My UPW Experience: Part 1

In 2016, I had undertaken a self-imposed challenge to read 100 books in a year. Two books I read as a part of this challenge were Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins. Both of them are powerful, potentially life-changing books. They give a variety of insights into transforming one’s life for the better. I also watched Tony Robbins’ Ted talk. As an aside, Tony posed a question to the TED audience “When you fail to achieve, what is the reason that people say?” and proceeded to give answers like “No money”, “No time”, etc, when Al Gore, who was in the audience, chimed in with the reason “I didn’t have the Supreme Court”.  

In mid-2019, I watched Tony Robbins’ documentary I am Not Your Guru on Netflix. This documentary gave a behind-the-scenes look into Tony Robbins’ yearly event Date with Destiny. Later that year, I was going though a rut, so I made the decision to attend a Tony Robbins event, with the hope that it could give me some much-needed energy and momentum. I considered purchasing a ticket to Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within (UPW) event in Miami in November 2019.

Now, The UPW events are famous for having a firewalk. Tony makes his participants walk on fire. Here is a video of Oprah Winfrey walking on fire in a UPW. 

This had me concerned. Could I walk on fire? Did I want to walk on fire? Could I skip the firewalk and attend the other parts of the event? Should I attend a different Tony Robbins event? Should I attend a different event by someone else? Should I wear some sort of special slippers or shoes to protect me from the fire? “The fire consists of 2500 degree coal, shoes can’t protect you”, said Jeremy, the Tony Robbins representative who helped me with my questions. Some comfort! “Tony will make sure that you don’t get hurt”, Jeremy continued. That was better! I finally decided that I would get the better of my fears, and purchased a ticket. 

I started researching how to prepare for a Tony Robbins event. He keeps the temperature at 40 degrees, a very cold temperature, so I took a lot of layers. There would be a lot of screaming, so we were asked to buy plenty of cough drops. The event was at a sports arena, so a bag of specified dimensions was allowed. I purchased such a bag. And I found the cheapest motel that I thought was safe and made reservations. 

How was the first day? What did I learn? Did I walk on fire or did I choose to skip it? Stay tuned for the next post to find out. 

Image Credit: By Randy Stewart – https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewtopia/3948482669/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16169479