How Tony Robbins nd Billy Joel Are Alike

About a year and a half ago I had a doctor’s appointment for my annual checkup. It was on a work day and I could have gone in late, but I decided to take the day off. A “day off” sounds nice but in reality I had a ton of work to do. I had to edit my book, (Hopeless To Husband: How to Get Out Of the Basement And Change Your Life, available on Amazon- I know, shameless plug) and I also had to get my website up and running, (TreatHerRight.org- last shameless plug) For the previous year I had been working feverously during my lunch hour at work and any spare time I had- which wasn’t much. The long term plan was to sell a million books and be able to work from home so I could take care of my future children. (If my boss is by chance reading this- sorry)

I’m a “Tony Robbins guy”. Tony talks about envisioning yourself being successful so instead of taking the “day off” I wanted to make the day a test run of when I would be financially independent. I started the day with a little exercise and having egg whites for breakfast as I wanted to make sure my new routine would be health conscious. As I was making breakfast I was listening to an interview with somebody who mentioned they were from Allentown Pennsylvania. “Just like the Billy Joel song – Well we’re living here in Allentown, and they’re closing all the factories down,” He said. I was reminded how, a few days ago, I had just put my best of Billy Joel CD on my new computer and as soon as the interview was over I started listening.

Of course I started off with “Allentown” and then listened to “Don’t Ask Me Why”. Throughout the day I must have listened to the mix a few times. I had an extremely productive day. I finished editing my book, had a phone meeting with my web designer, as well as made various other phone calls that I had been putting off or just didn’t the time to do. I was “in the zone”. I wasted no time throughout the day and worked as if it was a regular thing to work from home. I made a promise to myself to take more days off from work to concentrate on side projects that I had. The next day was business as usual as I returned to my 8-6 job.

As the next few weeks went by I still spent my lunch hour working on my book and website but I didn’t have enough free time to get the ball rolling on what I wanted to do. Driving home from the store one day I turned on the radio and Billy Joel was on. I immediately was brought back to the state of mind that I was two weeks previous of when I was “in the zone” To not let the moment be lost when I returned home I immediately did a few things that I had been putting off. In fact over the course of the next year whenever I was in a malaise I would just put some Billy Joel on my ipod and if nothing else I got some sort of motivation. The great part is he seemed t on be everywhere. He was playing on the New Years Eve show my wife and I watched and he seemed to constantly be on the radio. He was everywhere and he even started a gimmick where he played Madison Square Garden every month for the foreseeable future.

You can take one guess what I got my wife for her Birthday last year. In a coincidence the night that we went to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden it was the first day of my free download promotion to kick off the debut of the book. Not only that, but my book was the number one free downloaded dating book for men at the time. The night was surreal. As the “piano man” played, not only was I shocked at how great he sounded at 65 years old but when I looked back at my life over the last year I was amazed at how much I had accomplished. Not only had I reached my goals with my book, website, and doing self-help podcasts for single men, but my wife and I had purchased our first home together. At 38 years old I had never had a year in my life where I had attained so much.

I’m not giving Billy Joel or Tony Robbins for that matter, the credit for what I was able to do that year. But both of them served as anchors that would get me back on the right track when I would lose focus. In a coincidence I had picked a very popular singer, that whenever I heard his music; it would bring me back to a place where I was “in my zone.” The next time you accomplish something big; listen to some kind of music. It doesn’t matter who sings it or what song. I would recommend something popular since you have a better chance of hearing it more often. In the future when you hear that song, or artist, it will bring you back to that place where you got the job, scored the touchdown, or the woman of your dreams kissed you for the first time. It will bring you to a place where you feel you can do anything you want- and you can.

What do Billy Joel and Tony Robbins have in common? They have sold millions of CD’s, sold out arenas, traveled the world, and coincidently been married three times. But for me, they both can bring me to a state where I feel I can accomplish any goal I set in front of me. They both can get me “in my zone” By the way; I took a “snow day” off from work today to write this.