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Browse published articles attributed to Mike Robbins, with full-archive search.
It's about Appreciation, not Achievement Have you ever found yourself waiting for something “good” to happen so that you could be happy? “When I get that promotion, lose those ten pounds, fall in love, graduate from school, pay off my debt, have a baby, buy a house, accomplish that big goal, ...
Given the focus of my work, especially in the past five years since the release of my book Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken, which is all about authenticity and vulnerability, I’m constantly in situations where I’m talking about, encouraging, and seeing the positive impact of vulnerability.
My wife Michelle and I recently went to see Glennon Melton speak about her new book, Carry On Warrior. Glennon is a blogger from Florida who has a very successful blog called Momastery.com. Her posts are read by tens of thousands of moms like Michelle (and others) around the world. I thought I was attending the event to support Glennon’s new book and to support Michelle (since she loves what Glennon does so much). And even though I was one of only a handful of men in the sea of a few hundred women at this event, I got so much out of it.
This video blog post (http://mike-robbins.com/take-care-of-your-animal/) is inspired by an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert and my friend Jonathan Fields on his podcast, The Good Life Project. Elizabeth talks about the importance of taking care of her “animal” (aka her physical body) so that her “supercomputer” (aka soul/spirit/creative life force) can function at the highest level. I love this simple, yet powerful distinction. If we can take good care of ourselves on a basic, physical level, not only are we healthier, but we become more open, receptive, creative, and powerful.
Trust can be tricky for many of us, myself included. It can be scary, seem naïve, and feel vulnerable. We often spend a lot of time and energy shielding ourselves from failure, being taken advantage of, or having our trust violated. What are we really protecting ourselves from? As someone said to me many years ago, “Mike you’re living your life as though you’re trying to survive it. You have to remember, no one ever has.”
These few days before the start of the New Year have a magical and sacred quality to them. I appreciate the lull in activity that often takes place this week and the opportunity we have to reflect back on the year that is ending, as well as to create new possibilities and intentions for the year that's about to start. It often seems more exciting to focus on our "resolutions" for the coming year than it does to look back. However, before we jump ahead and start making our goals for next year, it's essential that we complete the year that is about to end consciously.
For many years I've had mixed feelings about my wants and have been a bit confused about the true power of desire. While I know that desire is an essential piece of the manifestation process, I also know that focusing a lot of my attention and energy on what I want has caused a great deal of fear, pain, and disappointment in my life. Over emphasizing my desire has also gotten in my way of appreciating all that I already have and who I really am at the deepest level.
Wow... that was quite an exciting ending to the Super Bowl, wasn’t it? If you happened to have missed it, the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. The Seahawks had the ball on the one yard line with less than a minute to go in the game and a few downs to work with. It looked like they were going to score a touchdown and win the game. However, instead of handing the ball off to their superstar running back, Marshawn Lynch, they decided to pass the ball on second down, and it was intercepted - thus clinching the dramatic victory for the Patriots.
With the New Year still in its first few weeks, the annual "new year, new you" phenomenon is all around us - in the worlds of advertising, media, self-help and more. And while this time of year can be a great catalyst for positive change in our lives, what if we made a commitment to live our lives in 2011 focused on who we are, and not so much on what we do, what we accomplish, what we look like, what we're striving for, and more? One of best things we can do in this New Year is to focus on who we really are, instead of who we think we're supposed to be.
I have a tendency to take myself a bit too seriously at times, especially when I get stressed, irritated, or scared. I’ve noticed that sometimes these feelings not only make me less effective in dealing with a difficult situation, they actually cause the difficulty itself, or at the very least exacerbate it. I also find that in these moments of taking myself too seriously, it’s easy for me to become self-important and to think that the weight of the world is on my shoulders (which is often a bit of an overreaction and almost never helpful).
I had a painful, but poignant phone conversation earlier this week with my wife Michelle. She shared some challenges with me in a vulnerable and passionate way. As I started to give her some of my "helpful advice" (as I often do - being a man, as well as an author, speaker, and coach, I'm fairly well trained at giving advice), she stopped me and said, "Can't you just give me empathy for me? That's what I really need right now. Once I feel your empathy, I can hear your feedback."
September 3, 2015 The unexpected passing of Dr. Wayne Dyer has had a big impact on me. He was an amazing teacher who inspired me (and millions of others) for many years. He was also someone I was honored to have met a few times in the past few years when we both spoke at events for our publisher, Hay House.
In the past few weeks, two important people in my life suddenly passed away. These deaths have been shocking, sad, and painful for me. And, in the midst of sadness I've once again been reminded of the mystery and magic that I often experience when someone close to me dies.
My counselor Eleanor recently said to me, “Mike, if you’re trying to prove something, it means you don’t actually believe it yet.” Her words hit me right between the eyes, as they often do. She was right and as I reflect on certain aspects of my life, I can see that where I’m overly attached to proving myself, it’s because I don’t actually believe in my own skill, talent, or value (i.e. I’m looking for outside validation to “prove” my worth)...maybe you can relate to this?
Wow… that was an unbelievable World Series! If you watched it passionately as I did, you know what I’m talking about. Even if you didn’t and you don’t know or care that much about baseball or sports, there are a number of things that made this World Series remarkable and also some important things we can learn from it that go way beyond baseball and sports in general.
Fear is something that we all experience throughout our lives, especially on our journey toward deeper authenticity. Being who we really are, expressing ourselves honestly, being bold, and going for what we want in life can cause a great deal of fear in us. I get scared all the time. When I was younger I thought there was something really wrong with me because I would get so nervous – in sports, in school, in social settings, and more.
A few months ago I got some specific feedback that it would serve me, my work, and my growth to start practicing the art of allowing in a more conscious and deliberate way. While I was familiar with the concept of allowing, I realized I had very little awareness or experience of it in actual practice. As I looked more deeply at it, I realized that I had a judgment about the whole concept of "allowing." It had always seemed weak, passive, lazy, or based on "luck" to me.
How often do you catch yourself worrying? When I was a kid my mom used to say to me, "95% of what you worry about never happens." I think she recognized that I was the "worrying type" and was trying to help ease my mind. Although this rarely worked, I appreciated her sentiment and know now that she was right.
As we embark on another new year of life, I find myself experiencing a mixture of emotions about 2011. I'm excited about the possibilities of this New Year and inspired by the energy of creation that exists at this special time. Similar to last week, there is a magical quality to this first week of the New Year - lots of hope and positive anticipation.
I've received some criticism in the past couple of weeks in a few different situations. This has caused me to step back and reflect on how I handle criticism. Although I tend to get quite defensive when people criticize me, I've actually been pleasantly surprised by how I've reacted. In this video blog I talk about criticism and offer some thoughts, ideas, and tips for how we can handle it more effectively...as well as ways to not let the fear of being criticized stop us from putting ourselves out there, taking risks, and going for what we truly want.
I was recently talking to my counselor Eleanor, asking her for some guidance on both an important meeting I had coming up and on the approach I was taking in some writing I was planning. She said to me, “Mike, get out of your head and into your heart. Remember, the truth can’t be rehearsed.”
The holiday season is now in full swing. If you're anything like me you probably have mixed feelings about the holidays. I love the excitement, parties, decorations, rituals, music, gifts, connections, and more. However, even these fun things can wear on me. And, the stress, drama, consumption, obligation, expense, and more that often come along with this time of year are not on my list of "favorite things."
Appreciating “Difficult” People Are there people in your life, on your team, and/or with whom you interact regularly that get on your nerves? Have you ever found yourself wanting to yell at the top of your lungs, “Knock it off, I can’t stand you?” If so, you are not alone…welcome to being human! ...
During the holiday season, it's easy for us to get caught up in the stress of decorating the house, preparing for parties, and rushing around to buy gifts for everyone. Many of us will spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on holiday presents. Instead of just giving the important ...
I've been reflecting on change quite a bit recently. This year has been full of changes for me and my family. The two most significant and emotional changes have been the loss of my sister Lori back in January and the purchase of our new house a few months ago. While these two experiences are very different in so many ways, they have each had a profound impact and have pointed out some things to me about how I deal with change, loss, and more.
Have you ever had something taken away from you only to realize how much you appreciated it after it was gone? Most of us have taken someone or something for granted. We only truly realized how much that person or situation meant to us after the fact. For example, at the age of twenty three ...
Let’s Appreciate Ourselves In my years as a college and professional baseball player I learned many things. One of the things I learned to do as well as almost anything else was beat myself up. I became a master, along with many of my teammates, at being hard on myself and “never being ...
As someone who is very interested in current events, sports, politics, the state of our economy and world, and more - I pay a lot of attention to the news (sometimes more than is probably healthy for me). I read newspapers, check out various news sites/blogs, watch TV, and listen to the radio. With all of this news and information, I'm often struck by how little of it is "good news," especially these days.
When my wife Michelle and I were expecting our first child Samantha, we were very excited, nervous, grateful, curious, joyous, and more as we anticipated her arrival. With all of the books, classes, advice, and conversations we had encountered, most of the focus of this information has been on ...
Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone. Even though my relationship with my wife Michelle is amazing, the love I feel for and from my girls is profound, and there are so many incredible people in my life (family, friends, and clients) - I still find that in my darkest moments, I feel like there's no one who really gets me, knows what I'm going through, or even cares enough to truly have my back. Do you ever feel like this yourself?
Have you ever had something taken away from you only to realize how much you appreciated it after it was gone?n nI ask this question every time I start one of my speeches and seminars on appreciation. As I pause and wait for people to respond, many hands go up. n nMost of us have taken someone or something for granted. We only truly realized how much that person or situation meant to us after the fact. n nFor example, at the age of 23 my professional baseball career ended abr
Have you ever had something taken away from you only to realize how much you appreciated it after it was gone?nnI ask this question every time I start one of my speeches and seminars on appreciation. As I pause and wait for people to respond, many hands go up. nnMost of us have taken someone or something for granted. We only truly realized how much that person or situation meant to us after the fact. nnFor example, at the age of 23 my professional baseball career ended abrupt