Robbins, Tony (Anthony) (1960- )

US motivational speaker and author. He has coached millions of people worldwide through his best-selling books, which include Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement (1986), and through his Personal Power audiotapes, television ‘infomercials’, and seminars. His clients have included chief executive officers from Fortune magazine's Top 500 corporations, US tennis player Andre Agassi, former US president Bill Clinton, and his wife, US senator Hillary Clinton.

Robbins's philosophy is about positive thinking, setting new goals and achieving them. He models his strategies on the success skills of the world's top leaders and performers and then communicates those skills to others. He argues that people can succeed by simply taking charge of their minds; metaphorically ‘walking barefoot across a bed of hot coals without being harmed’. His seminars include an intensive Life Mastery programme with speakers experienced in leadership, such as US General Norman Schwarzkopf.

He was born in Glendora, California, and left school with no formal training. He reportedly started out in the early 1980s by challenging psychologists in front of audiences to see who was quickest at curing people of phobias. He took his skills to the US Army, where he ran training programmes, and then moved on as a consultant to corporations, such as IBM and Hallmark, and to Olympic athletes and sports professionals, becoming a millionaire by the time he was 24. His greatest competitive advantage has been described as his ability to entertain.

Robbins's publications include Awaken The Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny (1991). He participated in former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's ‘State of the World Forum: Toward a New Civilization’ in 1995. His Tony Robbins Foundation contributes to educational and social causes.