Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2017; Tony Robbins’ net worth of 1 billion dollars and the availability details given for Money: Master the Game are as of that year.
Entrepreneur and author of two bestsellers in the field of personal development (Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within), plus a third book devoted to money that, for now, is only available in English, Money: Master the Game. I consider him a coach of coaches, and he has earned every dollar he has made over a long journey from extreme poverty to his current net worth of 1 billion dollars.
That’s Tony Robbins, and these are his best tips about money, each of which unmistakably bears his own stamp:
Tony Robbins’ money tips
1. Become an investor
If you want to reach your financial goals faster, you need to invest in the habit of investing, and that’s not a play on words. Tony agrees with the advice of most experts: no matter how small the amount you can invest, start investing so that compound interest can do its work. And, of course, invest in your own financial education too.
If you think you can’t afford to invest, Tony recommends taking a look at your expenses and how much money you save. If you still can’t invest after that, then what’s failing is your creativity in making more money. And that could be a problem you should fix as soon as possible.
2. Be proactive with your money
When it comes to earning and saving money, it’s important to be proactive. As Robbins puts it, stop being a piece on the chessboard and become the chess player. Start mastering the money game, and don’t be afraid of a little failure along the way: money lost on a failure can be seen as money you paid for a lesson.
3. Take small risks for big rewards
Yes, risk exists. But there are ways to manage it. Every investment carries risk, but it’s also true that sometimes the reward you can get is far greater than the risk you take on.
Use the “5 to 1” rule, which aims for every euro you put at risk to have the potential to earn you 5 euros. That way, even if you are wrong four times out of five, the fifth time will get you back to break-even.
4. Stop pointless spending
If you want to stretch the value of every euro, you need to spend money on things that dramatically improve your life and stop spending on things that add no value to it.
Remember that small leaks can sink big ships. For example, spending 40 euros every week going out to dinner with friends, instead of enjoying a get-together at home, can add up to as much as 2,000 euros a year.
5. Stop focusing on what you can’t control
Tony says that if you want to succeed, you have to learn to focus only on the things you can control, and not on the ones you can’t.
Robbins is clear that you can control your future by investing in improving yourself.
(See: The 6 areas you must master to control your destiny, according to Tony Robbins)
6. Forget to-do lists and focus on results
You should get rid of your to-do list, although, coming from Tony Robbins, this advice may seem counterintuitive.
His reasoning goes roughly like this: the biggest problem with to-do lists is that people focus only on what they have to do, and that doesn’t guarantee you are making real progress. Work out what you want, and then focus on the activities that help you move towards that result. Continuing to run your life from a to-do list only invites the constant imbalance and frustration that come from knowing you are working hard but not making progress in all the areas of your life that really matter.
7. Realise that execution is power
Reading, learning and absorbing all the knowledge in the world is no use if you don’t put it into practice. Try to make just a little progress every day using what you are learning. Only then will you reach your financial goals and your other objectives in any area.
8. Notice what works and what doesn’t
Examine what you want in life and notice what is working for you and what isn’t. When something doesn’t work, change your approach, and change it again if it still doesn’t work. As the saying goes, change your strategy as many times as you need to, but don’t change the goal you want to reach. This applies to success in business and in life in general. And certainly to your finances.
9. The best strategy for success is to learn the model successful people followed
If you want to achieve a goal, the best person to teach you how is, without a doubt, someone who has already achieved it. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to succeed; you just need to adapt the formula someone else followed, because that person has already proven that it works.
10. Value yourself more
Sometimes the only thing standing in the way of your financial success is the way you see yourself.
Tony Robbins often deals with this idea in his books: if you believe you’re not the kind of person who can succeed, your own mind will find every possible obstacle to knock you down and confirm that you were right. So value yourself more and change the way you see yourself, so that your mind looks for the resources needed to reach that goal.
(See: 8 steps to becoming the best version of yourself)
11. Resourcefulness is one of your most valuable assets: use it
Some people don’t succeed because they say they don’t have the means or the time. Most successful people have found a way to make the most of the little they have. Resourcefulness is the fuel that turns a business idea in your head into a real project.
12. Let your fears push you
For most people, fears act as brakes. If we change the way we think, we can turn those brakes into a force that pushes us forward.
In other words, you may be afraid of failing if you do something. Swap that for the fear of not taking action and doing nothing.
Don’t be afraid of failing in an attempt to change your life. Be afraid of settling for a life you don’t want to live.
In short, fear is good or bad depending on the direction you point it in.
13. Don’t expect money to give your life meaning: happiness lies in progress
If you stake your happiness on how much money you make, you won’t be happy whether you’re poor or rich. Robbins believes that happiness lies in giving: giving value to society, giving a service, helping people, and so on.
And by giving value to society and helping people, you will be happy. They say that those who give, receive, and in this case, by adding value for other people, money becomes a consequence of those actions, so it ends up coming.
For Robbins, true happiness lies in continuous progress. If you can move forward every day, and every day you are better than you were yesterday, that is what makes you feel alive. That gives your life meaning, and so that is what brings happiness.
See also: The best advice Tony Robbins received at 24, which helped him build his wealth
Featured image: Brian Solis, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
