Robbins calls this the "peak state"--on an emotional scale of one to 10, the peak state is in the eight to 10 range--and he urges us to think of triggers that will recall this state. When you're feeling troubled or need a little boost, use a trigger. Zanker says his is to hit his chest. Before he called Trump's secretary to offer the $1 million, he says, "I went to the bathroom, changed my state, and called back."
"If you only did one thing," screams Robbins, "do everything at state 8, 9, 10--you will change your life."
Wealth, my friends, is a feeling. It's not a dollar amount.
"I'm a passionate guy; I love to see people glowing," Robbins tells me backstage, toweling sweat off his face. And how does he fit into this celebration of wealth? "I want to take them from 'I want to get rich' to 'I want an extraordinary life.'
"Tonight is designed to trigger them, to inspire them to change. This is my mission."
And Bill Zanker--has Robbins's mojo worked on him?
Robbins flashes a big, toothy, billion-dollar smile.
"He's radically different than he used to be--you should ask him."
If tony Robbins is the emotional center of the Expo, then Donald Trump is its exuberant encore. In Fort Lauderdale, he's scheduled to go on at 6 p.m. on Day Two, but the reality is that the Donald takes the mike whenever he feels like it. He arrives at the Convention Center in the late afternoon and spends some time visiting backstage, posing for photos with the Ambassadors of Fun. Meanwhile, the jumbo screens begin to flash "Trump is in THE HOUSE!!!" (their caps, not mine), and the crowd actually seems to buzz. At 7 p.m., Zanker chokes down some water, musters the last remnants of his voice, and dashes onstage for the capstone of his weekend: "I gotta tell you, the next speaker is my hero," he yells. "He is a brilliant entrepreneur. But whatever he does, it's quality. I just signed a book deal with Donald backstage. Imagine that: I'm a small-business owner, and Donald took my business and built it into one of the fastest-growing companies in America according to Inc. magazine!" (His plug, not mine, and he's right: The Learning Annex is a two-time Inc. 500 company.)
Then, to the sound of Pink Floyd's "Money" and accompanied by several lovely Ambassadors pounding ThunderStix, Trump emerges. Trump will later brag that he doesn't prepare for these speeches; he reads from a single page of hastily scrawled notes, covering a range of subjects, from his personal lows ("1990; I'll never forget it. I had 99 banks wanting to just kick my ass") to his love of revenge ("Get even, but not for satisfaction, though that's nice. Because people leave you alone"). He also tells the people in the room that many of them will never succeed, and he will later pride himself on providing a rare moment of negativity for the crowd. He's funny and charming and really hits his stride during the question and answer session, which lasts as long as he feels like standing up there. I have never seen a man more confident in his opinions. His role in the weekend is as attention magnet and also preeminent example of where wealth can lead you.
Trump doesn't need the $1.5 million. In fact, he says he gives it to charity. His only point in demanding such a price was to insist that this is what his time is worth. I ask him afterward what he thinks of Zanker as entrepreneur. "He's a very fine businessman, and he's able to give people what they want," Trump says. "Which is very important. I think people have come to trust them."
Trump does, of course, have one major concern about the Learning Annex. "Before I agreed to do the speeches, it was a much smaller enterprise--like 300 people in a hotel ballroom," he says. "But it's become very big, and he's able to reach people who are very interested. Now I don't know what happens after I no longer want to do it. I just don't know. I said to him, 'Someday I won't be there."
I say that I have asked Zanker the same question--who replaces Trump?
"And what did he say?"
That he doesn't know yet. But he doesn't seem worried.
"It's a tough one. Well, he's been very good to me."
Truth is, Zanker feels as if he's on a snowball rolling downhill. By next summer, he will have Expo tours built around the secrets of The Secret. In October, he shared authorship with Donald Trump on a book bearing the measured title Think Big and Kick Ass (in Business and Life). As of November, 400,000 copies were in print.
What's more, he feels as though he has yet to tap online learning--and he has Tony Robbins in his corner.
I tell him that Robbins told me to ask how he has changed.
"Good question," Zanker says. "I've conquered fear. We all have fear. And there's always that question: Should I do this? For me, he's helped me conquer my fears. It's allowed me to build a $100 million company. Because if you have fears, you get paralyzed and can't move forward."
Looking forward, I wonder, what will a billion-dollar version of the Learning Annex look like?
"We'll own online; we'll own books; we'll own videos; we'll own audio; we'll own the self-help business; we'll own the management. If you're an upcoming guy, I want to manage your career. I want to have a television division; I want to own the touring rights for television shows, so that when you have a TV show and you're famous, I want to tour you. I want to create the next great psychic and then tour that person. I want to own a phone line; I want to own anything to do with changing your life. And feel comfortable that the brand is a little edgy, a little wacko, but cool, solid--stands behind the product. And we'll be there as you change, or whenever you want to change. Because I think people have transitions all through their lives. So you need to come back and learn more. As you get older, you're going to be learning in a community. So we'll either own the community, or there will be a Learning Annex in your community center. It could be in a big building in Florida. In a high-rise condo.
"As expansive as the self-help business is, it's just beginning. There's so much of it out there! It's just starting!"
