Tony Robbins -Re-Awaken_the_Giant_Within

translated to these young people the power of values. They learned from him discipline, confidence, the
importance of the team, flexibility, and the power of absolute determination.
He didn’t talk to these kids in the barrio about what they should do with their lives; he was a living
demonstration, a new definition of what was possible. He not only got them to pass a calculus
placement test in numbers that everyone thought were impossible, but he also got them to change their
beliefs about who they were and what they were capable of if they consistently committed to holding
themselves to a higher standard.
If we want the deepest level of life fulfillment, we can achieve it in only one way, and that is by doing
what these two men have done: by deciding upon what we value most in life, what our highest values
are, and then committing to live by them every single day. Unfortunately, this action is far too rare in
today’s society. Too often, people have no clear idea of what’s important to them. They waffle on any
issue; the world is a mass of gray to them; they never take a stand for anything or anyone.
If you and I are not clear about what’s most important in our lives—what we truly stand for—then how
can we ever expect to lay the foundation for a sense of self-esteem, much less have the capacity to make
effective decisions? If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where you had a tough time making a
decision about something, the reason is that you weren’t clear about what you value most within that
situation. We must remember that all decision-making comes down to values clarification.
When you know what’s most important to you, making a decision is quite simple. Most people, though,
are unclear about what’s most important in their lives, and thus decision-making becomes a form of
internal torture. This is not true for those who’ve clearly defined the highest principles of their lives.
It wasn’t tough for Ross Perot to know what to do. His values dictated it. They acted as his personal
compass to guide him through a situation fraught with peril. Recently, Escalante left the Los Angeles
school system that he’d been working in to move to Northern California. Why? He could no longer be a
part of an organization where he believed there were no standards for a teacher’s performance.
Who are the most universally admired and respected people in our culture? Aren’t they those who have
a solid grasp of their own values, people who not only profess their standards, but live by them? We all
respect people who take a stand for what they believe, even if we don’t concur with their ideas about
what’s right and what’s wrong. There is power in individuals who congruently lead lives where their
philosophies and actions are one.
Most often we recognize this unique state of the human condition as an individual with integrity.
Culturally, these people have come in many forms, from the John Waynes and Ross Perots, to the
Bob Hopes and Jerry Lewises, to the Martin Sheens and Ralph Naders, to the Norman Cousinses and
Walter Cronkites. The fact of the matter is that those we perceive to be congruent in their values have a
tremendous capacity to have an influence within our culture.
Do you remember the nightly newscasts with Walter Cronkite? Walter was with us on all the most
important days of our lives: during tragedies and triumphs, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and
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