tony and Sage, his wife, sat at the helm of a castle palace and led us in deep meditation and chants for an hour. Then, in small groups we were called up to receive a blessing. When it was my turn Tony put both hands on top of my head for what seemed like several minutes, His hands were shaking as if the energy of the heavens and earth were channeling through him to go through my body and spirit. When Tony removed his hands from my head he said: ” the gifts you receive here give to others”. As I walked away I wasn’t quite sure what I had experienced. For sure it was heavenly; guided by the divine. I know, with every ounce of my soul, it was something out of this world but extremely difficult to put into words.
My words don’t give the experience justice. I am forever grateful for having been part of this experience and will take the lessons I have learned and will share them open heartedly with anyone willing to listen to them. My “aha” moment was how blessed I am to be given this gift: the gift of having your soul opened to experience new heights in mind, body and spirit.
(Blessings early in the morning at Varnassi. You put a candle down the Ganges with your prayers)
My next take away experience from India was from Varnassi. I was disgusted by the place, by the dead bodies. I am frightened of death and don’t want to be around it until my maker calls me. Then, I have no choice. The gift of witnessing this town, though, is always a choice. The people of Varnassi look at death as something that can be beautiful as the spirit is finally free. To have a different perspective on death is a game changer for most. I highly doubt that I will be going back to Varnassi, but the lesson will stay with me for a lifetime. Your emotional state is always a choice even when it comes to death.
(My son Raphael got a one on one instruction on how to breathe so as to calm down from
Wim Hoff, a man who climbed Mount Everest in his shorts)
My next adventure was with Raphael in San Jose, California. It was priceless having him partake in this journey. But the one downside of Tony, is that he curses a lot. Should I not take Raphael to learn because of Tony’s curses and lose out on all the other great lessons? I contemplated the matter for two seconds and took Raphael’s hand and off we went anyway.
Raphael and I were sitting in the second row from the stage and being that Raphael can be attention seeking, during Tony’s cursing Raphael decided to embellish the story/lesson in his own curse words, to add flavor to Tony’s story. Tony heard him loud and clear (the flavoring of his story). Tony stopped his presentation in front of 10,000 people and looked at my son. He said to him: “I’ll give you all the attention in the world but not like that. My son’s mouth stayed open and he was humbled for the moment by the admonishment. Raphael was being shown another way by a man that had every single person waiting in anticipation for his next life lesson. Priceless for me. I’ve used that as a teaching point to bring home my point at various moments in our daily life.
Another highlight was watching Raphael do the famous fire walk. Yes, the temperature of the coals is between 1200 to 2000 degrees; and the bed of coals is about 12 feet long. Raphael took that first step on the coals and at first decided against it. Then he decided to go for it, and with determination accomplished the walk. As numerous people cheered him on my son had a facial expression I’ve never seen before. It was a small smile that arose at the corner of his lips. I felt he acknowledged within himself, for the first time, his own courage and his own ability to conquer fear and to take on the unknown. WONDERFUL!!
My next step on this journey was “Date With Destiny” in Florida, a seminar where you map out a plan for the next year of your life. Above I stated my goals for the year, and my big breakthrough here is the following move I made:
I’ve always wanted to create a reality TV show based on Save1person, highlighting people who need a medical miracle and then highlighting in the media those successes. This show can be replicated in every country around the world. The show that I would like to have is a no-brainer ;a must. I’ve never had success pitching this idea to the select few that I’ve approached. But a few years ago I was on “Good Day, NY” with Roseanne Scotto, trying to get Elaine Deleon a kidney. After the segment aired an executive from a production company called me and asked me if I had ever thought of doing a reality TV show. I responded at the time, and I hired a lawyer but the talks fell apart. During the seminar “Date With Destiny” I realized I had my own film footage. I have a vision; I have an Iphone that takes videos. So, why don’t I put together my own show and see how it goes. Then I thought the quality of my videos are amateurish. They’re not backed by big bucks and who will listen to me? I took those limiting beliefs and crushed them in Tony’s seminar. I replaced those beliefs with more empowering ones like: I save lives; I’m infinitely loved by god; and I’m Babilicious. Well, that woman knows how to put together a TV show. So, I put together video clips of my vision: some lives that needed living organ donors from strangers; some of our success stories sprinkled with some celebrity endorsements over the years. Then I put together a 30 minute show of my vision; a show that can transform the face of media. Babilicious knows how to get things moving. Here is a link to that show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0oF295mKx8&feature=youtu.be
Next was the Business Mastery in Florida and the Plat Wealth seminar in Whistler, Canada. In these seminars I learned to save money monthly; to build a money machine by automating it out of my account every month into a savings account. I learned about the three buckets of safe, growth and a dream bucket. I received some investing ideas and heard from the best of the best in the financial world. This included Ray Dalio; the owners of AirBandB; and Soul Cycle. I learned how to grow our business by 30 percent. During the Plat trip what blew away the group in Whistler was having President Clinton come in and speak to about 200 of us about his life’s experience. Now I save regularly. I have a dream bucket, non existent for me before, and I love numbers and numbers love me. As a matter of fact, I caught a $1,400 mistake in my account last month that went into my pocket; not someone else’s.
My next adventure included my son Raphael in Los Angeles and London. On his second fire walk Raphael stormed through the coals without hesitation. In so little time he was a confident fire walker. Although I let my son play on the iPad a lot when we listened to a Tony’s lessons he really understood them. For example, Raphael constantly says now: ”see things as they really are and see things better than they are”. When I get down on something now my son puts my thoughts in the right direction. Raphael also says “trade your expectation for appreciation and your world changes in a minute.”
The moments I appreciated most are how Raphael takes these lessons and applies them to everyday life. For instance, when his father called him during the seminar, according to my son, his father criticized Tony Robbins. Raphael, at 11, had the courage to say: ” I like Tony, and if you don’t like him screw you”. Although the comment is obviously disrespectful to his father, and I don’t condone that, I love that Raphael is finding his own voice. I love that he has the confidence to express the things that make him feel good and to stand by them.
Another highlight for me was in L.A. during our tour of Paramount studios. (We played hooky one day from the seminar.) My son wanted to meet an actor from a Nickelodeon show, “School of Rock”. The tour guide kept saying that it is very unlikely you will meet these actors. Raphael kept saying “anything is possible”. When anyone walked by Raphael he would ask where those particular actors were. No one knew. Finally, we stopped by a trailer with a lady sitting on the steps, and Raphael asked if anyone there was from the “School of Rock”. The woman stepped into the trailer and came out with two of his favorite actors. My son visualized it; pursued it; and saw the result….PRICELESS.
(Raphael meeting Nickelodeon star from “School of Rock” at Universal Studios)
For our next adventure, Raphael and I were off to the Down Under, Australia in the Gold Coast. Twenty Five hours, three different planes later, we arrived at my son’s ” Date with Destiny”. What could Raphael learn here? What will he take away from this seminar? I was very proud of Raphael. For a rambunctious 11 year old, who can’t sit still for more than five minutes, he sat for hours without getting up.
(Raphael participating in shares at “Date with Destiny” in the Gold Coast, Australia)
Raphael danced, he participated in the shares and his favorite thing was tapping his hand over his head and saying this is how we f_ ck ourselves. So, I know what you’re thinking. But this technique is used when we say or do something stupid to hurt ourselves or others. It is used, in the moment, as a pattern interrupt to get one to change a destructive pattern.
Raphael’s biggest lesson was on the final night after he was warned to respect boundaries and rules at the venue, and he did not. Raphael was given a warning. On the final night Alonzo, Tony Robbins’ top security guard, pulled us out of the room. Raphael was told he could not participate because he was not respecting the rules of the venue. This was actually a good thing because my son felt remorseful, and now when he misbehaves at home I use this as a reference point. So, the message I’m trying to relay hits home more quickly.
At the end of our week both Raphael and I completed our vision boards, or our map, for our year’s top four goals. My son’s goals were: to get a kitten; to get a fancy fidget spinner; to earn $5,008 dollars; and to play three football games per week. He has already checked off two of his four goals as I write this blog.
