About a week ago, I mentioned in the comments section that a new documentary appeared on Netflix called I Am Not Your Guru, which is about Tony Robbins. Now, I’m familiar with who Tony Robbins is, because it’s pretty hard not to be if you live in the U.S. At first, I thought it would be some kind of tell-all take-down of the man, but it turns out it’s pretty much a two hour commercial for the guy (he did, after all, have total approval over its content).
I found it terribly interesting to watch, however. I tend to view the whole New Age-y, Self-Help-y, Personal Empowerment industry to be pretty vile. It strikes me as shallow, shamelessly opportunistic, and it tries to cloth itself in some kind of spirituality when, in fact, it’s 99% about making a buck. This clown on YouTube captures it nicely (and this isn’t a parody; he’s for real):
(And, yes, I couldn’t help but notice how he pointed out that he liked books more than “materialistic things” – – a verbal pratfall if there ever was one).
Anyway.
Tony Robbins isn’t some guy on YouTube trying to get you to sign up for a newsletter or something. He’s amassed a personal fortune of something like half a billion dollars writing books and doing mega-seminars. It’s apparent from the documentary he’s exceptionally good at what he does.
Of course, I suspect that although people will be feeling sky-high and ready to take on the world the moment after they leave one of his seminars, probably 95% of that feeling has worn off within about five days or so. After all, just how sustainable and helpful can bromides be?
Expect the unexpected. OK, great. Thanks.
In any case, if you have Netflix, I urge you to watch the documentary. Even though it’s practically an infomercial for the guy, it’s fascinating. I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy it.
