5 Keys to Wealth and Happiness:

Key #3 MASTER Financial Pressure

You’ve really got to be able to master financial pressure.

As business owners I know you know what that means. Here’s all I can tell you.

Financial pressuring never goes away.

I had a day a few years ago where I took one of my companies public, I made $400 million in one day on paper, but I still end up with financial pressure in a different stage in my life when the markets are going up and down.

Bill Gates supposedly has no financial pressure, but if you talk to anybody that knows him they say he does.

He’s got pressure and wants to make sure Microsoft does a certain thing at a certain level and hits certain quarterly estimates, if he doesn’t do that he gets all stressed out. See because all finances are in our head, it’s a mentality, it’s a mindset. Everybody has it, it’s how do you manage it.

If you manage financial pressure it can be an advantage for you. People that don’t have any financial pressure very often get complacent, very often they lose their drive.

The secret is not to not have any, the secret is to master it.

In the brief time that we have here, this is a big subject, I’m just going to tell you to go get an old book I read when I was literally 18 years old, it totally set me financially for life: it was a little book called “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clason. “The Richest Man in Babylon.”

Now to give you the essence of this book, what he said in the book is here’s all you have to do to be wealthy: take 10%of anything you earn and the first thing you do with it before you spend a dime on anything is you give it away.

He said because when you do this, when you go out and you give away something, even though you don’t think you have it, it teaches your brain that there is more than enough, it changes your consciousness. See when you feel like you say, when I’ve got a million dollars then I’ll give 10%.

I’ve got news for you – if you don’t give a dollar out of $10, or $10 out of $100, you’re not going to give a hundred thousand out of a million or a million out of ten million, it won’t ever happen in a million years. You’ve got to build that discipline from the beginning.

Plus, that’s what expands your consciousness, that’s what shifts it all.

So you take 10% and you give it away. Give it away until you believe it. I have never met anyone who has tithed for 10 years giving money, anything, church anywhere, consistently tithed a percentage of their income over 10 years, who didn’t become unbelievably financially independent.

It’s one of the paradoxes of life: if you can give it away it comes back tenfold.

Second key says take 10% and invest it, and take 10% reduce your debt and live on 70%. I said, I could never live on 70%, well then you change your lifestyle, or you get in a position at the beginning where you start to take some of that money and pay it down even quicker.

I’ll give you a story of how my own finances changed completely.

I was at a point in my life, very young, I had succeeded and I sabotaged myself. I lost everything financially.

I moved into this 400 square foot bachelor apartment where I was trying to figure out how to survive, where I was waking up each morning with goals like what am I going to eat today and what’s going to happen with Luke and Laura on a program called General Hospital that I used to watch.

That’s how messed up I was at that stage in my life. And got to the point where I was frustrated, I was overwhelmed all these things I had not mastered, and I certainly did not handle financial pressure very well. I was down to my last $23 and so I knew I was running out of money.

I hadn’t paid my rent so I when to this place called El Turita, I was living in a place called Venice at the time and it’s right along the water, it’s a nice place, it had this huge salad bar and Mexican food with it, it was all you could eat.

So I figured I’d go there and load up for the winter, just fill myself up as much as I could on whatever it was $5.99 or $6.99, whatever the process was. So the bottom line, I went in there, I sat down and had my meal.

Then this little boy walked in with this beautiful woman, it was obviously her son, but he was maybe 7 or 8 years old, maybe 9 max, but he was dressed in a suit and he was so elegant and he was so sweet and he pulled out the chair for his mom and he just took such good care of her that I was totally moved by the experience.

So I had my meal and I forgot about my whole challenges and I just did something spontaneously, I had no plan. I just walked over to this little boy, I said, hi my name is Tony.

He stood up and shook my hand and said my name is John. I said John I just wanted to compliment you on what a classy man you are, I noticed how elegantly you treated your lady here. He said, oh, she’s my mom. I said that’s even more impressive.

Taking her to lunch like that is a really cool thing for you to do. He said, well, I didn’t really take her to lunch because I don’t have a job yet, but I’d like to.

I said, yes, you did take her to lunch and I reached into my pocket and I had already paid my bill and I had whatever left, $17, and I put it down on the table. And I didn’t do it to get her attention I wasn’t interested in that, I just looked straight ahead and I said, yes you did.

He said, I can’t accept that. I said sure you can. He said, how come? I said, because I’m bigger than you are.

He just smiled from ear to ear and I didn’t say a word and I just walked straight out of the room. I didn’t say hi to her or anything.

I’ve got to tell you something, I have not driven my car to this place because I didn’t want to use the gas because I didn’t have any money, I flew home. I was flying. I felt so good. I told one of my friends what I did and he said, what are you crazy, now you don’t have any money at all. He said, now you’re totally broke, you don’t have a dollar. Something inside of me just knew, when all you’ve got left is your seed corn, plant it, don’t eat it.

So sure enough, 2 days later, I had nothing, just the food in the house, 2 days later I get a check for $1,100 from the man I loaned $1,000 to 2 years earlier and I had been chasing him. He never sent the money. I decided that day that by making that investment that’s why I got that return. I have never looked back since.

I’ve had challenging times financially but they are a different quality of challenge. It’s like when all of the sudden you’ve got a multi-million dollar challenge, it’s very different than when you had a challenge that was $100,000 or $10 or can you feed yourself or your family.

The greatest way to get over this financial pressure though is gratitude.

Gratitude is what makes you wealthy. I have clients that pay me a million dollars a year to coach them and one man in particular I’ve coached for more than a decade, this is a financial trainer, he’s one of the top 5 in the world. He made $500 million dollars in a day. Not in stock value, in real net profit in one day. Now you can’t live on that, but it’s a good start right? Imagine, $500 million dollars in a day. Half a billion dollars in a day.

And then he was frustrated he was overwhelmed by other things and eventually he spun down and got rid of a lot of that money. So I started coaching him and he’s made money ever since for now almost 10 years. But the interesting thing about it was what he was missing was gratitude. If you have everything on earth and you’re not grateful for it, you’re poor. In Fiji where I spend about two and a half months out of the year, I live there, I have a resort there, and I do some seminars there for small groups, it is my favorite place to go because the culture there is so happy.

People are so grateful. If you went there and saw the way they live in the village you might say, oh these poor people. They don’t see themselves as poor at all because they are so grateful for what they have, they’re one of the most incredible cultures I’ve been in in the entire world. So I say to you, if you’re not really, if you’re feeling financial pressure stop and write down everything you’re grateful for. I’m a rich man today because of what?

I’m a rich woman today because of what?

Because of the love of my children, because of the love of my wife, because of God’s grace, because of my health, what are all of the things that make you wealthy right now?

Because when you feel wealthy you attract more. The more grateful you are like attracts like. The more abundant you feel the more abundance you attract. You know it’s funny today in my life people always say, oh Mr. Robbins we can’t let you pay the bill, or no dinner is on us, and it happens to me all the time. And I always say, no please let me take care of it. No, no we can’t let you do that Mr. Robbins. I’m thinking where were you when I needed this? It’s so bizarre.

That’s why the rich get richer and poor get poorer.

The angry get more angry, the sad get more sad, the happy get more happy.

Gratitude is how you break it because you can’t be grateful and be fearful. Gratitude destroys fear. You can’t be grateful and be angry. Gratitude destroys anger. It destroys rejection. An attitude of gratitude will change your life more than anything else.

Like the sunlight coming through it’s available any moment that you want to focus on it. Just remember, what’s wrong is always available and so is what’s right. So get yourself where you give away 10% right away, take a chunk of money you think you can’t afford to do and do it, watch what happens. That act of faith will transform you from financial pressure to the master of it.

You can handle it easily. When it comes you’re prepared just like a good fight, you know what’s happening, come on, bring it on, this is easy. It’s a dance for me. I know what’s coming, I’ve been there before, we’ll make it happen. If you do that your business will become a joy because you’ll take away the pain of the business and be focusing only on the gifts of the business.

Now when you master these first three keys to wealth and happiness, when you really learn how to handle frustration and rejection and failure because they go together and financial pressure and the fourth one kicks in and destroys all the good you’ve done.

About Anthony Robbins

For the past three decades, Anthony Robbins has served as an advisor to leaders around the world. A recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations, organizational turnaround, and peak performance, he has been honored consistently for his strategic intellect and humanitarian endeavors. Robbins is one of our “fellow” martial artists, studying Taekwondo with the “Father of American Taekwondo”, Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee.

His nonprofit Anthony Robbins Foundation provides assistance to inner-city youth, senior citizens, and the homeless, and feeds more than three million people in 56 countries every year through its international holiday “Basket Brigade.” Robbins has directly impacted the lives of more than 50 million people from over 100 countries with his best-selling books, multimedia and health products, public speaking engagements, and live events.

What began as a young person’s desire to help individuals transform the quality of their lives has grown into Robbins’ lifelong crusade as he is called on by leaders from every walk of life-presidents, political leaders, advocates for humanity, CEOs of multinational corporations, psychologists, peak performance athletes, world-class entertainers, teachers, and parents. Since fathering the life coaching industry, Robbins has produced the #1-selling audio coaching system of all time. He also is a corporate Vice Chairman, and Chairman overseeing five private companies. Robbins has been honored by Accenture as one of the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World”; by Harvard Business Press as one of the “Top 200 Business Gurus”; by American Express as one of the “Top Six Business Leaders in the World” to coach its entrepreneurial clients; by Forbes as a Top 100 Celebrity; by Justice Byron White as one of the world’s “Outstanding Humanitarians”; and by the International Chamber of Commerce as one of the top 10 “Outstanding Young People of World.”

Peace Negotiator & Humanitarian

Robbins was selected as Vice Chairman of Health, Education, and Science for the United Nations Research Center for the International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC) NGO. Working with the Organization of American States, the Carter Center, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Robbins participated as one of the members of the team that helped negotiate an electoral solution for peace to the strife and conflict that have devastated the Venezuelan people and their economy. Robbins has collaborated with political and business leaders in diverse world communities such as South Africa, England, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, and the United States. Robbins has also been a national spokesperson for the Wellness Community, a nonprofit organization that provides support, education and hope to people with cancer and their loved ones. Through participation in professionally led support groups and educational workshops, people affected by cancer learn vital skills that enable them to regain control, reduce isolation and restore hope, regardless of the stage of disease. Through his strategies for “Leadership in Times of Crisis” and his systems for “Indirect Negotiations,” Robbins has participated in negotiations that have broken the patterns of violence and de-escalated the rhetoric that invites it. Robbins has worked on teams that not only help mitigate further devastation and facilitate peaceful decision-making among conflicting parties, but also inspire conflicting parties to create a mutually beneficial and compelling vision that is aligned with their respective values, raising the standard by which they live. He is also the recipient of the Timmie Award, given by the esteemed Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C for humanitarian efforts.

Strategic Advisor to World Leaders

Robbins has met with, consulted, or advised international leaders including Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Francois Mitterrand, Princess Diana, and Mother Teresa. He has consulted members of two royal families, members of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marines and three U.S. Presidents, including Bill Clinton. Robbins has had the unique opportunity to identify patterns and model the underlying strategies generating consistent results for some of the most successful individuals in the world.

Successful Entrepreneur & Honored Business Strategist

A successful entrepreneur, Robbins serves as Chairman of seven privately held — in industries as diverse as hospitality, education, media production, business services, and neutraceuticals, and he holds an interest in and strategically directs a series of others. While diverse in characterization, all seven companies—plus his five holding companies—are geared toward Robbins’ creed of improving the quality of life for people around the world: from Namale Resort & Spa, the award-winning, 325-acre tropical paradise in the Fiji Islands, to Twinlab Corporation, the highest-rated neutraceutical company honored in 2003 with the Consumer Satisfaction Award as Top Rated Retail Brand by Consumerlab.com, an independent testing group. Robbins’ pursuit of creating and contributing to a higher standard of living is reflected by one of his subsidiary companies, Rebus Publishing, a leading consumer health and science publisher that has been communicating healthy ideas for more than 25 years through such avenues as the “UC Berkeley Wellness Letter” and “Johns Hopkins Health After 50” newsletter. Robbins was also the first individual in the personal improvement industry to surpass more than a billion dollars in gross sales.

Leaders and achievers already at the pinnacle of success in their respective fields call on Robbins to be their strategic advisor when they face critical decisions requiring creative options and a systematic evaluation of probabilities and consequences. American Express asked its entrepreneurial clients whom they would select if they could choose anyone in the world to personally coach them to take their businesses to the next level if price were no object. Robbins was chosen along with Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Lee Iacocca and Ross Perot.

Philanthropist

A founding strategist of the Presidential Summit for America’s Promise, Robbins partnered in helping to design systems that generated over two million mentors for young people throughout the United States. Four Presidents and Secretary of State Colin Powell partnered with Robbins in the process. What began nearly 30 years ago as Robbins’ individual effort to feed two homeless families has now grown into the Tony Robbins Foundation’s international holiday “Basket Brigade,” which feeds more than three million people in 56 countries every year. His foundation has provided support or initiated programs in more than 2,000 schools, 700 prisons and 100,000 service organizations and shelters. Almost 20 years ago, Robbins personally sponsored a class of disadvantaged fifth graders in Houston, Texas, by becoming their personal mentor and sponsor of their college education. In 2003, these student “Champions” graduated from college—an experience that Robbins made possible. Each year, Robbins oversees his foundation’s Discovery Camp, which helps more than 100 students from 18 countries design and initiate leadership programs to take home to their local schools.

Award-Winning Speaker

In addition to his global efforts to facilitate leadership, peace and philanthropy, Robbins is an award-winning speaker who has addressed such distinguished audiences as the British Parliament, Harvard Business School, the Gorbachev Foundation’s Cold War Forum, the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future, the State of the World Forum, Vice President Al Gore’s Putting Customers First Conference, and the World Economic Forum. In 2006, he was invited to speak at the prestigious Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) Conference, attended by the world’s most influential thinkers and leaders, including the founders of Google and Vice President Al Gore. His speech is one of the top ten most viewed in the history of TED, with more than two million views. Toastmasters International recognized Robbins as one of the world’s greatest speakers, awarding him the Golden Gavel Award, its most prestigious honor. One of the most sought-after speakers in the world, more than four million people from over 100 countries have attended Tony Robbins’ live seminars, speaking engagements or training programs.

Internationally Best-Selling Author

Robbins is an internationally best-selling author with five books published in 14 languages, and he is the creator of the #1 personal and professional development system of all time, Personal Power; more than 40 million audiotapes have been sold worldwide. Robbins has created a system of total immersion that produces the education, strategies, and momentum for measurable and lasting change. Robbins is also the founder of Mastery University, which brings together the world’s leading experts from their respective fields. In the past, Robbins’ co-facilitators have included General Norman Schwarzkopf and Secretary of State Colin Powell on leadership, Dr. Deepak Chopra on psychoneuroimmunology, Peter Lynch and Sir John Templeton on finance, and Vice President Al Gore on creating peace in troubled times.

Authority on Peak Performance

Highly respected as the nation’s foremost authority on the psychology of peak performance and personal, professional, and organizational turnaround, Robbins has advised and counseled Fortune 500 CEOs, world-renowned medical doctors, legends in entertainment, and championship sports teams including America’s Cup winner, America 3; Stanley Cup finalist, Los Angeles Kings; NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs; and other teams from the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. He has worked with elite coaches and athletes, including UFC Champion Chuck Liddell, tennis greats André Agassi and Serena Williams, and golf legend Greg Norman, along with champions from the National Football League, the PGA Tour, the U.S. Tennis Association and NASCAR. He has also coached various celebrities and musicians including Leonardo DiCaprio and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.

Innovator in Psychology and Intervention

As a recognized catalyst for developing systems and strategies for accelerated and lasting transformations in individuals worldwide, Robbins has been sought after by psychologists and psychiatrists for training. Robbins, along with his partner Cloe Madanes, created almost ten years ago the Robbins-Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention, which produces training materials and programs for the therapeutic community. Together they have trained more than 100,000 therapists. For more than 20 years, Madanes has served as world-renowned teacher of therapists. Two of her books are considered classic texts—Strategic Family Therapy and The Violence of Men. Robbins appeared as a featured author in one of her books—Relationship Breakthrough: How to Create Outstanding Relationships in Every Area of Your Life. Robbins and Madanes are actively involved in the Council for Human Rights of Children at the University of San Francisco, a prestigious international think tank created to develop and codify methods to ensure the rights of children are maintained and championed. Robbins was among the speakers featured at the Council’s 2005 meeting at the University of Oxford, where he addressed “Alternatives to Institutionalization of Children and Youth in Crisis.” He also has been a featured speaker at The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference, the world’s largest psychotherapy conference that brings together more than 10,000 industry leaders from around the world every five years.

Family Man

Robbins’ commitment to creating an enduring legacy that will impact the world is surpassed only by his passion for family as a dedicated father of four children and a loving husband to his wife, Sage “Bonnie Pearl” Robbins.