I’ve taken part twice in Tony Robbins’ 4-day Unleash the Power Within motivational extravaganza.

The event is a cross between a rave in a warehouse, singing Kumbaya around a campfire and being screamed at by a staff-sergeant before charging into battle.

It’s a truly unique experience.

And I’ll never forget a short story Big Tony told during a break from the fist-pumping, bum-wiggling and general merriment.

A simple story, but it’s certainly changed my perspective on a few things.

Especially when the shit hits the proverbial fan, as it does every now and then.

Here’s the ditty (in my own words):

Imagine you’re boarding a long haul flight.

As you board, the head steward makes an announcement, gleefully telling you and the rest of the passengers that the flight will have Wifi for the first time.

A small cheer erupts as everyone realises they’ll be able to check their emails, swipe on Tinder and play Subway Surfers for the next 12 hours.

15 minutes into the flight, the Wifi goes down.  

The head steward comes back on the tannoy and announces that the Wifi won’t be working for the rest of the flight. 

The passengers let out a huge groan and much muttering & shaking of heads ensues.

Of course, this was the first time the flight ever had Wifi.  Before boarding the flight, none of the passengers even expected to have Wifi!

Tree-Trunk Tony summed it up thus:

Trade expectation for appreciation to end suffering

By golly gosh there’s a lot of wisdom in these 7 words.

When I heard Tony say this, it made me take stock.  It made me realise how appreciative I was for what I had.

I'm still appreciative today.

I can turn my tap and I'll get running water.

I have a loving family, amazing girlfriend and a great group of friends.

I live an awesome part of London.  I can leave my flat and 2 minutes later I'll be by the calm of the canal, watching the ducks bobbing up & down.

And so on…

And I try to remember this when I get an unexpected bill in the post.  Or when my neighbours start blaring their drum & bass.  Or when it’s 11pm and our 7pm Asda order still hasn’t arrived.

All this is small fry really.

I'm immensely lucky and grateful for everything I have.

And remembering this really does help keep things in perspective.

That’s all for today.

Have a great weekend.

 - Tom