I just spent a weekend attending Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within Virtual event and want to give you the ultimate guide on it. This event might not be right for everyone. You can also save some money on the ticket price and I’ll discuss that as well. Make sure to read this guide before you pull the trigger on UPW to make sure it’s the right event for you.
What is UPW?
UPW is a personal development seminar that has been running for decades. It’s the entry-level event for Mr. Robbins’ catalog of personal development seminars. UPW is an intense 4-day workshop event in which a couple of days lasts as long as 14 to 15 hours. The event in its entirety is 50 hours’ worth of material. Due to social distancing during the global pandemic, Tony Robbins created a virtual studio in which participants attend UPW by Zoom. Don’t let the virtual aspect of this event fool you into thinking it will be any less intense than the in-person event. In some ways, it’s more intense because Tony might call you out by name if he sees you not playing full out. I doubt that would happen at the in-person event if you were in the back of the room.
Who is it for, and is UPW worth it?
UPW is for anyone looking to break through to the next level of their life. People have different reasons for going. If you’ve seen “I’m Not Your Guru” on Netflix, then you know that some people go to Tony Robbins events because they’ve had massive trauma in their life. Others, like myself, attend because they’re just into continuous self-improvement or enhancing their business success.
The event is only worth it if you’re willing to immerse in it fully and play along at full intensity. You have to exercise patience with both the process and yourself. The training will require physical intensity, which I think many people were not prepared for. Virtual UPW is not a sit on your couch and “get motivated” type event. You will quite literally be exercising. You’ll learn stretching techniques and body language. You will be asked to stand frequently. There will be dancing and jumping. A lot of it will feel silly, but it’s all part of the process, and you have to go with it to get to the final result. Tony’s whole method revolves around physiology to get into a peak state. From a peak state, mental and emotional breakthroughs occur. You will not get the benefit unless you play to the best of your physical ability. If you have physical limitations, that is perfectly ok, but you still have to do what you can do.
Virtual UPW Schedule
First off, take time off from work and any other commitments you have. You will not have any extra time for anything other than getting some sleep and some meal prepping. The crazy schedule is by design because of the idea of “full immersion”. Full immersion is Tony’s second step in mastery of any subject. He often made the point that if you wanted to learn Italian, the best way to do it would be to go live in Rome for two months. With personal development, he is cramming 50 hours of programming into you to create momentum that will propel you onwards after the event.
During my weekend, the schedule started every day between 8:30 am, and 10:00 am U.S. Eastern Standard Time. The virtual studio they are filming at is located in Florida. Given the virtual nature, expect there might be technical issues that might cause delays periodically while they fix it. We had that happen on Day 2, but they fixed it and got back on track within an hour.
Day 1: This day is titled “Breakthrough: Fear into Power” and Tony coaches pretty much the entire time. This day culminates with you karate-chopping a wooden board. This is a long day. I don’t think we wrapped up until close to 1 am, which was pretty tough on folks in Europe and Australia.
Day 2: People freaked out in the Facebook group about this one. Tony doesn’t do the training on Day 2. He has a couple of his senior trainers lead the sessions. The reason for this, and he’ll explain it himself to you, is that he has completely blown out his vocal cords at 61 years old. He already exceeds the strain he should be doing on Day 1, so on Day 2, he has to rest. A lot of people didn’t know this and were pissed off about it. I found his trainers to be excellent and entertaining. You just have to give them a chance and go with the program. Their whole purpose is to get you ready for what’s coming on Day 3 when Tony comes back.
Day 3: The third day is by far the toughest one. It’s titled “Transformation: Eliminate Inner Conflicts”. By this point in UPW, you’re probably pretty sore from all the jumping around, so it’s physically challenging. By the time late afternoon, early evening rolls around, it culminates in some emotionally challenging visualizations. Tony using his “Dickens Process.” will take you to a deep place of pain, imagining what your future will look like if you don’t change the things that are limiting you. By the end of day 3, you’re going to have the energy you didn’t know you could have, and you’re going to feel really good on the other side of the Dicken’s Process.
Day 4: This is a pretty low-key day. We had a keynote speaker (the owner of It Cosmetics) lead off the day, and then Dean Degrassi spoke, though his part was more a sales pitch for other Tony Robbins programs. The second half of the day focused on health topics. Like Day 2, Tony isn’t there live, but they mix in videos of him from previous events.
With the basics out of the way, let’s deep dive into questions you might have and some tips to make your experience more successful.
SAVE SOME MONEY! (I hope you didn’t buy your ticket yet)
If you use this free cashback app, you’ll get 7.5% paid back to you via Paypal. This is true for all the Tony Robbins products. Not huge savings, but better than nothing! Tony Robbins doesn’t do any coupon codes or anything like that, to my knowledge. During his event, he might do some special offer prices for his other programs. If the transaction is through his website, you can use the cashback app to save a little money on those other programs as well. To get the cashback, either shop through the cashback portal by searching for Tony Robbins or install the Chrome app to get a little pop-up alert to activate cashback when you’re on his site.
Before we get to these next tips, a quick disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. This does not constitute medical advice. I’m sharing things that I did. If you hurt yourself doing something stupid, that is on you, boo.
Get a Rebounder (if you can afford it)
These things are a lot of fun. If you’re not familiar with it, these are high-end mini-trampolines. If you watched “I’m Not Your Guru,” you probably saw Tony using one at different parts of the documentary.
Why is this important? Getting into a “peak state” requires physical movement. If you can’t afford to get a rebounder, then, by all means, jump, dance, or do whatever feels right. The rebounder is a lot of fun, and it’s going to be way easier on your joints than the free alternatives. There is also some science behind these (which is why Tony uses one) that states that these do wonders for your lymphatic system. Did I mention NASA did those studies? I’d say they’re pretty good at science.
This is the rebounder that I bought: https://amzn.to/3kWPgSi
It’s not cheap, but I picked it for a few different reasons. First, it’s a good rebounder for apartments. It’s super quiet because it uses bungee cording rather than springs. It’s very well designed and balanced, so you’re not driving your neighbors nuts. The rebounder was incredibly sturdy and can support people up to 350lb. It came fully assembled, and all you had to do was open it up, put in a couple of lock pins, and you were ready to bounce.
For further noise mitigation and protecting your floors, I’d recommend getting some jigsaw mats like these as well: https://amzn.to/38iLUDI
Whenever they’re telling you to get active, just hop on your rebounder and have some fun.
Hydration
With all this activity and long hours, hydration is critical. I’d suggest chopping up some lemons ahead of time and using a lemon press to add some taste/electrolytes to your water. Since there is very little in the way of breaks, preparing a few water bottles you can grab quickly would be smart too. I can’t help you out on the bathroom breaks, unfortunately. Tony has an iron bladder!
Sleep / Nutrition
Sleep when you can. If you think you’re going to be too wound up when the event ends for the night, think about getting yourself quick action dissolvable melatonin tablets to help you sleep afterward. You want to try to squeak out at least 6 hours of sleep to be fully prepared for the next day. If you’re outside of the U.S. Eastern Standard Time zone, I’d recommend setting up a separate clock to keep track of it and try to get into that routine before the event.
I highly recommend you meal prep your food ahead of time. Try to eat light, nutritious choices so that you can keep up the physical energy. Have some healthy snacks nearby. You never know when they’re going to do a meal break, and if you’re not on the east coast of the United States, it might be at an odd time. Having everything ready to go will allow you to eat something even if a full break isn’t in progress. If you want a hot meal, it might be useful to set up a crockpot on one of the event days.
UPW is not a conference to be drinking alcohol at. Give your liver a break for a few days. Likewise, keep caffeine to a minimum and stick to water. I didn’t stop drinking coffee entirely, but I did keep it to one or two cups at the beginning of the day.
The last suggestion would be to get some high-quality multivitamins, fish oil, and other supplements to keep inflammation to a minimum and help you feel good throughout the tough hours.
Create a Comfortable Space
Clean up the space you’re going to do UPW in. Aside from it just making you feel better and be less distracted, do you want Tony Robbins making fun of your sloppy living room? For the wood breaking, you’ll want a couple of sturdy chairs like these, cinder blocks, or bricks. Soft chairs, folding chairs, or anything too low could give you a problem.
In terms of sitting, your couch will do for a lecture. The wood chairs are best for sitting meditations to keep your posture where it should be. For flooring, keep in mind you’re going to be standing a lot. I got this floor mat to make it more comfortable and for sound mitigation for my downstairs neighbor: https://amzn.to/38lFLaa
If your living space tends to get hot, you might want to make sure you have an extra fan or window unit air conditioner to keep you cool with all the physical activity.
Other Stuff to Prepare for Tony Robbins Event
Seeing as you’re probably going to be pretty sore, you will want to get yourself a foam roller to work out your back and legs as needed. Something like this will do: https://amzn.to/3qo9xkD
A cold compress bag like the ones used in sports therapy can be helpful as well: https://amzn.to/3qqmeLU
You get a workbook with the event, and there is some space to jot notes, but I’d suggest getting an extra notebook so you’re not limited in writing down your thoughts. There are no replay videos, so you want to take notes. If you miss something, you can always ask in the Facebook group to see if someone else caught it. On the other hand, don’t take so many notes that you’re not in the moment and miss the training’s essence.
You’ll want to do this event on a computer. Whether it’s a desktop or a laptop, I’d recommend getting the following. These aren’t required, but for those of you who have the money and want to get the best possible experience, these ideas can enhance it:
A long HDMI cord to hook it up to your TV: https://amzn.to/3qpKJbV
A high-quality webcam, especially if you want to have an opportunity to speak to Tony possibly. This one has a built-in microphone but also supports external microphones: https://amzn.to/2OwYWqs
A good external microphone in case you’re called upon by Tony, but more importantly for talking to your partners in the breakout groups with clarity: https://amzn.to/2OtRhsP
Word to the wise if Tony calls on you. Lower the volume on your TV or computer to avoid an echo. If you want to increase your likelihood of getting called on (or just getting put up on the main screen), think about wearing something unique, having some funny signs made up, your nation’s flag to wave, etc. People were creative with this. I saw everything from cardboard cutouts of people to a guy dressed in a monkey suit.
Final Thoughts
UPW will give you what you put into it. If you play full out and stay fully immersed, then you’ll have some incredible mental and physical breakthroughs. I found a lot of clarity in my goals due to investing the time and money into this training program. I also saw a lot of people complaining. These people were pissed Tony wasn’t there all four days. They were pissed that they were marketed other programs during the training. I think they missed valuable lessons because they didn’t just go with the flow. If you are a complainer, make excuses, blame others, and half-ass the program, it’s not for you. If you want to experience change, growth and get motivated by a fully immersive experience, then you’re going to love Virtual Unleash the Power Within.
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