4 years ago today I was working at a hedgefund as a global equities trader and I was absolutely miserable. I remember it well. Everyday asking myself if this was really what being a grown up was all about and I consistently refused to believe that being an ‘adult’ meant being unhappy every single day. Did I have to be completely dissatisfied on a daily basis to be taken seriously or viewed as responsible?
Let me preface this backstory with a quick note: I have ALWAYS loved Tony Robbins. It wasn’t his dashing good looks; his ideal height or his uber masculine voice that tugged at my heart-strings but his innate ability to make anyone, including you, believe in yourself more than you ever thought possible. Of course this very reason for loving him is why he is the worlds best communicator and motivational/ inspirational coach out there but for little old me in Greenwich, CT Tony was much more. He was a best friend, a cheerleader and a hero who didn’t judge but encouraged and who opened his heart through his teachings in a way that made him vulnerable to the core and that much more lovable for it. I have watched every single one of his programs; saved and invested in the dvd AND cd collections that I found monthly on his website and even went as far as mapping out dates to go to his seminars but, although working hard and steady paid the bills – doing something I didn’t “love” made it impossible to have that money stick enough to actually be able to DO the things I wanted to.
But, back to that day four years ago – it was more like a 4-5 month span I should say rather than a day. I had made the decision to buy Tony’s ‘Ultimate Edge” dvd and cd package. A several hundred-dollar purchase with the promise (hope) to change my then life – which at the time I was willing to do because there was no way in HELL that THAT was ‘it.’
I listened to his cds religiously – in the car, at home, while walking, even when showering and fell asleep to the dvds. I heard Tony’s voice in my sleep, literally. And among the many things he said that have stayed with me forever the ONE thing he said that changed everything at that time was, when you are in a rut or having difficulty finding your path always ask yourself “what you are good at.”
Boy, did I start asking. I would scream it in my car at 630am out loud like a maniac on my way to work “okay, what am I good at!? What are you good at Laura!!?” Maybe referring to myself in the third person would speed up the response. I would whisper it in the bathroom when taking the three-minute allowed break and I would cry it at night into my pillow when I went to bed. But no one and nothing ever answered back. It was like dead air and felt as if my question was falling in deaf ears. Didn’t I have that little voice that everyone else always refers to? For someone who can never shut up it amazed me that it was THEN that I decided to be quiet. And then it happened.
Out of nowhere, among the miserable chaos of working on a trading desk 12 hours plus a day (no offense traders, I am not made for finance) I started a comic relief blog with a girlfriend on a whim for Hurricane Irene and within 4 days had 15,000 views and 5 freelance writing offers. While the rest of my story can be found in my BOOK (avail 2016) the moral of the story is that Tony Robbins is who instigated my subconscious to discover who I was. I swear to God if I hadn’t asked myself, BERATED myself, with that one simple damn question that Tony told me to ask I would have NEVER had the courage to do something I love so so much, writing, publicly. Because of Tony my little voice became a really big one. And because of Tony I could finally hear myself.
And although I knew it long before, this simple story is a testament to how Tony Robbins and his cds/dvds changed my life. While he has so much to offer and so much left to teach (which I cannot wait for) – meeting and seeing Tony in person has been on my bucket list for nearly 10 years. Admiring him from afar, feeling like he was my BFF because we ‘spoke daily’ (aka I listened to him daily) and knowing I would one day meet him I finally got my chance today. Destiny called.
Through an honorable act of God, a gracious touch of my sister extending and giving up her ticket to see him to fulfill my dream of meeting him and an unimaginable twist of fate I got to meet my hero today.
Honored to have been a part of the “smallest crowd he has spoken to in 10 years” I sat in a room of 40 people within arms reach of Tony for three hours and savored every moment.
I wanted to share this simple sentiment with everyone and anyone who has ever wondered “what they were good at” and maybe even just to someone who simply needs a reason to believe that ANYTHING truly IS possible.
xx Greenwich Girl
