'I spent four days with Tony Robbins and discovered the key to overcoming fear.'

If I’m totally honest with you, I was a little apprehensive at first.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from a four-day long event with a room full of people I didn’t know. Walking on fire? Dancing? Unlocking my potential? I was a little… unsure.

As I entered the arena I was greeted by smiling, friendly faces in the same boat as me. There was a sense of anticipation, an electricity in the air. Everyone was buzzing.

With each moment, the fear started to fade and the anticipation grew. I found my seat and introduced myself to the people sitting around me, the countdown timer started and the music began.

Within minutes, we were on our feet dancing and cheering and out came Tony Robbins – the ringmaster of the next four days of inspiration and learning, and an energetic presence I’ve never quite seen before in my life. It’s pretty incredible to witness.

Whilst I was initially hesitant about what lay ahead, after 50 hours in the presence of Tony Robbins, the world’s number one life and business strategist, my head was brimming with ideas and energy. I had drunk the Kool-Aid good and proper (Tony even called it ‘the Kool-Aid’ himself, having a play with it).

The difference is, and what I realised over those four days, was that this actually worked. I felt unstuck, out of a rut, and ready to think bigger in my life. But… how?

Here are just a few snippets of inspiration I learnt from attending Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within event in Sydney, around moving past your fears to live the life you want. And I learnt a lot.

What are the fears holding you back?

I went into this experience not really having thought about my 'fears,' and thinking I didn't have any major roadblocks holding me back. But what I soon realised is that we all experience fear, we’re human beings. In the days when we were being chased around by sabre-toothed tigers fear was there to protect us, to ensure we’d survive. These days, our lives are pretty darn good but that two-million-year old brain of ours instead comes up with other things to keep us fearful and unhappy.

Tony Robbins explained that so many of us have our lives ruled by fears that we aren't even aware of, they are just hiding in the back of our mind steering the ship. I don't want to give too much away because you really have to experience for yourself, but over the course of the four days Tony took us through a series of activities that got us to identify the fears that were holding us back and how to eliminate them from our lives.

Worried you are not enough? Not smart enough, not attractive enough, not loveable enough? That’s fine but get an original fear, would you? Apparently everyone has those fears. But as Tony says, "Where focus goes, energy flows", and so the things we fixate on determine where our energy and power go.

Think about the negative beliefs you hold about yourself.

As I sat and pondered what fears I might be holding, I started to realise that in fact there were some negative beliefs I was holding about myself, hiding in the back of my subconscious. That perhaps I don't have what it takes to start a really successful business, that I'll never meet anyone amazing to be with, that I just don't have the grit to become really fit and exercise daily, I'm just not that sort of person. I wondered how long I had been holding these beliefs and what impact they'd been having on my life.

Tony asked us to really think and interrogate the driving beliefs stopping us from living out the life we'd love for ourselves. The reality is we all have doubts and fears but so often we aren’t even aware of them. They are just playing in the background and blocking us from achieving our dreams. By bringing our fears into our consciousness you become aware of what is really holding you back so you can address them and move forward.

Imagine what would happen if you let your fear guide you.

Tony believes the key is to find something that scares you more than your fear. You might be fearful of starting a new business but are you more afraid of waking up in 20 years’ time working in a job and life you hate? You might be afraid of being rejected by someone but are you more fearful of missing out on meeting the love of your life because you didn't want to put yourself out there?

We then had to imagine what our life would be like in 10 years if we were guided by these fears. What opportunities would we have missed? Who wouldn’t be in our life? Then we had to fast forward to 20 years and 30 years down the track. Tony then took us through an incredible visualisation exercise which made this life feel like a reality. We then had to decide if we wanted to live that life or not. It’s certainly not rocket science, but how often do you question your own beliefs about yourself and where they are taking you? Sure blind faith isn't enough to get you where you want to go but I soon realised that the negative beliefs I was holding would sure stop me from even starting.

Tony then gave us the tools and pathway to map out the life we actually want to live and how to get started.

How to actually achieve your dreams.

I walked away from Unleash the Power Within on a total high. I actually felt like I'd been rewired (side note: all the dancing and fist-pumping actually fixed my sore neck that had been giving me immense pain for years! And yes, that is bizarre and I don't expect that to happen for anyone else).

I’d danced my heart out, walked on fire, made new friends, laughed and cried but most importantly I had a newfound appreciation for the control and power I have over my own life, my own destiny. It's something I thought I already knew, but 50 hours of reiterating it has a way of really getting under your skin. It’s about questioning subconscious beliefs you may be holding about yourself and re-wiring the way you think so you can KICK START the next chapter.

But it’s all very well and good to go listen to an inspiring talk and to feel really excited and pumped up. The hard part seems to be actually acting on your dreams. And according to Tony Robbins, the key to that is scheduling.

"What’s talked about is a dream, what’s envisioned is exciting, what’s planned is possible and what’s scheduled is real." – Tony Robbins

Schedule in the next steps to achieving your dreams.

So what is the thing you most want to do next? Starting that business that you've always dreamed about? Finding the love of your life? Is it doing an online course so you can up-skill and change careers or finally learning a language? Whatever it is, schedule it in!

And while you’re at it why not schedule in a visit to Unleash the Power Within 2019, it will give you the tools you need to kick-start the next chapter of your life and actually take action on what you want to accomplish. You won't regret it.

Tony Robbins' Unleash The Power Within returns to Sydney on September 19 to 22, 2019, at Qudos Bank Arena. Find out more here.