«More than anything else, I believe its our decisions, not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.»
— Tony Robbins
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Don Charisma 
And as for ‘snake oil merchant’, check this out:
http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/1995/05/robbins-research-international-inc
Sounds like sour grapes on the part of the people who were dumb enough to buy the franchises … I have a family member who got involved in an MLM scheme, spent a fortune on water filters then he couldn’t sell them … Snake oil needs someone dumb enough to buy it … hence the expressions – “buyer beware”, “don’t trust anyone” and “due diligence” … and yes personally I’ve bought plenty of useless snake oil in the past, probably will again, c’est la vie …
This is starting to get old, perhaps see if you can find another quote (or quote author) to criticise and we’ll have a discussion on that one ?
Cannot disagree with anything you have said here, but I still believe that the conditions we live in limit and, to a large extent, determine the types of decisions we can make…
If I am living in dire poverty, then I am unlikely to even be thinking of unleashing ‘the giant within’.
Essentially, Robbin’s arguments seem to me to be all about prioritising individual needs and individual enrichment over the interests of the wider community – the type of consumerist individualism that is leading us down a blind alley
So we’ve some common ground, at least 😀
And I don’t disagree with you, as regards the conditions, I have a friend on wordpress who has tremendous difficulty breathing, he doesn’t let that limit him too much – check him out – http://breathethislife.wordpress.com/
Times of wealth and poverty have existed in my own personal lifetime, so I understand how that feels, I’m not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination and most of the time I make financial decisions for economy, not privilege or luxury.
My point as already made I think, is that we have to try and make the best decisions we can towards making our lives how we want them to be. Essentially that’s what I read from Robbin’s quote and why I published it. Languishing in “I was born poor” or “I can’t because no one likes me”, or any other dis-empowering thoughts doesn’t help the individual. What does help is the positive outlook. A positive outlook means gradually dropping the complaints, in favour of positive “decisions”.
As for the individualistic society, most are that way, often they cloak their individualism with fake altruism, which is about being seen to be good, rather than actually being good. There are a million strategies and cliches that are used, but I know what it is when I see it, doesn’t fool me, you can’t kid a kidder.
My solution, is a positive outlook, and try not too get upset with “what’s wrong in the world” … why I’ve been posting these quotes, to give myself and others, positive outlooks from significant figures throughout recent history.
Lastly, I can’t please everyone all the time with who I quote and almost everyone apart from Mother Teresa could be criticised for one thing or another. So my friend, it’s rough with the smooth, and bottom line, perhaps look at what the words mean rather than who said them. If you want to find fault then you probably will, personally to me, it’s all the same, I had a positive intent in publishing, so I know I did the right thing.
If times are tough, I hope they will get better, often then do. Positive outlook, ie positive “decisions” help more than anything else in my own times of strife. Said that already I think 😀
“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.’
———- Karl Marx
Can’t disagree with Marx on that … however, you’ve still missed the point …
PS … “I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” – Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello, The Departed 2006
Hardly…we are born into conditions over which we have no choice. This limits the type of decisions we can make.
Robbins is an utter charlatan & snake oil merchant
I don’t believe Robbins said anything about conditions in this quote … obviously conditions are a factor …
So you’d make the worst rather than the best of what you have available in order to make the decisions that shape your future ? Sounds pretty depressing outlook, I’d personally rather stay away from, but you’re entitled to your opinion, I wouldn’t want to change that …
As for charlatan and snake oil merchant, again subjective … character assassination leaves me rather under-impressed, when combined with wilfully missing the point, well, *yawn*, next really …
The master of white teeth and meaningless platitudes…
Me or robbins ? … as for meaningless, that’d be subjective …
Robbins, of course…
Not you and I really enjoy your blog…Robbins however is a different matter
OK, fair enough, each to their own … and thanks 😀
Come on.. the conditions of our lives affect our decisions! HA!
No one said otherwise, I can’t make the decision to buy a $10M home if I only have $10, obvious really ? … my interpretation of Robbins words was along the lines “make the most of what you have in your decisions that shape your future, it’s the quality of the decisions, not what you have that counts” …
I have very little right now, and I TRY to be grateful for what I have… LOL
So you’re doing your best, that’s all anyone could ask 😀
So true. So true.
😀
Our decisions create the conditions. That only makes sense.
Leslie
Yes, very much 😀