Tony Robbins - Notes from a Friend: A Quick and Simple Guide to Taking Control of Your Life

Tonys message comes straight from the heart: by doing simple acts of kindness for others, we cant help but lift ourselves up, too

Ted Danson

Tony Robbins inspired me to take my career to the next level. Having attended all of his live courses, he definitely is the number one communicator in the world. He really knows how to bring out the best in you so that you consistently peak perform

Roger Black, World Olympic medallist,
BBC television presenter and motivational speaker

He has a great gift. He has the gift to inspire.

Bill Clinton,
former President of the United States

Tony thinks differently, and thank god he does, because he helps us to think differently about everything. Talk about value added leadership!

Mike Basch, Federal Express

I am passionately attached to self-improvement books, and this year I have found the guru of gurus in this department

Mary Kenny, Express

Robbins is a great public speaker, the best I have ever heard

Martyn Harris, Daily Telegraph

Also by Tony Robbins

Unlimited Power

Awaken the Giant Within

Giant Steps

Money: Master the Game

Unshakeable

Simon & Schuster Paperbacks

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Copyright 1991, 1995 by Anthony Robbins

SimonandSchuster.com

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions therof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Paperbacks Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Fireside edition 1995.

Reprinted with permission of the Tony Robbins Foundation, 9672 Via Excelencia, Suite 102 San Diego, CA 92126

Simon & Schuster Paperbacks and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 of

Edited by Just Write

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Fireside edition as follows:

Robbins, Anthony.

Notes from a friend: a quick and simple guide to taking charge of your life /

Anthony Robbins. 1st Fireside ed.

p. cm.

1. SuccessPsychological aspects I. Title.

BF637.S8R556 1995

158'.dc20 95-19436

CIP

ISBN 978-0-684-80056-1

EISBN 978-1-982-16458-4

To those who understand that lifes greatest gift is

love, and lifes greatest joy is sharing it

Especially for the volunteers and staff of the

Tony Robbins Foundation, whose efforts

consistently improve, change, and save lives

Notes from a Friend is based on the concepts and stories in Tony Robbinss New York Times #1 bestsellers Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power, and is designed to act as a guide to help transform the quality of your life.

Tony has teamed up with Feeding America, the nations largest network of food banks, to form the 1 Billion Meals Challenge, which aims to provide one hundred million meals per year to those in need through 2025.

For more information, please visit:

www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/partners/current-promotions/1-billion-meals

www.thetonyrobbinsfoundation.org/

Because of your interest in improving your own life, you have already contributed to improving other peoples lives.

I wrote this book years ago in a very simple, down-home style as a part of our foundations annual Thanksgiving Basket Brigade. As youll read in the next few pages, this holiday means a lot to me: its not only a national tradition, but a personal one for me, too. Its a time when, more than ever, a sense of gratitude for the blessings in my life overflows into a desire to reach out to others. So this book is exactly what its called: a note from a friend, to be read at any time of the year by anyone who just needs or wants a bit of inspiration from someone who cares. It offers some encouragement to those who need a reminder of lifes basic truths and the stimulation of a few good ideas about how to deal with whatever challenges face them.

Ironically, the simplicity of this little book has always appealed as much to the thousands of volunteers who hand it out as to the recipients. Many have wanted this book for themselves as a reminder of the fundamentals it takes to truly succeed in creating and enjoying a quality life. Whats more, a bit of informal research has shown me that many people never read my more comprehensive works, Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within, because theyre intimidated by the size of the books (more than 400 pages each).

As a result, Ive decided to update and republish Notes from a Friend for the general public. If youre already a student of my work, there may be little new here. Yet there seems to be a special effect on those who read it: they gain a new perspective as they review the material in this easy-to-read, accessible style. If youre new to my work, I hope youll find that this is a fun introduction, and I encourage you to look into the resources from which Notes from a Friend is drawn.

We tend to forget that all of us come up against tough times, times when we feel as though events and circumstances have more control over our lives than we do. Sometimes we just feel down and out. Being dismissed from a job, for exampleeven if we still have our homes and loved onescan cause us a great sense of loss. The challenges of our own lives can seem so immense that we also tend to forget the frustrations of people around us.

We are not alone. Part of a quality life, part of true success, is learning to appreciate and consider the emotional struggle of our neighbors. This gives us a greater sense of gratitude for our own lives, even for our own struggles. Ultimately, the only way to experience the richness of life is to live in an attitude of gratitude: to appreciate what you have and what you can give. The best way to ensure your happiness is to assist others in experiencing their own.

Thank you for helping. I hope not only that this book assists you in immeasurably improving the quality of your life, but that it may inspire you to help others as well.

What would happen if, in the next

few pages, you could learn some simple

steps that would allow you to feel

happier, earn a better living, or

improve virtually any area of your life?

On Thanksgiving many years ago, a young family awoke with a sense of foreboding. Instead of looking forward to a day filled with gratitude, they were preoccupied by thoughts of what they did not have. At best, they would scrape together a meager meal on this day of feasting. If they had contacted a local charity group, they would have had a turkey with all the trimmings, but they hadnt. Why? Because they, like many other families, were proud people. Somehow they would make do with what they had.

The difficult situation ted to frustration and hopelessness, then to irreparable, harsh words between the mother and father. The eldest son felt devastated and helpless as he watched the people he loved most become more and more angry and depressed.