If Anthony Robbins can help Andre Agassi play better tennis, he can certainly help a crowded room of gem and jewelry industry members improve their game. At the recent Centurion Show the famed speaker fired up audience members with his presentation.

Many discovered that Robbins is less of a motivational speaker and more of a highly energized presenter who helps put people in a better frame of mind to succeed no matter the circumstances. Industry members needed to hear such messages at a time when a weak dollar is sending diamond and gold prices upward, unemployment continues near double-digit levels and uncertainty in the economy has many worried about jewelry sales this year.  

For a number of people in the audience, Robbins shattered many myths. Dismissed as a motivational speaker who pumps people up only to deflate at the first challenge, Robbins surprised the Centurion crowd by holding their attention for a full three hours with an intellectual approach to being better business leaders.  

Robbins shared with his three mandates for leadership. The first: “See things as they are—not worse.” When addressing the crowd, he encouraged retailers and exhibitors to do their best with the economic challenges ahead, and that tougher times may be on the horizon. And that jewelry industry members should make an “honest assessment of things,” Robbins said. He addressed the room with a “turn adversity into opportunity” approach, noting that 65 percent of Fortune 500 companies opened during a recession or depression.

The second mandate: “See things better than they are.” This point of Robbins’ presentation resonated well with retailers as he spoke to them almost directly about the necessity of having a firm business plan established. “If you don’t have a business plan for the next three to five years, you won’t be in business,” said Robbins. He emphasized that although the economy is uncertain and gold prices are in flux, that “the money [in the economy] isn’t gone, it has just moved,” and that given the nature of today’s marketplace, there are more places to compete than just the market where the store owner calls home. “The world is the place where you compete now,” added Robbins.

The third and final mandate: “Make it the way you see it.” For Robbins, this is the strategy that allows us to achieve our goals. But in Robbins-speak, it’s difficult to execute a strategy when our “state” (or state of mind) is off focus and/or our “story”—the personal history that has made emotional baggage lifetime luggage—prohibits us from talking the plan from conception to execution. Robbins used a handy weight-loss analogy to drive home the point: “You have the best diet plan ready to go, but if you’re saying to yourself, ‘I’m too fat, I can’t lose weight and I’ve never lost weight’ your story is influencing your state, and your failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

JCK editors Jennifer Heebner and Paul Holewa pose with Tony Robbins.

Robbins explained how a person can strengthen the links in their story to state to strategy chain. For Robbins, a person’s “story” is their personal history and how it influences someone’s present state of mind. And even the most determined person with a head full of steam can suddenly become unfocused based on historical personal data that throws a person off track at a critical decision-making moment.

Robbins’ advice is simple: “Change the story.” The presenter emphasized that the narrative of a person’s story can be altered by making better decisions. And better decisions are made when people are in better states of mind. “Decisions not conditions are what shapes our lives,” says Robbins.

He emphasized that “decisions equal destiny,” and that at all times the ability to make the best decision hinges on the three decisions we are thinking at any given moment, as outlined in his recent book Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!: what should we focus on; what does something mean; and what should I do.

Robbins’ presentation to a room full of gem and jewelry industry people was a timely one. A friend of the famed presenter recently got engaged. The friend’s story of sourcing the best possible diamond ring gave Robbins the opportunity to let retailers know that over-promising and sticking with a customer in an advisory role can pay dividends.

“People aren’t impressed or inspired to take action with a 5 to 10 percent sale,” says Robbins. “But if you blow them away with an incredible offer or opportunity you’ll blow them away.”

Robbins concluded by putting audience members through various ways of engaging people with low- and high-energy approaches. He also gave tips on how to maintain their energy levels and advised that physiology is the best way to change our focus to make better decisions in life.

Audience attendees started the first day of jewelry buying full of energy and excitement. Anecdotally, many people who attended the Robbins’ presentation thought it was a fantastic and highly charged way to start the three-day trade show. And many shared their enthusiasm for Robbins’ central message that people can bring about change in their lives with an intellectual approach to making better decisions and having the tenacity, willingness, and the smarts to bring about change that fosters growth in life.

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