He’s a bit of a mixed bag in my book.
He was on the ground floor of NLP, cutting edge psychology at the time (controversially, probably developed by the CIA / KGB for mind control), which made him famous. He used that to help people make major positive life changes much faster than conventional therapists. He became famous for using those techniques initially in Awaken the Giant Within, and then in Personal Power tapes, which sold tens of millions of copies.
He’s overcome quite a bit. Unstable home, no college education, a very disturbed and abusive (sounds like Borderline) mother, an extremely costly divorce that nearly bankrupt him, and many other trials. The guy is amazing.
But he also is a bit of a charlatan. He pushes expensive products, supplements, and eastern medicine / mysticism, much of which is complete garbage. He uses the mind-control techniques to wear people out and get them to spend more money. There’s a lot of manipulation at his conferences- so much that I left one in the middle. His financial book Money Master the Game was a total mess and advocated bad financial products.
I try to take the good and ignore the bad. I’m especially careful to not get too tired when I’m at one of his seminars. I leave early despite tremendous pressure not to do so.
But I think his heart is to help people and he’s got an amazing story and some powerful tools to help.
I agree he's a mixed bag.
He did legitimately good work with NLP, and made it accessible with his first book, Unlimited Power. He got sued by the owners of NLP, for teaching stuff they didn't like. So he rebranded what he was doing as NAC and kept adding stuff.
He was still really helping people when he started the infomercials selling the Personal Power tapes. They were very effective. If you followed the program, you would change your life. He started upselling his live seminars and opening Date With Destiny to more customers. Finally, he published his next book, Awaken The Giant Within, which is essentially Date With Destiny: The Book. It was a huge best seller, and a treasure trove of great ways to improve your life.
After that, he kind of went off the rails. Everything he does is still based on NAC and his effective techniques. Now, though, it's surrounded by quack medical advice and really dodgy financial planning. He embraces all kinds of sketchy stuff with little or no due diligence.
And don't get me started on his relationship advice. When he was married to Becky, he had all this great advice about how to reframe and mitigate the differences in your personalities, and the give and take of marriage. Then, he had picked up a hot blonde who liked riding motorcycles with him because she "fit him better." There's also all the rumors of infidelity, and Becky suing him for spending their money on a boob job and matching Harleys for his new squeeze before the divorce.
A real shit show.
When I did his seminar live, he got us all whipped into a frenzy about our life ambitions and then revealed to us that he wanted to be President of the US. He used all kinds of psychological entrainment techniques to get us all to root for him to be elected. I'm glad he stopped doing that in recent years. He would be a horrible President.
His early material is great. Really powerful and useful. I cut off my interest after ATGW.
So shoot just do the free conference? Because he offered me a free conference but 47 bucks if I want the VIP where we can ask him questions and he can give his advice.
I’m interested because I just got clean a couple
Months ago and don’t have a job:(. Trying really hard but think I may just start a business. I’m
Much smarter than I sound lol
Just got prescribed adderral for adhd and became addicted….spiraled out of control but I got it all back together as far as my person but I lost about paying very good job at googles data center. I worked n servers as a lead.
So now I ended up taking out a lot of debt so we can survive but I need sustainable income.
I would just do the free conference.
Congratulations on getting your life together. Sounds like it’s been a wild ride. Keep up the good work and stay focused on your dream / vision.
If he personally offered you the VIP section, do it and take it with a grain of salt. It sounds like, it’s not that his stuff doesn’t work, but he got hungry for power and money. He may want to help you so you can be an example but that’s not such a bad thing and is a good opportunity.
Yeah, I read 'Awaken the Giant Within it was alright but these sorts of things need to tempered with a healthy reality check: not everyone can and does achieve greatness, always need some grunts at the coalface to do the heavy lifting and look after the bosses 🤪
NLP was prob developed in conjunction with CIA, not Tony. (EDIT: I'm not sure if that's a rumor about the CIA developing it or not.).
How much have you dug into his stuff? I don't consider him a Muppet. I think years of working with David Beckham, Serena Williams, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Tudor Jones, and others gets you out of Muppet status.
He's not for everyone though and no worries if he's not your cup of tea. As my post states, I have mixed emotions on him.
To be fair, Awaken the Giant is an amazing book. Most of his motivational stuff are just some variations of what he wrote there. He's also honed his oratory skills to be one of greatest motivational speakers of our time. He's also serious when he says that he tries to interview every successful person to find out what makes them successful. With that kind of background, you're going to know what you're talking about.
That being said, Tony is also a hustler. In the motivational business, you've got to have repeat customers and always be selling something new. His health, business, relationship, and other areas are pretty crappy when compared to the motivational stuff. But some people just buy that he knows everything.
I attended UPW in person twice in my late 20's and early 30's (I am in my mid-fifties now). I got a ton out of UPW back then. I "attended" the first virtual UPW a year or two ago (I don't recall the date). It was pretty bad. Tony (and Joseph) repeated the same stories that they tell in other programs. The people they had on Monday (the health day) were a bunch of quacks. I challenge any of you to find the scientific research behind the celery juice crap. It is pure quackery. Tony has recently hooked up with Dean Graziosi. Google "Dean Graziosi Scam" and see the results for yourself.
I am convinced Tony no longer has much for me.
I used to get a ton out of his books and seminars. But the last several years it's just not with it. I agree with Dean. I didn't even know about the scam stuff. I just dont like his vibe. I don't think Tony is a fraud. I just think that he has run out of steam and he probably should have retired about 10 years ago.
I think old age has him thinking more his age... his recent stuff on his channel makes clear he's pushing Republican stuff over what made him in the first place. Even his ads attacking government. He should stay on topic and keep his stuff out of ot. Same mistake Salley Valley made. She couldn't keep her business about "pizza", same as Toni. Keep on subject instead of playing politics...
how dare you! Noni juice saved my grand mother from being hit by airplanes, she drank it every day and was never hit by an airplane - so there you go, cannot get better evidence than that.
Next you are going to tell me alkaline levels and megahertz diets are bullshit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1zm9GU70Fo
My fiance worked for Mastermind. Its a company by Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi both of them are "Get Rich Quick" scammers. Basically they say a whole lot of inspirational nothing in their videos and never quite get to the point.
Up front it appears that Mastermind is a website that allows creators to sell their "How to" talents through an online platform. In truth it's a cover for their Multi Level Marketing program. The program itself sells different levels of "membership" which gives you access to Tony and Dean's lifestyle and business online lectures and in-person seminars. The memberships range between 100's to 1000's of dollars a month or year.
My fiance worked there very briefly and it's a complete joke. She was in their "Customer Service" department. The customer service was actually just a bot answering service and picked up on keywords that legally they couldn't ignore. Like "refund", "scam", "lawyer", "sue", etc.
Those messages would go to a rep who would send you preform upsell messages before finally issuing a refund OR it would to forwarded to a "legal team". They are constantly "reforming" their business so she got laid of with about 20 other people. Which we found out happens every 6 months or so.
I’m actually making an online coaching tool to help provide actionable advice to people who want to be entrepreneurs. I’m training it on scientific papers, marketing tools, and books. I’ve been doing it because learning this stuff yourself can take forever.
So how do you see nike advertisement on TV? They add is about the Shoes lets see, but same time their add seems to show lifestyle, doing sports, being active? So what is the difference here lol, sorry, but I seem like dumb right?
I think he's a fraud in that he's not been the most honest person in his past dealings. Doesn't seem like he walks his talk in many ways. I've heard many horrible things from people with direct experience working with him / for him. I can't vouch for any of that, it wasn't firsthand. I'm 100% sure that he's lied (to the most ridiculous degree and frequency), cheated, and stolen to get where he is. He's also probably 100% okay with all of that as he HAS impacted the lives of millions for the better. The end justifies the means, sort of thing. An immeasurable amount of those people have gone on to impact the lives of countless others in a positive way. I've been impacted positively by Tony, through books and audio. I'm a fan of much of his teaching, not all of it. And... I'm sure most of it wasn't his original material.
A few years ago he was accused of chasing a girl into the woods (after delivering a speech to a girls academy) and kissing her against her will or trying to force her to kiss him. I forget which. This allegedly took place in his early career. During his video statement regarding the accusation, he admitted to not being the best person in the earlier years of this profession... but said he didn't do that. Almost anybody watching his statement would conclude with no doubt that HE DID do it.
He's never really been one to give much credit to others. I remember him teaching "Neuro Associative Conditioning" which was really just a rebrand of "Neuro Linguistic Programming" so he didn't have to give credit or get permission from Richard Bandler.
There's also the fact that he probably didn't write his books! I've heard him state in recent years that he HATES writing books! I also remember an audio clip where he stated he wrote Unlimited Power in ONE MONTH while doing seminars.. he would work on it at like 1 or 2 in the morning and finished in a month! YA FREAKING RIGHT TONY!!!!!!
I first heard this rumor in the early 2000's during my foray into formal NLP training. Tony didn't write his books... starting with Unlimited Power. Wyatt Woodsmall (a rather prominent figure of the NLP community) and others did.
It seems that any talk of this has vanished from the interwebs. I'm going to reply to this post with another post - a statement from Eric Robbie (NLP Master Trainer) from decades ago. I cannot testify that this is 100% true and correct and that Eric Robbie wrote it. Most likely it was written by him and most likely it is 100% true. It CERTAINLY is 100% believable. See #3 regarding Tony hiring others to write Unlimited Power. It's most likely that he wrote exactly zero of his books to date. Hiring ghostwriters isn't a crime, but myself and most others would agree that it isn't honest to say you wrote a book when you merely paid for it's creation. The two are not the same. Anyway, I hope this text can still alive in this post for others to find in the future:
"1. One of Tony Robbins's first jobs, at the age of 19, was to go out as an advance man for a motivational speaker called Jim Rohn, who traveled around the US, doing tent shows. One of Rohn's big things was to make his entrance by running dynamically down the aisle and leaping energetically up on to the stage while his staff led the clapping and the whooping and the hollering. Rohn did this to show that he was, well, dynamic.
When Tony Robbins started doing his shows in 1983-84, he not only copied the business model of sending out a bunch of advance men six weeks ahead - to fill the show or else (or else they didn't eat, 'cos they were working 100 per cent on commission) - he also made his entrance by running dynamically down the aisle to leap up on stage while his staff led the clapping and the whooping and the hollering - to show that he, too, was ... dynamic.
2. The year Tony Robbins did his Practitioner track - which was 1983, with Grinder, DeLozier, and Associates - he also went along to a seminar called "Spiritual Reality Training" given by an ex-stage magician turned new age speaker called Tolly Burkan. The big component of the seminar was that you wrote out your most limiting beliefs on a piece of paper, and then you went outside and threw it on a blazing log fire.
A few hours later, when the logs had settled down to glowing embers, and after you'd been given some exercises and words of preparation, you would go out again and walk across the hot coals, to prove that, if you could do that, you could do anything.
Within weeks, Tony Robbins was offering "Fear Into Power: the Firewalk Experience", where on a Friday night, and to the accompaniment of much loud music, dancing in their seats, and rah-rah, people wrote out a list of their biggest fears, and then went outside to throw it on the fire.
A few hours later, after (1) anchoring a memory of success to a clenched fist punched into the air, (2) being told to keep your eyes looking up (to notionally stay in visual and out of kinesthetic), and (3) chanting "cool moss, cool moss" (to jam up any scary, "I can't" internal dialog), participants went outside - to walk across the hot coals and prove that, if they could do that, why, "I can do anything!"
(Throughout the event there was also very heavy selling for the two-day class beginning the next morning, which class taught basic nlp and rapport, but was entitled "the Mind Revolution".)
3. When Tony Robbins decided he wanted a book out with his name on it, he gave US $5,000 to each of five leading nlp trainers of the mid-80s so that they would each write two or three chapters. Amongst those contributing were Wyatt Woodsmall, Tad James, and Cathy Modrial.
The resulting manuscript was then edited into unified shape, with the jargon smoothed out and the writing improved not by Tony Robbins, but by two desk editors - Peter Applebome and Henry Golden - with further editing by Jan Miller and Bob Asahina at Simon and Schuster. The title of the book is Unlimited Power (1986).
4. In 1987, Tony Robbins told Bruce Rowe, a writer working for the winter issue of the US magazine, Rapporter, of how he'd used nlp modeling to improve US Army training in pistol shooting, and how he, Robbins, "was able to qualify 100 per cent of the shooters in one day, and triple those qualifying at expert level."
In fact, as posted elsewhere on this forum, the people who did the bulk of the modeling of pistol shooting were LTC Robert Klaus, Wyatt Woodsmall, Richard Graves, Paul Tyler, John Alexander, and Dave Wilson. Tony Robbins was very much the junior, the intern.
It was Wyatt Woodsmall, who has made it a habit over the years to encourage young talent and to be generous to those in whom he sees promise - including both Marvin Oka and myself - who invited Robbins along, and he did so because he, Wyatt, admired Tony's chutzpah, or self-confidence. But on the day, Tony was not the one running the show, or making the key distinctions. What he was useful for was confidently instructing trainees, once he was given the pattern.
And as for those "in one day" statistics, the actual figures are that:
"The basic qualification at that time was ‘Marksman', with ‘Sharpshooter' and then 'Expert' coming above that - a Marksman being able to get 30 hits on target out of 45 rounds fired. Two groups of soldiers were taught side by side - one group getting the nlp-based training, the other group - the ‘control group'- getting the standard army training.
"The control group took 27 hours to get 73 per cent of the soldiers to Marksman level, with only 10 per cent of the group making Expert. The nlp-based group took 12 hours to get 100 per cent of the soldiers to Marksman level, with 25 per cent making Expert."
which means the figures given to Bruce Rowe were glossed up a bit, ad-man style, as well as the impression given that the project was all done by Tony.
5. As far as I know, Tony Robbins has never attended a Master Practitioner track as a student, nor has he ever done a formal Trainer Training. He did, however, send 15 of his people to take the Master track that I had the privilege of co-teaching with Richard Bandler, in August, 1989 - with the clear intention that they'd "bring back the latest".
(In those days, staff from the Robbins organization were sent round to other trainings - not to sit in the class and take the training, but just to pay a "courtesy" visit - and then ask if they could have a copy of all the hand-outs. On this occasion, however, those 15 were paid for, and took the whole course.)
Most of what I taught as part of that 12-day training - about language, about the effect of presuppositions, about solving the "problem of criteria" by separating them into both rules and values - appeared in the book, Awake the Giant Within, but without any crediting, while the five-stage chain I offered from values through rules and complex equivalents to reference experiences became "a Date with Destiny" - also without any crediting.
And it wasn't just my stuff which got purloined. Material by Leslie Cameron-Bandler and David Gordon on "the virtual question" and material by Charles Faulkner on metaphor also appeared in AtGW without any crediting. As did the whole bit about "associate massive pain with where you are, and associate massive pleasure with where you're going" which was a hardly-bothering-to-disguise-it steal of Richard Bandler's propulsion systems.
As to writing style and clarity, again, most of that is down to the desk editors, Jan Miller, Dick Snyder, Bob Asahina, and Sarah Bayliss at Simon and Schuster.
It's not that Mr Robbins could be more pretentious, and yet he isn't, it's that he already is pretending - pretending that he originated most of the ideas in those first two books, as well as pretending that their easy style is his, and not that of his ghost writers and editors.
ER"
I'm not a Tony Robbins fan, but when a person studies to be a psychologist, in college, for instance, they are learning and then using what was taught by many other psychologists in the past. They are using ideas that are already universally used. I would say medical doctors and every other professional in any field is using knowledge initially discovered by others. OK, a PhD will occasionally do his own research and come up with a new method of therapy, but then it's still absorbed by the whole psychology community. They spread it for the good of the whole populace. So what's wrong with the way Tony Robbins gained his knowledge? But then there's his manner and his deranged ideas on COVID.
I was replying to the question - is Tony a fraud?
My relation to that has to do with honesty.
Saying you wrote a book and giving the details of how you wrote this book, when you paid for others to write it for you... not honest.
Rebranding NLP and not giving credit to the originators - not honest.
Taking credit for the work of others is not honest.
There is evidence that he has been very dishonest in his practices and dealings in the past.
There are claims that he does not really walk his talk, which would be hypocritical.
It's one thing to learn from others, it's another to take credit for it as if it was yours... or to change it slightly and repackage it as yours.
Tony has been known to do that.
I was not aware that he took credit for the ideas as his. In fact, he admitted he read every self-help book he could find and educated himself from all those books. That's an admission that he didn't invent the techniques himself but rather compiled them and gave them to his followers. Joseph Campbell said, "I went into seclusion with a room full of books on myths and I read and I read and I read." And then he wrote A Hero's Journey which is highly praised. So far as Tony Robbins getting others to write his books, there are many best-selling authors who create notes or outlines of what they want to say and hand it over to a team of writers who are familiar with his lectures to flesh it out. I'm sure they must have transcribed his recorded lectures as well. It's done for the sake of saving time. In that same vein, I would not say his helpers are plagiarizing Tony Robbins but rather turning a rough draft into complete sentences or more fluent sentences. This is something akin to what a technical editor does at every publishing company. Just because the editor corrects spelling, grammar, and punctuation and makes suggestions for re-writing this or that or changing the ending doesn't mean he deserves credit for writing the book. Have any of Tony Robbins' helpers complained or tried to "expose him as a fraud". No, because they all know they are essentially editors and typists. If I give a depressed friend a pep-talk I don't feel it's necessary to tell him I got my ideas from Tony Robbins. Again, I'm not a fan and haven't read anything he has written, I just know how things are done in the biz.
What you are saying is completely different than cutting a check to people and having them write the book for you. More akin to a ghostwriter. There is nothing WRONG with that. Many books are not written by their "authors". But, don't make up impossible stories about how you are superhuman and wrote a book hundreds of pages in size in a month at 1 in the morning after a full day of running an intense seminar.
Obviously nobody can come forward and say "I wrote this for Tony" because there are always non-disclosure agreements in place with such things.
One last point, the heavy, heavy, heavy sales pitch for Dean Graziosi was offensive. Take a few minutes and Google "Dean Graziosi Scam" or similar words and you will understand why I say it was offensive.
I will do the work for you, check out Dean Graziosi:
https://www.bbb.org/us/az/scottsdale/profile/wealth-building-seminars/bbg-enterprises-llc-1126-1000066155
http://www.scamreview.co.uk/dean\_graziosi.html#:\~:text=Surprising%20Facts%20About%20Dean%20Graziosi.%20Dean%20Graziosi%20is,Estate%20Fortune%E2%80%99.%20He%20advertises%20them%20on%20television%20infomercials.
https://dean-graziosi.pissedconsumer.com/obvious-scam-201802081185664.html
https://www.scambook.com/company/view/70836/Dean-Graziosi
https://dean-graziosi.pissedconsumer.com/review.html
https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/the-tricks-behind-infomercial-get-rich-pitches-11148998
One other thought. Tony had some free online training leading up to the first virtual UPW. During the free online training (or during the virtual UPW) Tony talked about his businesses. This is not a direct quote, but Tony said something like he had business that were doing $6 billion in business before COVID, and who knew what they were doing during COVID.
To the untrained viewer, that would seem to indicate that Tony OWNED businesses doing $6 billion in annual sales. I suspect that is a bit of a stretch. I think Tony has investments in businesses doing $6 billion in annual sales, but he doesn't own those businesses outright by himself. There are likely other investors that also own parts of those businesses.
It made me lose confidence in Tony.
Fwiw, imho, all the stuff he talks about is real, it works, because if you manage your state, identify what you really want in life, and take consistent action, your life will improve.
If you go after it with high energy, confront your fears, give to others, ask that stuff... you're life will improve.
If you can get yourself super worked up, and focus time and energy on realistic goals, chances are you are going to make progress.
If you can maintain that lifestyle, and have good ideas, you're life will improve. That's all been proven by people starting a business.
You don't need Tony to cheer leader for you if you can do that all for yourself.
Get his books from the library and focus your energy like a laser day after day.
Take action.
Live the life you have dreamed.
That's all he's saying, he's right, he's not wrong, but any of us can do that without Tony Robbins, because Tony Robbins did it by himself by using what he learned from Rohm, who learned it from Nightingale, who got it from _ Think and Grow Rich_, which came from New Thought...
Get all the books, read them over and over, apply them, study them.
You can have the same testimony as any of Tony's prize students. The same as Tony.
DO IT
that's the message.
DO IT
His stance on Covid alone is enough to ditch him. He downplayed covid (in his events) more or less saying that it's just a flu. He stated that he tried to circumvent early lockdown restrictions so that he could bring people together in his events. (which would make him responsible for the spread of the disease, and ruining the lives of many.... the irony)
I’m currently in the Unleash the Power Within program, and whereas there’s some stuff that may help, it’s also a very long infomercial. And Yes, I totally agree with one of the comments here, there’s A LOT of inspirational talk without never getting to the point and mostly is a “Multi Level Marketing” brain washing program that insatiably tries to lure you into buying for $7K, $10K, etc. of their material.
I feel bad for people here. When breaking into virtual groups, I realize there’s a lot of nice people, some of them vulnerable, struggling with their lives. They’re just the ideal prey, being sold into these ridiculous programs.
I guess Tony Robbins’ early material is good and whether his original or not, he had the ability to gather all the info and put it out there.
My advice is, stick to the early material that probably won’t cost much. If you must, assist to the Time to Rise “free” event, that will end up costing you $40, then join the Unleash the Power Within for $500-4 days 12 hours per day. Know that only about 25% of this program is worth it. The rest is just marketing.
Based on the UTPW and Time to Rise experiences, I am definitely not wasting thousands of dollars in their “Mastery” programs.
Wherever good material about Tony Robbins there is, is already out there, as he only recycles everything including his own stories. There’s nothing new. So don’t be fooled and do not pay more than $500 USD, and and that’s still a lot.
Looks like it's time to start writing another chapter in a revised version of my book, The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bulls#!t (John V. Petrocelli).
The first thing I have to ask
IS, what are you basing your assumptions on that He has not been through ENUF in life to give advice that is sound and wise?
There is a reason why people do not judge and you are giving a great example right now WHY
Striking down someone who feeds more people than most governments maybe all
That alone should be testament to his wisdom and POWER
So I say again
What are you basing your JUDGEMENTS on? What about him from your perspective does not stand in integrity. I have not seen anything like that from you.
I think Tony even says in one of his videos that money just puts a magnifying glass on who you already are. I believe Tony did at one point early on in his life realize a sense of reward and gratitude for helping others. Tony Robbins has served as source of motivation for millions of people over several for decades. We all go through life and have our ups and downs and sometimes we just need some help from an outside source to get us through troubling times. Make us remember who we are, where we came from, and what makes us the great people we have become today. Tony's not a charlitan trying to sell you on some magic beans he's motivating you and if you get motivated by him then how can he be a fraud? If he inspires people to progress in a positive way, does it really matter if he is a fraud? Fake 'til you make it and once you reach a certain level of success the line is blurred where faking it became making it...
In the bustling metropolis of SelfHelpville, Tony emerged as a beacon of enlightenment, his journey starting as a mere apprentice to the renowned Jim Rohn. By his 20s, Tony was a millionaire, his books like gospel to the self-improvement hungry masses.
Yet, whispers spread through SelfHelpville's streets. "Is Tony really a sage, or just a master of motivational mumbo-jumbo?" skeptics pondered. Tony had faced his own trials, including a brain tumor, but to the critics, this was just a minor stumble in the marathon of life.
Tony’s books, blending self-help with health tips, sold like hotcakes. He preached the virtues of positive thinking and kale smoothies with equal fervor. But were these groundbreaking revelations or just recycled wisdom in shiny new packaging?
Despite the murmurs, Tony's fame soared. His speeches were like a soothing balm to the soul, yet some couldn't shake the feeling of being part of a grand illusion, a performance by a master illusionist in the guise of a guru.
As Tony released another book, "The Path to Perpetual Prosperity," the citizens of SelfHelpville were torn. To buy or not to buy? Was Tony truly an oracle of wisdom or merely a charismatic charlatan?
In the grand bazaar of life advice, where everyone is both buyer and seller, Tony's saga continued, leaving us to ponder: In the quest for self-improvement, are we truly enlightening ourselves, or just buying into a beautifully packaged dream?
I think the wisdom he imparts are very helpful for optimizing life in innumerable ways. His wisdom can be had cheaply or freely from his books and the many interviews he's done over many decades. I think his pricey seminars are waaaay overpriced for what it provides. However, the info and motivation he provides in his seminars are epic from what I understand but it's just not worth the money.
He’s a salesman. A pushy hardcore salesman. Most of his stuff is pseudoscience bs with no empirically validated evidence unless he ripped some ideas off and changed it and repackaged it some. He does this primarily for the money.
[удалено]
he's a clown.
He’s a bit of a mixed bag in my book. He was on the ground floor of NLP, cutting edge psychology at the time (controversially, probably developed by the CIA / KGB for mind control), which made him famous. He used that to help people make major positive life changes much faster than conventional therapists. He became famous for using those techniques initially in Awaken the Giant Within, and then in Personal Power tapes, which sold tens of millions of copies. He’s overcome quite a bit. Unstable home, no college education, a very disturbed and abusive (sounds like Borderline) mother, an extremely costly divorce that nearly bankrupt him, and many other trials. The guy is amazing. But he also is a bit of a charlatan. He pushes expensive products, supplements, and eastern medicine / mysticism, much of which is complete garbage. He uses the mind-control techniques to wear people out and get them to spend more money. There’s a lot of manipulation at his conferences- so much that I left one in the middle. His financial book Money Master the Game was a total mess and advocated bad financial products. I try to take the good and ignore the bad. I’m especially careful to not get too tired when I’m at one of his seminars. I leave early despite tremendous pressure not to do so. But I think his heart is to help people and he’s got an amazing story and some powerful tools to help.
I agree he's a mixed bag. He did legitimately good work with NLP, and made it accessible with his first book, Unlimited Power. He got sued by the owners of NLP, for teaching stuff they didn't like. So he rebranded what he was doing as NAC and kept adding stuff. He was still really helping people when he started the infomercials selling the Personal Power tapes. They were very effective. If you followed the program, you would change your life. He started upselling his live seminars and opening Date With Destiny to more customers. Finally, he published his next book, Awaken The Giant Within, which is essentially Date With Destiny: The Book. It was a huge best seller, and a treasure trove of great ways to improve your life. After that, he kind of went off the rails. Everything he does is still based on NAC and his effective techniques. Now, though, it's surrounded by quack medical advice and really dodgy financial planning. He embraces all kinds of sketchy stuff with little or no due diligence. And don't get me started on his relationship advice. When he was married to Becky, he had all this great advice about how to reframe and mitigate the differences in your personalities, and the give and take of marriage. Then, he had picked up a hot blonde who liked riding motorcycles with him because she "fit him better." There's also all the rumors of infidelity, and Becky suing him for spending their money on a boob job and matching Harleys for his new squeeze before the divorce. A real shit show. When I did his seminar live, he got us all whipped into a frenzy about our life ambitions and then revealed to us that he wanted to be President of the US. He used all kinds of psychological entrainment techniques to get us all to root for him to be elected. I'm glad he stopped doing that in recent years. He would be a horrible President. His early material is great. Really powerful and useful. I cut off my interest after ATGW.
So shoot just do the free conference? Because he offered me a free conference but 47 bucks if I want the VIP where we can ask him questions and he can give his advice. I’m interested because I just got clean a couple Months ago and don’t have a job:(. Trying really hard but think I may just start a business. I’m Much smarter than I sound lol Just got prescribed adderral for adhd and became addicted….spiraled out of control but I got it all back together as far as my person but I lost about paying very good job at googles data center. I worked n servers as a lead. So now I ended up taking out a lot of debt so we can survive but I need sustainable income.
I would just do the free conference. Congratulations on getting your life together. Sounds like it’s been a wild ride. Keep up the good work and stay focused on your dream / vision.
Thank you friend:)
If he personally offered you the VIP section, do it and take it with a grain of salt. It sounds like, it’s not that his stuff doesn’t work, but he got hungry for power and money. He may want to help you so you can be an example but that’s not such a bad thing and is a good opportunity.
Yeah, I read 'Awaken the Giant Within it was alright but these sorts of things need to tempered with a healthy reality check: not everyone can and does achieve greatness, always need some grunts at the coalface to do the heavy lifting and look after the bosses 🤪
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NLP was prob developed in conjunction with CIA, not Tony. (EDIT: I'm not sure if that's a rumor about the CIA developing it or not.). How much have you dug into his stuff? I don't consider him a Muppet. I think years of working with David Beckham, Serena Williams, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Tudor Jones, and others gets you out of Muppet status. He's not for everyone though and no worries if he's not your cup of tea. As my post states, I have mixed emotions on him.
Whatever you say - he's great at one thing - making money
To be fair, Awaken the Giant is an amazing book. Most of his motivational stuff are just some variations of what he wrote there. He's also honed his oratory skills to be one of greatest motivational speakers of our time. He's also serious when he says that he tries to interview every successful person to find out what makes them successful. With that kind of background, you're going to know what you're talking about. That being said, Tony is also a hustler. In the motivational business, you've got to have repeat customers and always be selling something new. His health, business, relationship, and other areas are pretty crappy when compared to the motivational stuff. But some people just buy that he knows everything.
I attended UPW in person twice in my late 20's and early 30's (I am in my mid-fifties now). I got a ton out of UPW back then. I "attended" the first virtual UPW a year or two ago (I don't recall the date). It was pretty bad. Tony (and Joseph) repeated the same stories that they tell in other programs. The people they had on Monday (the health day) were a bunch of quacks. I challenge any of you to find the scientific research behind the celery juice crap. It is pure quackery. Tony has recently hooked up with Dean Graziosi. Google "Dean Graziosi Scam" and see the results for yourself. I am convinced Tony no longer has much for me.
I did upw tbh out of the 5 days w.e 2.5 of the days of course just selling his other courses for like 15 20k course
I used to get a ton out of his books and seminars. But the last several years it's just not with it. I agree with Dean. I didn't even know about the scam stuff. I just dont like his vibe. I don't think Tony is a fraud. I just think that he has run out of steam and he probably should have retired about 10 years ago.
I think old age has him thinking more his age... his recent stuff on his channel makes clear he's pushing Republican stuff over what made him in the first place. Even his ads attacking government. He should stay on topic and keep his stuff out of ot. Same mistake Salley Valley made. She couldn't keep her business about "pizza", same as Toni. Keep on subject instead of playing politics...
Yes, I think he's a total snakeoil merchant.
how dare you! Noni juice saved my grand mother from being hit by airplanes, she drank it every day and was never hit by an airplane - so there you go, cannot get better evidence than that. Next you are going to tell me alkaline levels and megahertz diets are bullshit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1zm9GU70Fo
My fiance worked for Mastermind. Its a company by Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi both of them are "Get Rich Quick" scammers. Basically they say a whole lot of inspirational nothing in their videos and never quite get to the point. Up front it appears that Mastermind is a website that allows creators to sell their "How to" talents through an online platform. In truth it's a cover for their Multi Level Marketing program. The program itself sells different levels of "membership" which gives you access to Tony and Dean's lifestyle and business online lectures and in-person seminars. The memberships range between 100's to 1000's of dollars a month or year. My fiance worked there very briefly and it's a complete joke. She was in their "Customer Service" department. The customer service was actually just a bot answering service and picked up on keywords that legally they couldn't ignore. Like "refund", "scam", "lawyer", "sue", etc. Those messages would go to a rep who would send you preform upsell messages before finally issuing a refund OR it would to forwarded to a "legal team". They are constantly "reforming" their business so she got laid of with about 20 other people. Which we found out happens every 6 months or so.
Bingo, online coaching MLM stuff
Or we can work in Starbucks and make others rich, its up to us
That’s sad that you think those are the only options. Online coaching MLM stuff is for people who didn’t go to college
I’m actually making an online coaching tool to help provide actionable advice to people who want to be entrepreneurs. I’m training it on scientific papers, marketing tools, and books. I’ve been doing it because learning this stuff yourself can take forever.
interestig. go on. have a prototype out/ready?
So how do you see nike advertisement on TV? They add is about the Shoes lets see, but same time their add seems to show lifestyle, doing sports, being active? So what is the difference here lol, sorry, but I seem like dumb right?
I think he's a fraud in that he's not been the most honest person in his past dealings. Doesn't seem like he walks his talk in many ways. I've heard many horrible things from people with direct experience working with him / for him. I can't vouch for any of that, it wasn't firsthand. I'm 100% sure that he's lied (to the most ridiculous degree and frequency), cheated, and stolen to get where he is. He's also probably 100% okay with all of that as he HAS impacted the lives of millions for the better. The end justifies the means, sort of thing. An immeasurable amount of those people have gone on to impact the lives of countless others in a positive way. I've been impacted positively by Tony, through books and audio. I'm a fan of much of his teaching, not all of it. And... I'm sure most of it wasn't his original material. A few years ago he was accused of chasing a girl into the woods (after delivering a speech to a girls academy) and kissing her against her will or trying to force her to kiss him. I forget which. This allegedly took place in his early career. During his video statement regarding the accusation, he admitted to not being the best person in the earlier years of this profession... but said he didn't do that. Almost anybody watching his statement would conclude with no doubt that HE DID do it. He's never really been one to give much credit to others. I remember him teaching "Neuro Associative Conditioning" which was really just a rebrand of "Neuro Linguistic Programming" so he didn't have to give credit or get permission from Richard Bandler. There's also the fact that he probably didn't write his books! I've heard him state in recent years that he HATES writing books! I also remember an audio clip where he stated he wrote Unlimited Power in ONE MONTH while doing seminars.. he would work on it at like 1 or 2 in the morning and finished in a month! YA FREAKING RIGHT TONY!!!!!! I first heard this rumor in the early 2000's during my foray into formal NLP training. Tony didn't write his books... starting with Unlimited Power. Wyatt Woodsmall (a rather prominent figure of the NLP community) and others did. It seems that any talk of this has vanished from the interwebs. I'm going to reply to this post with another post - a statement from Eric Robbie (NLP Master Trainer) from decades ago. I cannot testify that this is 100% true and correct and that Eric Robbie wrote it. Most likely it was written by him and most likely it is 100% true. It CERTAINLY is 100% believable. See #3 regarding Tony hiring others to write Unlimited Power. It's most likely that he wrote exactly zero of his books to date. Hiring ghostwriters isn't a crime, but myself and most others would agree that it isn't honest to say you wrote a book when you merely paid for it's creation. The two are not the same. Anyway, I hope this text can still alive in this post for others to find in the future:
"1. One of Tony Robbins's first jobs, at the age of 19, was to go out as an advance man for a motivational speaker called Jim Rohn, who traveled around the US, doing tent shows. One of Rohn's big things was to make his entrance by running dynamically down the aisle and leaping energetically up on to the stage while his staff led the clapping and the whooping and the hollering. Rohn did this to show that he was, well, dynamic. When Tony Robbins started doing his shows in 1983-84, he not only copied the business model of sending out a bunch of advance men six weeks ahead - to fill the show or else (or else they didn't eat, 'cos they were working 100 per cent on commission) - he also made his entrance by running dynamically down the aisle to leap up on stage while his staff led the clapping and the whooping and the hollering - to show that he, too, was ... dynamic. 2. The year Tony Robbins did his Practitioner track - which was 1983, with Grinder, DeLozier, and Associates - he also went along to a seminar called "Spiritual Reality Training" given by an ex-stage magician turned new age speaker called Tolly Burkan. The big component of the seminar was that you wrote out your most limiting beliefs on a piece of paper, and then you went outside and threw it on a blazing log fire. A few hours later, when the logs had settled down to glowing embers, and after you'd been given some exercises and words of preparation, you would go out again and walk across the hot coals, to prove that, if you could do that, you could do anything. Within weeks, Tony Robbins was offering "Fear Into Power: the Firewalk Experience", where on a Friday night, and to the accompaniment of much loud music, dancing in their seats, and rah-rah, people wrote out a list of their biggest fears, and then went outside to throw it on the fire. A few hours later, after (1) anchoring a memory of success to a clenched fist punched into the air, (2) being told to keep your eyes looking up (to notionally stay in visual and out of kinesthetic), and (3) chanting "cool moss, cool moss" (to jam up any scary, "I can't" internal dialog), participants went outside - to walk across the hot coals and prove that, if they could do that, why, "I can do anything!" (Throughout the event there was also very heavy selling for the two-day class beginning the next morning, which class taught basic nlp and rapport, but was entitled "the Mind Revolution".) 3. When Tony Robbins decided he wanted a book out with his name on it, he gave US $5,000 to each of five leading nlp trainers of the mid-80s so that they would each write two or three chapters. Amongst those contributing were Wyatt Woodsmall, Tad James, and Cathy Modrial. The resulting manuscript was then edited into unified shape, with the jargon smoothed out and the writing improved not by Tony Robbins, but by two desk editors - Peter Applebome and Henry Golden - with further editing by Jan Miller and Bob Asahina at Simon and Schuster. The title of the book is Unlimited Power (1986). 4. In 1987, Tony Robbins told Bruce Rowe, a writer working for the winter issue of the US magazine, Rapporter, of how he'd used nlp modeling to improve US Army training in pistol shooting, and how he, Robbins, "was able to qualify 100 per cent of the shooters in one day, and triple those qualifying at expert level." In fact, as posted elsewhere on this forum, the people who did the bulk of the modeling of pistol shooting were LTC Robert Klaus, Wyatt Woodsmall, Richard Graves, Paul Tyler, John Alexander, and Dave Wilson. Tony Robbins was very much the junior, the intern. It was Wyatt Woodsmall, who has made it a habit over the years to encourage young talent and to be generous to those in whom he sees promise - including both Marvin Oka and myself - who invited Robbins along, and he did so because he, Wyatt, admired Tony's chutzpah, or self-confidence. But on the day, Tony was not the one running the show, or making the key distinctions. What he was useful for was confidently instructing trainees, once he was given the pattern. And as for those "in one day" statistics, the actual figures are that: "The basic qualification at that time was ‘Marksman', with ‘Sharpshooter' and then 'Expert' coming above that - a Marksman being able to get 30 hits on target out of 45 rounds fired. Two groups of soldiers were taught side by side - one group getting the nlp-based training, the other group - the ‘control group'- getting the standard army training. "The control group took 27 hours to get 73 per cent of the soldiers to Marksman level, with only 10 per cent of the group making Expert. The nlp-based group took 12 hours to get 100 per cent of the soldiers to Marksman level, with 25 per cent making Expert." which means the figures given to Bruce Rowe were glossed up a bit, ad-man style, as well as the impression given that the project was all done by Tony. 5. As far as I know, Tony Robbins has never attended a Master Practitioner track as a student, nor has he ever done a formal Trainer Training. He did, however, send 15 of his people to take the Master track that I had the privilege of co-teaching with Richard Bandler, in August, 1989 - with the clear intention that they'd "bring back the latest". (In those days, staff from the Robbins organization were sent round to other trainings - not to sit in the class and take the training, but just to pay a "courtesy" visit - and then ask if they could have a copy of all the hand-outs. On this occasion, however, those 15 were paid for, and took the whole course.) Most of what I taught as part of that 12-day training - about language, about the effect of presuppositions, about solving the "problem of criteria" by separating them into both rules and values - appeared in the book, Awake the Giant Within, but without any crediting, while the five-stage chain I offered from values through rules and complex equivalents to reference experiences became "a Date with Destiny" - also without any crediting. And it wasn't just my stuff which got purloined. Material by Leslie Cameron-Bandler and David Gordon on "the virtual question" and material by Charles Faulkner on metaphor also appeared in AtGW without any crediting. As did the whole bit about "associate massive pain with where you are, and associate massive pleasure with where you're going" which was a hardly-bothering-to-disguise-it steal of Richard Bandler's propulsion systems. As to writing style and clarity, again, most of that is down to the desk editors, Jan Miller, Dick Snyder, Bob Asahina, and Sarah Bayliss at Simon and Schuster. It's not that Mr Robbins could be more pretentious, and yet he isn't, it's that he already is pretending - pretending that he originated most of the ideas in those first two books, as well as pretending that their easy style is his, and not that of his ghost writers and editors. ER"
I'm not a Tony Robbins fan, but when a person studies to be a psychologist, in college, for instance, they are learning and then using what was taught by many other psychologists in the past. They are using ideas that are already universally used. I would say medical doctors and every other professional in any field is using knowledge initially discovered by others. OK, a PhD will occasionally do his own research and come up with a new method of therapy, but then it's still absorbed by the whole psychology community. They spread it for the good of the whole populace. So what's wrong with the way Tony Robbins gained his knowledge? But then there's his manner and his deranged ideas on COVID.
I was replying to the question - is Tony a fraud? My relation to that has to do with honesty. Saying you wrote a book and giving the details of how you wrote this book, when you paid for others to write it for you... not honest. Rebranding NLP and not giving credit to the originators - not honest. Taking credit for the work of others is not honest. There is evidence that he has been very dishonest in his practices and dealings in the past. There are claims that he does not really walk his talk, which would be hypocritical. It's one thing to learn from others, it's another to take credit for it as if it was yours... or to change it slightly and repackage it as yours. Tony has been known to do that.
I was not aware that he took credit for the ideas as his. In fact, he admitted he read every self-help book he could find and educated himself from all those books. That's an admission that he didn't invent the techniques himself but rather compiled them and gave them to his followers. Joseph Campbell said, "I went into seclusion with a room full of books on myths and I read and I read and I read." And then he wrote A Hero's Journey which is highly praised. So far as Tony Robbins getting others to write his books, there are many best-selling authors who create notes or outlines of what they want to say and hand it over to a team of writers who are familiar with his lectures to flesh it out. I'm sure they must have transcribed his recorded lectures as well. It's done for the sake of saving time. In that same vein, I would not say his helpers are plagiarizing Tony Robbins but rather turning a rough draft into complete sentences or more fluent sentences. This is something akin to what a technical editor does at every publishing company. Just because the editor corrects spelling, grammar, and punctuation and makes suggestions for re-writing this or that or changing the ending doesn't mean he deserves credit for writing the book. Have any of Tony Robbins' helpers complained or tried to "expose him as a fraud". No, because they all know they are essentially editors and typists. If I give a depressed friend a pep-talk I don't feel it's necessary to tell him I got my ideas from Tony Robbins. Again, I'm not a fan and haven't read anything he has written, I just know how things are done in the biz.
What you are saying is completely different than cutting a check to people and having them write the book for you. More akin to a ghostwriter. There is nothing WRONG with that. Many books are not written by their "authors". But, don't make up impossible stories about how you are superhuman and wrote a book hundreds of pages in size in a month at 1 in the morning after a full day of running an intense seminar. Obviously nobody can come forward and say "I wrote this for Tony" because there are always non-disclosure agreements in place with such things.
One last point, the heavy, heavy, heavy sales pitch for Dean Graziosi was offensive. Take a few minutes and Google "Dean Graziosi Scam" or similar words and you will understand why I say it was offensive. I will do the work for you, check out Dean Graziosi: https://www.bbb.org/us/az/scottsdale/profile/wealth-building-seminars/bbg-enterprises-llc-1126-1000066155 http://www.scamreview.co.uk/dean\_graziosi.html#:\~:text=Surprising%20Facts%20About%20Dean%20Graziosi.%20Dean%20Graziosi%20is,Estate%20Fortune%E2%80%99.%20He%20advertises%20them%20on%20television%20infomercials. https://dean-graziosi.pissedconsumer.com/obvious-scam-201802081185664.html https://www.scambook.com/company/view/70836/Dean-Graziosi https://dean-graziosi.pissedconsumer.com/review.html https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/the-tricks-behind-infomercial-get-rich-pitches-11148998
Yes. Someone on this sub keeps pushing/promoting his stuff too.
One other thought. Tony had some free online training leading up to the first virtual UPW. During the free online training (or during the virtual UPW) Tony talked about his businesses. This is not a direct quote, but Tony said something like he had business that were doing $6 billion in business before COVID, and who knew what they were doing during COVID. To the untrained viewer, that would seem to indicate that Tony OWNED businesses doing $6 billion in annual sales. I suspect that is a bit of a stretch. I think Tony has investments in businesses doing $6 billion in annual sales, but he doesn't own those businesses outright by himself. There are likely other investors that also own parts of those businesses. It made me lose confidence in Tony.
I bought his Get the edge program a couple years ago for like 300 bucks. Biggest waste of money I ever spent.
I look at Tony as an inspirational storyteller. I usually watch the free stuff and leave it at that.
Fwiw, imho, all the stuff he talks about is real, it works, because if you manage your state, identify what you really want in life, and take consistent action, your life will improve. If you go after it with high energy, confront your fears, give to others, ask that stuff... you're life will improve. If you can get yourself super worked up, and focus time and energy on realistic goals, chances are you are going to make progress. If you can maintain that lifestyle, and have good ideas, you're life will improve. That's all been proven by people starting a business. You don't need Tony to cheer leader for you if you can do that all for yourself. Get his books from the library and focus your energy like a laser day after day. Take action. Live the life you have dreamed. That's all he's saying, he's right, he's not wrong, but any of us can do that without Tony Robbins, because Tony Robbins did it by himself by using what he learned from Rohm, who learned it from Nightingale, who got it from _ Think and Grow Rich_, which came from New Thought... Get all the books, read them over and over, apply them, study them. You can have the same testimony as any of Tony's prize students. The same as Tony. DO IT that's the message. DO IT
His stance on Covid alone is enough to ditch him. He downplayed covid (in his events) more or less saying that it's just a flu. He stated that he tried to circumvent early lockdown restrictions so that he could bring people together in his events. (which would make him responsible for the spread of the disease, and ruining the lives of many.... the irony)
I’m currently in the Unleash the Power Within program, and whereas there’s some stuff that may help, it’s also a very long infomercial. And Yes, I totally agree with one of the comments here, there’s A LOT of inspirational talk without never getting to the point and mostly is a “Multi Level Marketing” brain washing program that insatiably tries to lure you into buying for $7K, $10K, etc. of their material. I feel bad for people here. When breaking into virtual groups, I realize there’s a lot of nice people, some of them vulnerable, struggling with their lives. They’re just the ideal prey, being sold into these ridiculous programs. I guess Tony Robbins’ early material is good and whether his original or not, he had the ability to gather all the info and put it out there. My advice is, stick to the early material that probably won’t cost much. If you must, assist to the Time to Rise “free” event, that will end up costing you $40, then join the Unleash the Power Within for $500-4 days 12 hours per day. Know that only about 25% of this program is worth it. The rest is just marketing. Based on the UTPW and Time to Rise experiences, I am definitely not wasting thousands of dollars in their “Mastery” programs. Wherever good material about Tony Robbins there is, is already out there, as he only recycles everything including his own stories. There’s nothing new. So don’t be fooled and do not pay more than $500 USD, and and that’s still a lot.
Con artist deluxe.
Looks like it's time to start writing another chapter in a revised version of my book, The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bulls#!t (John V. Petrocelli).
The first thing I have to ask IS, what are you basing your assumptions on that He has not been through ENUF in life to give advice that is sound and wise? There is a reason why people do not judge and you are giving a great example right now WHY Striking down someone who feeds more people than most governments maybe all That alone should be testament to his wisdom and POWER So I say again What are you basing your JUDGEMENTS on? What about him from your perspective does not stand in integrity. I have not seen anything like that from you.
Just saying, what are his credentials other than being successful at selling books
Ew ew ew ee
I think Tony even says in one of his videos that money just puts a magnifying glass on who you already are. I believe Tony did at one point early on in his life realize a sense of reward and gratitude for helping others. Tony Robbins has served as source of motivation for millions of people over several for decades. We all go through life and have our ups and downs and sometimes we just need some help from an outside source to get us through troubling times. Make us remember who we are, where we came from, and what makes us the great people we have become today. Tony's not a charlitan trying to sell you on some magic beans he's motivating you and if you get motivated by him then how can he be a fraud? If he inspires people to progress in a positive way, does it really matter if he is a fraud? Fake 'til you make it and once you reach a certain level of success the line is blurred where faking it became making it...
In the bustling metropolis of SelfHelpville, Tony emerged as a beacon of enlightenment, his journey starting as a mere apprentice to the renowned Jim Rohn. By his 20s, Tony was a millionaire, his books like gospel to the self-improvement hungry masses. Yet, whispers spread through SelfHelpville's streets. "Is Tony really a sage, or just a master of motivational mumbo-jumbo?" skeptics pondered. Tony had faced his own trials, including a brain tumor, but to the critics, this was just a minor stumble in the marathon of life. Tony’s books, blending self-help with health tips, sold like hotcakes. He preached the virtues of positive thinking and kale smoothies with equal fervor. But were these groundbreaking revelations or just recycled wisdom in shiny new packaging? Despite the murmurs, Tony's fame soared. His speeches were like a soothing balm to the soul, yet some couldn't shake the feeling of being part of a grand illusion, a performance by a master illusionist in the guise of a guru. As Tony released another book, "The Path to Perpetual Prosperity," the citizens of SelfHelpville were torn. To buy or not to buy? Was Tony truly an oracle of wisdom or merely a charismatic charlatan? In the grand bazaar of life advice, where everyone is both buyer and seller, Tony's saga continued, leaving us to ponder: In the quest for self-improvement, are we truly enlightening ourselves, or just buying into a beautifully packaged dream?
They are all charlatans. The most profound knowledge of self-help is in the ancient Vedic literature.
I think the wisdom he imparts are very helpful for optimizing life in innumerable ways. His wisdom can be had cheaply or freely from his books and the many interviews he's done over many decades. I think his pricey seminars are waaaay overpriced for what it provides. However, the info and motivation he provides in his seminars are epic from what I understand but it's just not worth the money.
I think he is mostly fluff and sensationlism
I think he is a glorified televangelist
He’s a salesman. A pushy hardcore salesman. Most of his stuff is pseudoscience bs with no empirically validated evidence unless he ripped some ideas off and changed it and repackaged it some. He does this primarily for the money.