It was 1988 and I was under a dirty mobile home in a bad part of San Diego. I had recently lost my "corporate job" with Jantzen Sportswear when they cut the sales force in half. After a few lean months and a move to Southern California, I needed to generate some income and took a job selling earthquake bracing for mobile homes. I was actually doing OK for a couple months, but then one day underneath that decrepit mobile home, it hit me. "What the heck am I doing?" I was selling an overpriced product I did not believe in. I was settling for a lot less than I could be. Was this the vision of success I had imagined? No! Sometimes you have to get so disgusted with your current situation that your inner voice will actually scream at you! Like mine did...



I quit the next day. A few days later, I happened on a classified ad - and then the job - that would change my destiny. I began working with Tony Robbins and for the next six years, I traveled the US, UK and Australia. I spoke to tens of thousands of people and enrolled them in Tony's programs.

My choice that day in San Diego drastically impacted everything. I met my wife Miryana when she bought a seminar ticket from me at a ReMax office where I spoke; we now have three great kids. Those years I spent on the road, paying my dues with Tony, have led to a full-time speaking career. Today, I help make conventions unforgettable for companies like Marriott, Ford, Century 21, Tommy Hilfiger, and the Washington Hospital Center.

So if your inner voice is disgusted by your current situation, listen to it. Make a decision to change and take action on the implications. I think the key to "mastering" your inner voice is actually the process of controlling it. Tony used to say this to me:

"The quality of your life is the quality of your questions."

Consistently ask quality questions like: What do I love about what I do? What am I most excited about right now? What am I learning? How do I make a difference? How is what I am doing now preparing me for the future? What am I willing to do to prepare myself for what I ultimately want to become? How can I get through this and really enjoy it? What do I love and treasure about my spouse and family?

Asking questions like this will you help you control what you think about. Left to its own accord, that inner voice is not your best friend; it will play tricks on you. If you're not careful, your inner voice becomes your inner whiner. Well, we all have those moments, don't we? It happens when we focus on the opposite sides of those questions and then it builds. So you may say to yourself, "I hate it when they do that. They always do that. Why do I have to deal with this?" And you're left in a not-great place. But being vigilant about the questions you consistently ask yourself truly makes a difference.

I recently heard an amazing example about the power of the inner voice on the 2005 ESPY Awards given out by ESPN. One of the winners of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award was Jim MacLaren. Jim has survived two near-fatal accidents and has risen each time to the challenges that resulted. Jim lost his legs after being hit by a bus at age 22, but he recovered and became the fastest amputee athlete in the world. Eight years later, he was struck again by a van in a triathlon and became an incomplete quadriplegic.

In his acceptance speech for the ESPY Awards, he remembered that he told a friend, "I do not think I can go through this again." Then he told himself this: "I am not my body. I am a man. I am as alive as anyone who can dunk a basketball or hug a child. Being alive is a good thing." It would have been easy for him to complain and give up, but Jim's inner voice made all the difference. He focused on the joy of living, not the fear of dying.

You may never be challenged to the degree Jim has been. But each of us must overcome obstacles to reach our full potential and experience joy in life. If you train your inner voice - asking the right questions, focusing on the positive rather than the negative - it can become your strongest ally for reaching the heights. Go for it!