I’m gonna tell you a story of when I met Tony Robbins. If you don’t know who Tony Robbins is you should just Google it. Google will do a better job at telling you who he is than I could.
But basically, he’s a public speaker, a public figure. He’s running up and down on stage, getting people to walk on coals and just really changes people’s lives for the better. I have quite a few friends of mine who are in his different groups and they go see him at seminars and experience his motivational speaking.
He’s a very prominent figure in the self help space. He’s also a very huge man. I’ll throw in a picture at the end of the blog so you can see me standing next to him. I’m only 5’ 10” and I think he’s 6’ 7”, a big guy. I remember we shook hands and I was like, oh my gosh. His hand is just gargantuan.
Before we jump into this I want to make sure everyone knows that I’m not giving away any of his health information. I’m not his doctor. I just got to meet him for a couple of reasons and the reasons are not secret. In fact, he talks about them publicly. Tony Robbins suffers from sleep apnea.
So I got a call from one of my doctor friends who had said, “Hey, we’re taking care of Tony and we’d like you to be a part of the team to at least run some diagnostics on him.” I said okay and I asked when and where I was supposed to go? I was told it’s in Portland Oregon and it’s on Saturday. I was like, this Saturday?! (the call came on Thursday) Yes, I was told, this Saturday. Thank goodness I have an understanding wife because I went inside the house and I was like, “babe, I have to go to Portland this weekend and I have an opportunity to be a part of Tony Robbins health team”. She got really excited for me and I was grateful for that opportunity. I bought the ticket and flew up there that morning and flew back that evening.
If you’ve ever seen Tony on stage, he is dynamic. He is one heck of a speaker, gets people revved up. His events are a crazy experience and you’re going probably 18 hours a day, like just full energy, rah, hardcore. If you’ve never been to one of his experiences, you should go… But anyway, the reason I wanna bring this up was because I have this image of Tony on the stage.
He owns the room, he’s always flying around the country doing incredible things and has an absolute command of attention and completely controls the room of thousands of people.
When he walked into the office it was actually kind of heartbreaking. He just looked down, demure, just scared. This apnea issue was really affecting his life. To see him so downtrodden because of how poorly he felt was this radical shift of personality and everything and it just was a powerful moment that showed me just how much apnea was taking away his life.
Look, if you have apnea you are basically suffocating instead of sleeping. Your world becomes very small and it becomes very low energy if you will. It becomes very difficult for you to feel like you’re thriving when quite literally you’re gasping for air all night long and you cannot rest and recuperate.
So for those of you out there struggling I want you to know that for me, when I saw such a radical shift in someone that I have followed and looked up to for so long, to see a guy like that on stage and then to see him in the office just, it was devastating. To see someone like that be afraid because of the stress that apnea (suffocation) puts on their body was really eye-opening and gave me a real sense of urgency. It motivated me to try to get the word out there about this topic and let everyone know there is a better way.
It all starts with getting testing and being monitored so we can see in real time the effects of the apnea AND the effects of the treatment. That’s what happened with Tony; we did some testing, they did some procedures, got some equipment and devices and monitored him over time. I’m happy to say that a lot of the health struggles that Tony was suffering with have been alleviated at this point. This can happen for most people, this is fixable and even if your struggle is severe there are still tools and treatments available that can make a big difference in your life.
Most of the time it’s highly manageable and sometimes even reversible. Sometimes there’s simple exercise and easy to use non-prescriptive devices and spray’s and sometimes it takes surgery and a machine to help you breathe. It just really depends on the case. Again though, it all starts with accurate testing to figure out where you are and then creating a road map, based on that information, to help you get from where you are to where you want to be.
I just wanted to share this story so that you guys can see that apnea is a real thing that affects SO many people. If it can affect a guy like Tony who’s got all the money in the world, the best doctors, who’s otherwise a very healthy man can afford the best lifestyle and yet he’s still affected by apnea and flying all over the world for help. Thankfully we were able to provide it. So you’re not alone out there. If you’re sick and struggling and suffering, by all means reach out. If not to me then to somebody. Get a study done, get yourself monitored regularly, and advocate for yourself until you get the results you need.
We’re able to do it for him. We can do it for you. The best part about it is most of the time it just takes a little bit of effort into figuring it out what and where the root cause is. Then as long as we find the root, we can put a plan of action together, and help you out.
Bottom line, don’t wait. Your health is worth it. You only got one you and as a good friend of mine David Meltzer says: “when you are healthy, you can have infinite wishes. But when you’re sick, you’ve only got one wish and that is to be healthy again. So don’t let yourself stay sick. Take action. Reach out. We’re here to help. We’ll talk to you soon. Take care.