Three Lessons I Have Learned from Fire Walking with Tony Robbins.

I have always wanted to do this crazy fire walking thing that happens at Tony’s UPW (Unleash The Power Within) event. The event itself is also something that I have been planning to attend. Last year in November, Tony was holding this event in New Jersey. So, I bought my ticket and got ready to attend.

It was as crazy as it seems in the videos. More than 10,000 people were dancing, jumping, and yelling alongside Tony. The event started, and the fire walking experience is on the first day of the event. It actually started around 12:30 in the morning. Before we walked to the place where the fire walking was happening, Tony explained over and over again how to do, what to do, what not to do. During this explanation, I have probably changed my mind 7–8 times. ?? First, I felt scared and said to myself, “I’m not going to do it,” but then after a few minutes, I was once again super motivated and said, “Okay I’ll do it!” I asked a few people next to me if they had done it before. So, it was time and Tony said, “Take your shoes off and start walking to the place where the burning coals are.” I was still scared and did not want to do it. I said again to myself, “Okay I will walk until I get to the coal place and just watch the other people doing it before I do it myself.”

We were watching everyone doing their power move (this is something that Tony teaches at the event) — clapping, yelling and laughing. I followed the crowd until I could see the smoke of the coals. Then something happened, and it is the first lesson I learned. This is actually something that we have read, heard, and listened to many many times. It is about the power/influence of our peer group.

When I saw hundreds of people in front of me doing it one-by-one and nothing happening to them, my mind made a crazy switch. If it isn’t hurting all of those people, why would it hurt me? And it was that moment I made my firm decision to do it. I was still scared, but I was going to do it.

POWER OF ENVIRONMENT and PEER GROUP

“If you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. But if you run with dogs, you will learn how to bark.” 

― Ojo Michael E.

So what I learned from this experience is that if there is something that we want to do, but it somehow seems dangerous, scary, risky, then it is super important to have people around you, to be surrounded by people who have done it, are doing, or want to do it. Otherwise, chances are that we won’t do it and will miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime chance/s. Sometimes we don’t want to spend the required amount of money to find the mentors or enrol in a group where we can have people around us who are already doing what we want to do or going to do. Taking into consideration all the scams and fake mentors out there, it is not easy just to take our credit card and enroll in whatever mentorship or coaching program comes through our email, social media feed. But this is one of the most important things that we need to have in order to go further faster. People who cannot afford this kind of program luckily have access to lots of great material via YouTube, podcasts, books, magazines, and online courses.

ANATOMY OF FEAR

“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie

The second lesson I learned was about fear. Fear becomes intense, bigger, and even scarier when we are about to do something really life-changing. If this attempt becomes successful, our life won’t ever be the same again in a great positive way. However, if we fail, it’s going to be miserable. In these times, our mind lists all the negative things that might happen if we decide to do whatever it is that we are trying to act on. While I was standing there with the crowd, even after I made the decision that I was going to do it, my mind was listing and repeating all the horrible things that might happen as soon as I stepped out on those coals. The most important lesson I learned here is the survival mode of my brain. It was so fast, and so quick to tell me why it was a bad thing to do. Why it was not a smart decision. I kind of in a higher level of mega awareness I had (for a very short period of time) super clarity when I was observing my own thoughts, as if I was outside of myself, just watching how and what I think. It was a great moment for me. I kind of laughed at how my brain was working to convince me why not to do it. I was in awe. So the lesson I took from this moment was not just seeing what I was thinking and feeling during that moment of leaping, radical change, but rather I was able to observe my thoughts, see why I was feeling what I was feeling and why I was thinking what I was thinking. The why and the what are super important because they show you all the fake insecurities you have, all the life standards that are imposed on you by friends, family environment, and peer group. It is super exciting to observe all this but extremely difficult to make the decision to take the leap, to jump.

OUR (limiting) STORIES

“Remember: We all get what we tolerate. So stop tolerating excuses within yourself, limiting beliefs of the past, or half-assed or fearful states.” ―Tony Robbins

The third lesson I learned was probably the most important one. It has depth and profound insights. To be brief, the third crazy point I experienced/learned were the stories we are conditioned to tell ourselves to keep ourselves away from the edges of our comfort zone. To be “safe” and the same. Not to change. This is indeed difficult to explain in writing with a few words or sentences. Just remember that whenever you aim to take a risk, leap forward, start something new that has the potential to really take your life or career to the next level, or just will upgrade you as a person consciously and subconsciously — your brain will produce a crazy amount of stories just to make you believe that whatever it is you are trying to start or do is not something that you should consider doing. These stories were coming in at lightning speed when I was getting close to the fire walking experience. I mentioned the depth and conditioning of the words because these kinds of experiences open the depths of our consciousness and show us our negative conditioning.

So when you are about to start a grand journey, you will feel nervous, scared, and uncomfortable. When you experience these feeling just remember the three lessons shared above and decide to act.

Good Luck!