"There is a powerful, driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality." - Tony Robbins

Tony is arguably one of the most renowned speakers in the world, millions of people from all over the globe have attended Anthony Robbins' live seminars. As one of America's most prominent self help gurus, during the year of '04 I had sparsely heard of him. I hadn't read any of his books, nor listened to any of his audio recordings yet by the end of the year I was to credit Robbins for transforming my life.

How did he do it?

In 2004 I attended Tony Robbins "Unleash The Power Within" seminar. It was one of the best decisions of my life and without a doubt a pivotal moment in my life. Here is what I learned at the "Unleash The Power Within" 4 day seminar?

Day One (Friday) - The Firewalk Experience
So with excitement and a touch of trepidation the day had arrived. The larger than life American brought with him a well polished rock style show. His energy and enthusiasm is mesmerizing and oddly infectious. He has over the decades perfected an innate ability to hold the audiences attention in the palm of his hand.

The first day is full of laughing, hugging and massaging strangers on the shoulders, high fives and a lot of clapping and jumping to well chosen music. War cries resonated the auditorium and this becomes the culture for the Robbins seminar over the next few days.

By the time the Firewalk came round at the end of the first evening I was pumped and ready to go. We were told that the coals were up to 1200 degrees and I sure wasn't going to argue the point. The actual Firewalk is over within seconds but the impact lasts a great deal longer.

The walking on coals was a symbolic way to show that fear can be overcome and reinforces the power that each of us has the ability to conquer anything we put our minds to.

Day Two and Three (Saturday and Sunday) - Conditioning Yourself For Success
After the amazing experience of Friday night everyone enters the second day with a notable buzz. Both Saturday and Sunday turn out to be very long sessions going for more than 12 hours straight but the time fly's and I didn't find myself looking at my clock to see when it ends.

The weekend is spent largely listening to Tony's instruction and doing exercises with other attendees. The focus was about creating an extraordinary you, breaking old patterns that are holding you back in life and overcoming limiting beliefs that are preventing you becoming the best you can be. I learnt to face issues in my life that I would have otherwise never faced had it not been for this event and being able to deal with them in a supportive environment made all the difference. The weekend continues with focusing on deciding what you want out of life and how to create massive momentum to make it happen.

Day Four (Monday) - Health and Vitality
As many would know, Tony is a vegetarian who chooses to live a healthy lifestyle. He sees it as a key to his success, after all what good is it to achieve everything you want in life if you don't have the health to enjoy it. This final day is conducted without Tony, with one of his Trainers stepping in to conduct it in conjunction with video recordings. The room was noticeably smaller with many attendees opting not to attend the final day, I guess many knew what was to come.

Before Robbins my diet was atrocious. Meat was a large part of my daily intake and salad was something I ate with a burger. I ate junk food several times a week but I wasn't over weight so I continued with this diet thinking to myself that I was going to be okay. But the next 8 hours changed all that. We learned to breathe better so we could oxygenate our bodies, we learnt about healthy eating and how to create a healthy lifestyle by eliminating unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking.

By the time the presentation came around about the virtues of living a vegetarian diet I knew I was in big trouble. Robbins never once tried to convince you to go vegetarian, nor did he force his beliefs on you, rather he provided information and suggested you make up your own mind. By the time we left we were all given a 10 day challenge to live this healthy way of life and then make up our own minds whether we wanted to stick with it.

I stayed vegetarian for three years and I never regretted it, I must add that I did eat seafood. Once I got momentum it was surprisingly easy to modify my lifestyle and today while I now have introduced meat back into my diet it is in far greater moderation and balance then it once was.

"The man who has inspired millions to change their lives! [Tony] brings out the best in all of us. The world is a better place because of him." - Larry King (Host of Larry King Live on CNN)

So How Has It Changed My Life Since The Event

1. By doing the exercises I got a chance to deal with some of the emotional baggage in my life and learn to find forgiveness.

2. I was able to find a clearer direction with my life with much more defined life goals.

3. I am a much more patient, open minded and less stressed person.

4. The Firewalk enabled me gain greater confidence in myself to deal with life's obstacles and uncertainties.

5. I became a vegetarian and drastically altered my diet and lifestyle for the better.

6. I was an atheist before the event, and Robbins helped me find God which has made a profound difference in my life.

7. Overall I realized the world isn't so bad, you got to see the good side of humanity being at the seminar.

If you have been thinking about attending a Tony Robbins seminar here are my tips to help make your experience the best it can be:

1. Come with an open mind and without any preconceived expectations. It was easy for me as I had little exposure to any of Tony's work. But I know there were people who attended that questioned everything and were closed off to some of the activities that Tony got us to do. You've spent good money to attend so why not let loose and just enjoy the experience. You can analyze all you want after the event is over.

2. Upgrade to VIP. I attended with Gold tickets. This basically means that you don't have assigned seating and your further from the stage. At the time I wasn't in a position to get VIP tickets but if I was to do it again I would. The reason being is not just about being closer to the stage but rather your assigned seating enables you to get to know the people around you and share the journey together. Plus an added bonus is you don't have to get there early every morning to try and get the best seats you can.

3.Consider booking a hotel room close by. If you are coming from out of town then that's a no brainer. But we were local to where Tony was conducting the seminar and drove home every night. With some of his sessions going to close to midnight and beginning at 9am the next day we would have been better served just booking a hotel room close by so we could squeeze in an extra few hours sleep.

4.Dress in layers and bring snacks. For some reason the room temperature was set to cold. Maybe it's to enable us to concentrate better but by dressing in layers at least you can take some off during the day if you get too cold. I would also suggest bringing water and snacks so that you don't feel as hungry as the sessions can be long.

5. Get your own information. If your relying on the sales people to give you advice on the seminar then you are probably going to be sold a well polished sales pitch. If your not sure if a Tony Robbins seminar is right for you, take some time to find out the information yourself.