For more than 30 years, Tony Robbins has established himself as the premiere performance coach, working with clients ranging from legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones to President Bill Clinton.
His access has allowed him to both teach and learn from people at the top of their fields, and he’s shared those lessons with millions of people through his books and seminars.
Among Robbins’ star friend group are Virgin chairman Richard Branson, Salesforce chairman and CEO Marc Benioff, and media mogul Oprah Winfrey.
Robbins told Business Insider that these three are a good illustration of what it takes to be massively successful. While they have starkly different personalities, they share one defining trait: They have an insatiable hunger — to become, learn, do, share, and give more.
“Most people’s hunger has a limit,” Robbins said. The typical person will, for example, reach a point of financial success and stop striving, or hit a level of physical fitness and ease up on the routine that got them there.
The likes of Branson, Benioff, and Winfrey haven’t slowed down, though.
As Robbins explained, 65-year-old Branson is just as lively and focused today as he was when he started “Student” magazine at age 16.
Robbins said that “everybody gets what they tolerate” within themselves, in the sense that all people perform according to the limits they set.
The reason why Branson, Benioff, and Winfrey are billionaire entrepreneurs, Robbins said, is because they define themselves by the constant desire to push themselves further; they’re forever hungry.
“And when that never goes away, and you do that year after year, decade after decade, the level of concentration of power, the level of insight, the level of strategy, and the level of results you can get compound just like in investing,” Robbins said.
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Originally published at www.businessinsider.com on March 30, 2016.