When I recently attended UPW Virtual, it was my fourth year to listen to the content! This year, I was on the social media team working remotely for the event, and it’s where I got the most out of UPW! Here are my top 6 lessons:

1.Your source for advice is just as important as the advice.

Scott Harris, one of Tony Robbins’ trainers, told the audience a story about when he was starting to invest in property. His second father told him not to invest in lots of property because he’ll get ‘too big for his boots’. But that man did not have properties and did not have the mindset of what it was like to have a thousand investment properties, so he looked for advice elsewhere. 

This lesson is very timely to hear because there are lots of gurus and mentors out there who can give conflicting and confusing advice. Use this filter: Have they achieved what you want to achieve and MORE? If not, they are probably not the right person to ask for advice. So, look for experts who have a track record for the results you want to get.

2. Momentum is the key to achieve long-term success. 

This is a vital principle from Day 2 of UPW, specifically Joseph McClendon III, founder of the phrase “shake that ass” which means putting yourself at peak state to celebrate life.

If you can put yourself in a peak state at will, you can do anything.

For me, it’s the call of water! I hadn’t trained in a decade and a half – whereas before I swam every day at 6 AM and 5 PM.

Now, I’m looking forward to swimming and joining a dragon boat racing team. Look, I do not enjoy the early wake-up calls or the intense environments of training, but I’m very interested in feeling good about the win after the swim: the thrill of consistently showing up for myself and the health benefits of exercising.

3. You can reframe your values.

Tony Robbins talked to a participant on Day 3 of UPW about his values. Like lots of people going to UPW, this participant held significance and certainty high on the list of their six human needs. People crave to feel special, which is being ‘significant’; likewise, people crave security which is being ‘certain’ in Tony Robbins speak. 

Tony and the participant (sorry, I did not catch your name!) had one on one coaching, and the outcome of it was: it’s possible to consider the same values still high on your list, but you can flip it around to become your filters. When you’re noticing that you need to feel significant or certain, you can ask yourself “what am I grateful for now?”  Doing this, you turn it from a mindset of scarcity to an attitude of appreciation and abundance. 

4. Who you spend time with is who you become.

Tony Robbins learned this from his original mentor, Jim Rohn, who famously said, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”  

This doesn’t mean you need to evaluate all your friends and family and stop hanging out with them if they are not successful. It just means that you need to seek people who share your same values to bring out the best in you. Lean on that peer group when you want to talk about projects and businesses that excite you.

5. You don’t have to think of things as worse than they are.

This is my bad habit that I think I got from living in a third world country for two-thirds of my life. My mind tends to go to ‘buckle up for the worst.’ 

Tony Robbins says ‘see things as they are not worse than they are’ and also ‘see things better than they are.’ What the second statement means is you don’t have to be optimistic about everything and not see the bad things in front of you at all. It means accepting the bad things and choosing not to dwell. It’s like saying to yourself (and this is a true story) “Yes, the pandemic made you sit at home, eat junk and gain 5 kilos. It sucks. What will you do about it? Do something!”

6. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to far, go together.

This last point is a proverb, and while I don’t know who wrote it, I certainly experienced it firsthand how important it is to work as a team for this mammoth virtual event!

Lesson: Find yourself a great team to be part of!

There are many more lessons from Unleash the Power Within, and I’ve shared a list previously here

If you would like to join the next Unleash the Power Within in Australia, book a ticket here.