Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: tony robbins

  • Break Through Your Limits by Walking on Fire

    tony robbins on stage

    One of the things on my Bucket List (henceforth known as the Dream List, as a Tony Robbins graduate told me) was to experience a workshop by Tony Robbins. A few years ago, I met Mina Shah, one of Tony’s top trainers and I came close to signing up, but I felt the time wasn’t right.

    This year, the opportunity came up and everything fell in place for me to attend the Unleashing the Power Within workshop in Schaumburg.

    I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about doing the firewalk that Tony Robbins offers at the end of the first day. In the days leading up to the workshop, I wavered back and forth between thoughts like, “What if I burn my feet,” to “I’m scared,” to “Oh come on, millions of people have walked on fire.”

    At one a.m., over 7,000 of us trudged out to the parking lot in complete darkness. Only the lights from the hotel rooms illuminated from above. Just before it was my turn to walk, the crew spread a fresh layer of glowing embers.

    Oh crap.

    The scared feeling escalated just a tad.

    But heck, everyone before me was walking through the hot stuff and smiling on the other side. Surely I could, too.

    And I did.

    I was blown away at how easy it was once I had the courage to put the first foot forward. All that followed was one foot after another until the crew stopped me and sprayed my feet.

    I was shocked to discover how easy it was. All the fears, all the wondering, all the limiting thoughts were for…nothing. Why did I waste all that time on things that turned out to be such a waste of time?

    firewalker karen putz tony robbins chicago

    Of course, walking on fire is simply a metaphor for life. The exercise is meant to identify the fears you have–the limiting beliefs–and walk right through them.

    Because if you can do that, you can do anything.

    Whatever it is you’re facing in life–here’s what you do:

    Walk through the fire.

  • When You Hit a Major Slump

    Regular readers of this blog will probably notice it’s been quite some time since I blogged here.  This has been one long, dragged-out winter in more ways than one. My normal, “energy on spin cycle” has hit an “off” button. I feel as if life is moving in slow motion. When that happens, I know it’s a time of transition and a time of growth. It’s a time for me to pull back and reflect on what really matters.

    The longer I took to get back to blogging, the harder it became to find the energy, drive, and the resolve to get back into it. It was the same with my fitness routine–I had stopped working out and it was showing. So this morning, I got myself off my duff and marched to the gym. Action is the first step. Always. No matter how small of a step it is, it’s a step in a forward direction. That’s why I’m finally pounding out this blog post–because I needed to take some action in the right direction. So I’m throwing my thoughts out in random fashion– and this could very well turn out to be one of the most unpolished blog posts ever.

    But still, “relentless forward motion” as my friend Adam Fitzgerald always tells me.  He should know–he does ultramarathons.

    Whenever I’m in a major slump, it’s all too easy to pull away from people as well. It’s a slippery slope–of getting into the old bad habits of negative thinking and letting the good stuff slide. So today, I thought about some of the people who have touched my life and I haven’t heard from them in a while. I spotted Lorelle Van Fossen in my chat list and fired off a greeting. We ended up having a wonderful chat–what a great way to launch out of a slump! If you haven’t met Lorelle, she’s the WordPress Blogging Queen. If you’re an author, take note of her blog post on WordPress for Writers.

    On Twitter, I came across an article by Tony Robbins, Career Curveballs. This little piece caught my eye: “I think part of what has guided me is the belief that life is not happening to us, but rather it’s always happening for us. It’s our job to find the perfection in it all. Even in our darkest times we are able to find the seed of our future greatness if we look. Everything happens for a reason. Yes, even problems are gifts. Perhaps God’s delays are not God’s denials.”

    So this slump I’m in, I’m going to see it as a mere delay, the “downtime” that defines the happier, smoother moments of life. It’s the space in life that makes the joyful times even more joyful. I have to continue to trust the passion deep within me and know that it will guide me through the days ahead. Like Wayne Dyer says, “It’s the space between notes that makes the music. You must take the time to become silent each day and enter that rapturous space between your thoughts.” 

     

    wayne dyer quote