I'm a big believer in modeling successful people. I do the best I can to surround myself with the right people and go as deep as I can in their work. It's not just enough for me to read a book or watch a video. I want to spend time with them on a deeper level. Discover their nuances, their strategies and how they think. The challenge with this approach is that the more in demand the person is the harder it is to get access.

One of the guys I really wanted to spend an extended period of time with and go more 'vertical' with was Tony Robbins. The first step I took was to take an Unlimited Power Weekend. It's his crazy over the top walk on hot coals (really) weekend. It was fantastic and definitely changed me. It's a 3 day seminar that goes for 12 hours per day and you just about never sit down. Imagine the best rock concert you have ever been to that you don't want to end.

As much as I loved UPW I was left jonesin' for more! I decided to go a level deeper and sign up for Date with Destiny. DWD is 12 hours a day for seven days with this lunatic! And, it aint cheap -$5,495 per ticket. When you do the math on two tickets (for me and Kim) with airfare and hotel it definitely becomes a 'put your money where your mouth is' kind of thing. To give you a feel for who this guy is, here's a snippet of Tony getting intense with Al Gore at the TED conference (it's a great 20 min video but if you want to skip to the Al Gore part start at about minute 16).

There's about 2000 people that show up for DWD. When you cue up to register you'll see a very well organized process that looks like a Broadway performance- dancers included. The event begins that afternoon and includes people lining up at the doors to get a good seat hours before the event begins. When the doors open you walk into a huge ballroom with 10,000 watts of music power banging into your chest. You'll find a dark room filled with smoke machines, rock concert worthy lighting in full tilt and everyone up on their chairs dancing. This isn't a "let's wait until the third day of the event to let our hair down" kind of thing. This is "let's party" from the nano second you walk in the joint.

Prior to walking in the room I was trying to figure out how anyone could hold my attention for 12 hours a day for seven days in a row. Now, I get it. In fact, the seminar is so engaging that when you have to go to the bathroom you run as fast as you can and on your return ask the guy next to you what you missed. There were days when I looked up at the clock and realized that it was 5 p.m. and we haven't even stopped for lunch. Here's an example (from someone's rogue video) of a 'break' at the event designed to help keep you awake.

Each of the 7 days of the event cover various areas of training. If you want a more complete list of how that breaks down you can get it here. It's hard for me to pick my favorite section but if I had to pick one I would say it's the masculine feminine section. Tony takes traditional relationship strategies and flips it on it's head. He shows you how the average American man has (in some cases) gone from a Clark Gable masculine man in the 50's to a Khaki pants wearing p***y in the 2000's. He also explains how women have (in some cases) slid from sexy and feminine to a more masculine version of themselves.

It's next to impossible for me to fully describe over 70 hours of content. Trust me when I tell you it was totally worth it and that I would do it again (actually I did do it again). I just believe that it's critical who we 'hang out' and 'surround' ourselves with. Don't get me wrong I am by no means a Tony Robbins drink the purple Kool-Aid groupie. His stuff is just that life changing and worth the time and money that I wanted to share it. It has certainly changed mine without a doubt.