Summary

The article discusses the balance between the self-improvement philosophies of Tony Robbins and Sadhguru, emphasizing the importance of both taking action and accepting emotions.

Abstract

The article titled "Level Up Like Tony Robbins, Meditate Like Sadhguru" delves into the delicate balance between the relentless pursuit of self-improvement and the need for internal peace and acceptance. It contrasts Tony Robbins' approach of massive action and achieving peak performance with Sadhguru's teachings on inner happiness and the power of perception. The author, a former coach, acknowledges the exhaustive nature of constant self-improvement and the lack of emphasis on sitting with one's feelings. The article suggests that while Robbins' techniques are effective for breaking negative states and pushing forward, there is also value in Sadhguru's method of embracing a spectrum of emotions and choosing how to react to the world. It highlights the practice of gratitude as a life-changing habit that can foster a positive state of mind, a concept shared by both leaders. The author concludes that one can benefit from integrating both philosophies, achieving a balance that allows for both external success and internal well-being.

Opinions

The author is a proponent of self-development but recognizes the potential exhaustion from the relentless pursuit of betterment.
Tony Robbins' methods are praised for their effectiveness in breaking negative states, but they may not always allow for acknowledging a full range of emotions.
Sadhguru's approach is seen as healthy and humanizing, as it encourages accepting and understanding one's feelings rather than immediately overcoming them.
The article emphasizes that a positive state like gratitude can displace negative emotions such as anger or fear.
The author believes that one does not need to adhere to a single philosophy and that balancing different teachings can be beneficial.
Both Tony Robbins and Sadhguru share fundamental teachings about inner strength and the power of perception, despite their different goals and methods.
The author values the balance between external drive and internal reflection, advocating for a combined approach to personal growth.

Level Up Like Tony Robbins, Meditate Like Sadhguru

This is how you can tackle self improvement and keep your sanity

This is not Sadhguru, fans will know, but I can’t use his photo due to copyright issues so hey, here is what Unsplash class as a ‘guru’. Photo by davide ragusa on Unsplash

If you’re a fan of either Tony Robbins or Sadhguru, this advice might seem somewhat contradictory. Tony Robbins is the king of self improvement. He’s all about massive action, levelling up and achieving the best you can possibly achieve. He’s helped world famous athletes, presidents, and billionaires up their games to be top in their field and to earn more collateral than that of several small countries.

Sadhguru on the other hand is a leader in helping people to see that happiness is within us. He teaches that the world around us is simply perception. We can choose how we react to it.

The grind of self development

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of self development. As a former coach, it was the basis of what I did with many of my clients. However, the constant striving that comes with bettering yourself is exhausting. Goal setting, achieving, work towards the next thing. It’s often relentless.

Whilst many self help experts including Tony Robbins, promote meditation, physical techniques, healthy eating, and looking after our bodies, what I think is profoundly lacking is the need to accept our feelings and to sit with them at times.

Tony is famous for helping you break a negative state in 90 seconds which is fantastic. It’s helped me numerous times when I feel like I’m slacking or the negativity seeps in. However, I feel that this approach never allows you to be anything but OK. All techniques are about powering through and getting better, and actually, at times that isn’t what we need.

Sometimes we need to just sit with our feelings

By contrast, Sadhguru teaches how to sit with your feelings. It’s OK to feel a whole spectrum of feelings. In fact it’s healthy and part of being human. Everything that happens is a reaction to how we perceive the world.

For example, if someone says something mean, we can chose to let it effect us, causing us to doubt ourselves, become angry with others or ourselves, or we can choose to not let it effect us. We can use our bad experiences to fuel us to do better (as the self development die-hards will tell us) but we can also choose to feel these experiences and really pay attention to how we react to them.

Sometimes, we don’t need to use that anger to fuel our next drive for a goal, we can sit with it, feel it, and let it go, with a deeper understanding that we can change how we feel based on our reactions.

Gratitude

Something that has literally changed my life is practicing gratitude. This is a personal thing that can be done in many ways. For me, I write down three things I’m grateful for everyday. The beauty of this practice is that putting yourself in a state of gratitude means you can’t be angry, or fearful. A positive state like gratitude and a negative state like fear or anger cannot live concurrently. You can’t be both at the same time.

This is a concept shared by both personal development leaders like Tony Robbins and those focusing on mindfulness and internal wellbeing like Sadhguru. It shows that while the concepts they teach are so different, they are fundamentally underpinned by many of the same things.

There is no need to stick to one

The lesson here is that you don’t need to follow the teachings and philosophies of one single person. For me, balancing the work of Tony Robbins and Sadhguru provide me with motivation and drive to get out of my head and see things through, whilst also benefiting from the understanding that it is also helpful to look inwards and sit with all sorts of feelings and appreciate what I have, without the constant pressure to be chasing the next thing.

These different approaches have a surprising amount in common. Both Tony and Sadhguru teach that all that we need is within us. In fact some of their most famous quotes are words to this effect, yet their goals are very different. For me, they strike a great balance in teaching many of the same lessons.

I’d love to hear who about the mentors, teachers and experts that have most impacted your life and work. Please let me know if the comments.

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