“I have studied the few who do versus the many who talk. If you want to look for obstacles, what’s wrong is always available. But so is what’s right! I am a hunter of human excellence. I seek out those individuals who break the norms and demonstrate to all of us what’s really possible. I learn what those few extraordinary individuals do that’s different from everybody else, and then emulate them. I find out what works, and then I clarify it, simplify it, and systematize it in a way to help people move forward.”
For those who are into personal development, Tony Robbins is a legend. Studying at the feet of Jim Rohn, Tony has become (literarily and figuratively) the biggest show in the entire self-help industry. From his sold-out 5,000-person events to his media appearances to his top-viewed TED talk to his man-sized books, Tony has made a career out of over-delivering to his audience, at least when it comes to size and length.
If you're new to Tony Robbins' writings, I strongly suggest you do NOT start with this one. Tony is not an avid writer of books -- his Awaken The Giant Within is one of my all-time favorites and where I recommend you begin -- but when he does write one, it's long and packed full of information. Money: Master The Game does not disappoint, though its focus on investing, saving, stocks, and giving are topics that will always create divisions of opinion. With Tony being such a huge target, opinions are everywhere.
I'll admit that I almost she;bed this book about 20% of the way through. Tony is a long-winded talker and tough the value is there, many of the things he covered in the beginning of Master The Game have been addressed in his previous work, and I was expecting money talk, not mindset talk. Reading some critical, I-already-know all-of-that Master The Game reviews on Amazon didn't help the book's chances with me either (more of this shortly). But then I looked at Tony on the cover of the book and remembered some simple principles of mine:
If you get even one useful thing form a book, it was worth the $10-20 you spent on it.
Stay close to the money: Tony is super-successful when it comes to building a brand, fan base, speaking/events business, and selling products -- all things I want to to be better at. So I should read everything he writes with anticipation of any of that "money" dropping between the pages.
So I read on, and finish the book I did.
Master The Game is all about the investing side of finances. Tony goes form the bottom to the top on the subject, from how much money to save out of your income to where to begin and how to build it to calculating how much you'll need to live on and wth who/what/when/where/why/how of ALL of it. Very in-depth information, much of which was new to me. This takes up 65% of the book.
Tony included parts of his interviews with many highly respected names in the finance world; Warren Buffet is one name I'm sure anyone reading this knows well. This is another 30% of the book.
Tony close the last 5% (which is over 150 pages on an iPhone screen) with his best secret to wealth: Giving! Giving to others is the secret. Tony shares a very valuable principle of his own for those who feel they may not yet have enough to think about giving: if you won't give 10 cents out of a dollar you won't give $1 million out of $10 million, either. Very true.
I suspect that maybe 1-2% of people reading this review would ever finish this book, due to 1) its length 2) sometimes-complex content (much of which was over my head) 3) The intensity of Tony's delivery which translates to his writing. #3 is the main reason why I wouldn't introduce anyone to Tony with this book.
Wroth the read? Yes. If you're a Tony Robbins fan, there's not even a question: Stay close to the money.
#WorkOnYourGame