A single decision can forever alter the course of your life. Including a decision like:
Should I attend Tony Robbins Date With Destiny?
I can’t tell you the answer, but I can share a few essential things to know before dropping a whole lot of dough on attending this Tony Robbins seminar. You see, I’ve been to Date With Destiny before, not just once – but twice! The second time, my wife joined me.
You might be wondering: What is Date With Destiny? How much does Date With Destiny Cost? Is it worth it? Is it the right event for you? Should I bring my spouse?
I’ll go into all those things in this blog post, based on first-hand experience, as well as what I’ve heard from friends who have attended the event in recent years.
Contents
- What is Date With Destiny?
- UPW vs. DWD
- My Transformation
- What’s Calling You To Date With Destiny?
- 1. Start with an open mind
- 2. Hang out with new people
- 3. You don’t need premium seating
- 4. Stay at the host venue
- 5. Take notes and journal
- 6. Take care of yourself
- 7. Plan for an integration day (or two)
- 8. Find someone to coach you
- Conclusion
What is Date With Destiny?
If you have seen Tony Robbins’ epic documentary “I Am Not Your Guru” on Netflix, you have witnessed the amazing transformations that can occur through Tony Robbins Date With Destiny program. This weeklong event compresses decades of personal growth into days. Go beyond just reading his advice online, and attend a program if possible.
Date With Destiny delivers on its lofty promise.
I should know. I’ve been fortunate to attend Date With Destiny, not once, but twice! The second time I brought my wife along. She didn’t know who Tony was when we signed up, and after spending a week with him, she was just as impressed as I was.
This blog is designed to share my experience from Date With Destiny. It’s one of the best personal development seminars around.
No, I don’t work for Tony Robbins; I’m just a happy customer. I don’t have any vested interest in your attendance. However, I care about the world and other people. I know that this event can transform people who attend and “play full out” during the week. That’s my only hope; that this post inspires you to commit to your personal development!
UPW vs. DWD
I know that there are some folks out there who are not fans of Tony’s approach. Noah Kagan is an outspoken critic of Tony Robbins’ “UPW” program. His blog, “Why I Walked Out On Tony Robbins” has over 1,000 comments.
Everyone is welcome to have their preferences for who they want to learn from. It’s essential, however, to distinguish Date With Destiny from Tony Robbin’s Unleash the Power Within “UPW” program. The material and the audience are completely different.
Date With Destiny (DWD for short) is far superior and the attendees seem to be more committed. This makes for a much better experience at DWD compared to UPW. Again, I’ve been to both programs and am speaking from direct experience here!
My Transformation
When I went to Date With Destiny for the first time, I was at a major crossroads in my life. I had been promoted rapidly through my twenties, and my work was meaningful. I also cared about the people I worked with. However, I felt anxious and held back.
My superiors were highly capable, but I viewed myself as just as capable – and more so in many respects. Why then, was a working for them? Should I start my own company? Should I join a startup? I had many questions tumbling about in my head.
Climbing the corporate ladder was too slow.
I came out of Date With Destiny in 2006 with newfound energy and purpose for my career and the courage to do something about it. I’ll spare the details, but my career progressed much more rapidly in the ensuing years.
My second Date With Destiny happened about four years later. Attending the event with my wife allowed us both to experience the transformation, but in our own way. We emerged with a clear sense of our individual and shared values. Eventually, this clarity helped us both build up the courage to leave behind great careers (I was at my previous company for almost 14 years, and my wife was at hers for five years) to pursue a different dream as we traveled the world for 18 months.
We are now building businesses that align with our values, skills, and interests.
What’s Calling You To Date With Destiny?
I don’t know what is drawing you to look into Date With Destiny, but whatever it is, all I can say is that the program delivers!
I also know some tips will help you to get the most out of your experience. That is what this post is going to explain. I’d like to share some things you would benefit from knowing if you are attending – or even considering attending – Date With Destiny. Nothing here is classified or confidential. They are just my helpful thoughts to support you in getting the most out of the experience.
1. Start with an open mind
You may have been to a Tony Robbins event before or maybe you haven’t. Perhaps you’ve simply heard stories of what it will be like. Maybe, like me, you attended Date With Destiny once and are itching to return. Regardless of your situation, go in without expectations.
One thing I love about Tony is he is continually refining and improving his teaching based on his learning and experience. What you learn the first time will not be the same as what you experience on a return trip! It’s also crucial that you not immediately resist the things he will have you do that you might consider corny, silly, or scary.
Dancing like a fool. Introducing yourself to strangers. Take a hard look at the things holding you back. It’s all designed to get you out of your self-imposed box. Go along with it and you’ll get more out of the experience (and have more fun in the process!).
Also, don’t worry too much about the particular agenda or exercises you will do during the event. The element of surprise is essential and knowing too much about the event ahead of time will dull the impact.
2. Hang out with new people
Sounds counter-intuitive, right?
Chances are you will head to the event with your significant other and/or friends. Perhaps when you are there, you will run into an old acquaintance and want to spend time with that person and sit next to them the entire time.
Don’t do it!
When I attended Date With Destiny with my wife, we placed ourselves in different “groups” at the start and sat in separate parts of the audience. We never partnered with each other. In fact, when we returned to the hotel room in the evenings or when we saw each other during the day, we did not spend much time sharing with each other (however, we shared a lot after we finished the program).
We wanted to ensure that our experiences were unique and that we had the time and space to process everything independently.
I encourage you to do the same.
So yes, do bring your friends and/or spouse to join you. However, please do what you can to ensure you have separate experiences!
I recently had someone reach out to me and ask if it mattered if they had “diamond or premium” seating at Date With Destiny. My answer was “it doesn’t matter.” Even in a room of 5,000 people, the event is managed well so that everyone will feel like Tony is speaking directly to them!
If money is no object to you, sure, diamond or premium seating would be nice as this assures that your seats will be closer to the front. It also will probably mean that the people who are in your groups and seated nearby will be more financially well-off. This could help from a networking standpoint if you care about that.
I’ve been a “diamond” ticket holder at a previous Tony Robbins event but had general seating tickets for my Dates With Destiny, and it was perfectly fine.
If you have that much extra money burning a hole in your pocket, I’d suggest donating it to a worthy charity (like Anthony Robbins’ “Feeding America” campaign)!
4. Stay at the host venue
Expect long days – that are both physically and emotionally demanding. I’m an ultramarathon runner and Ironman triathlete, and even for me, I would hit the sack at night worn out (in a good way!).
Tony has publicly stated that he covers the distance of nearly a full marathon each day running all over the room. You won’t be covering a marathon each day, but it will still be tiring.
The first time I attended, I stayed in a condo 1 mile from the event. I didn’t rent a car. It wasn’t fun walking home late at night along a lonely stretch of road. The next time, I stayed at the host hotel, saving me a lot of time and energy.
You will have a more pleasant experience at Date With Destiny if you stay at the host hotel or within walking distance of it. This makes it easy to pop up to your room for a quick lunch or snack if you need to. You also avoid the rush of people trying to drive back to their hotels after ending a long day at midnight or later (yes, sometimes the days go that long!).
5. Take notes and journal
A lot happens during the week at Date With Destiny. While you will be given a workbook to use, I noticed that many people weren’t actually taking notes during breaks or when Tony would encourage reflection and journaling. I did, and am glad I did!
I suggest taking notes during the day (bring a separate notebook, you might fill up the one they give you!) and also spending 20 minutes at night to recap your learnings from the day.
If you aren’t a fan of writing, use the voice recorder on your phone to record an audio summary of your day.
This will help you get a lot more out of the experience.
6. Take care of yourself
I’ve already said that the days are long.
Do your best to come to Date With Destiny well-rested. If you have any issues with your diet, take care of it before the event to ensure that you have the mental clarity and energy to engage fully.
During the event itself, be prepared with plenty of healthy snacks, and minimize coffee intake. This advice isn’t because I want to torture you (I enjoy my coffee!), it’s to help you manage your energy. The other practicality is that coffee is a diuretic, and you don’t want to waste time running to the restroom every few hours during the event.
Ensure your bag has fresh and dried fruits, raw nuts, and tons of water.
Also, bring along some ginger chews and mints to keep your breath fresh and clean since you will be talking to many people in close quarters.
7. Plan for an integration day (or two)
One thing I learned from attending numerous yoga workshops and immersions is the value of allowing for integration time to soak in all the knowledge.
For my last Date With Destiny, we stayed two additional nights (moving to a different hotel for a change of scenery). During these days my wife and I exercised, journaled, and shared our Date With Destiny experiences with each other.
I think this is a critical part of the transformational process. The last thing you want is to parachute right back into whatever stressful situation you might have at work or home.
Give yourself 24–48 hours to integrate and decompress.
8. Find someone to coach you
While transformation can happen in an instant (often, this is the only way it happens!), it can take significant effort to both get to the point where transformation can occur and to maintain it for the long term.
The single best way to manage and integrate your experience over the long term is to work with a partner who can help you through the process of living your values and achieving meaningful goals. You might find this partner during the event in the form of another attendee.
Alternatively, you might decide to hire a coach like me. There is a reason that the top performers in all disciplines work with someone to help them achieve bigger and better things. A coach can be objective and help you to make progress in a way that friends and family can’t or won’t.
Conclusion
I hope this advice helps you in making your Date with Destiny experience a powerful one.
It’s a big investment (around $5,000 – $7,500 + travel, lodging, and meals for a week!) but well worth the time and cost, given how much you can learn a grow in this sort of environment.
For more information about the event, read my previous post detailing what I learned from attending Date With Destiny many years ago.
….and of course, live with passion!
I too want to attend Date with Destiny by Tony. However, in current situation where I am almost done with my employement without a new one, I am working on how to manage finances to attend the virtual program in December.
Thanks for sharing. Just curious, what is the cost for the DWD virtual program?
Great article. Love the integration days idea. Going to DWD this december!
Hi Paulina, how was your DWD experience?
Hi thanks for taking the time to right such an incredibly useful and insightful review. I am from Australia, and contemplating attending Date with Destiny in Cairns in May (next month). The cost is extremely high, but i feel it would bring a lot of value, especially after reading your review. Do you know if there are any promotions or ways of making it less cost prohibitive. I am really at a juncture in my life where I feel this would be very useful and almost necessary for me. So I am hoping I can attend.
Regards
Seb
They sometimes offer promos or discounts, you need to just get on the mailing list. Also, with the pandemic there is a virtual DWD option – though I don’t know the cost, though the travel/lodging cost savings should be sizable.
I would love to go to Date with Destiny! Unfortunately, I can not afford it. Maybe in another life
Wishing you all the best in your personal development journey.
Hi! this is great! I am pumped to attend UPW in Los Angeles 2019! How can I find people to do the buy 1 get 1 free deal they have right now?
Try posting on Facebook and see if any of your friends want to go!
I have one ticket selling it cheaper than website.
How much do you want for the ticket?
Hello Amy I’m interested in buying a ticket for UPW. Are you still looking?
I did a Tony Robbins seminar for free in 1989 in Houston Tx because I got 10 people to sign up . I need to talk to someone I know who would greatly benefit from this course. I believe in Tony Robbins!
Thank you for your detailed advice. I am considering attending attending the DWD with my husband. We have been married for 20 years and we are on the verge of separation. My dream would be to be able to get Tony’s intervention that could restore our relationship. So my questions are:
1. From your experience there, would you recommend we attend this event, given our circumstances?
2. Would the premium seating increase the chances of asking a question or have Tony help us directly, like you see in so many of the videos o this event? I bet lot of people would like the same thing 🙂
I appreciate any insight you can give us. Thank you in advance.
Lana, given that you’re thinking of separating, I would suggest a more intense, yet more economical way to save your marriage. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples will take you places you never thought you’d go. You’ll become intimately more self-aware & experience feelings and thoughts you didn’t (consciously) know you even had. You’ll learn how to turn to your partner, to respond to each other’s behavior with empathy and understanding, rather than anger & resentment, which tend to be surface feelings that blind us from what we truly feel, such as fear and shame. Saving a marriage is a long-term investment, in my view. It will take time to learn & recognize our maladaptive patterns, change how we respond to these patterns in ways that are support and nurture the relationship, that bring you & your husband toward each other in times of distress rather than away from each other.
So please do consider finding an EFT therapist in you area. In the meantime, ‘Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy for Dummies’ is a good place to start your journey.
Very good point Walter, I agree.
Thanks so much for the in depth advice. I am considering sending my daughter who will be going to medical school next year to a DWD to give her better tools for coping and success in what I’m sure will be a challenging school/life experience. Do you think that would be good for her even if she hasn’t asked to go?
It’s hard to tell without knowing more about her. Is she into personal development? Does she know anything about Tony’s work? Have you watched the NetFlix documentary “I am not your guru?” I would recommend watching that first and then deciding. Perhaps have your daughter watch as well? The experience is very intense, so you should be aware that. It’s fun, but also intense.
I know plenty of people who have attended DWD without knowing much about Tony and have had an amazing time. For example, a friend brought the entire leadership team of his new company to DWD (about 8-10 people) and they had a BLAST and came out with a clear mission/vision/values for their company.
However, it really does depend on the temperament of the person.
If you enjoy the Netflix documentary, Tony’s books and videos he has posted online…than you will enjoy DWD.
Hi Ravi, thank you for sharing your experiences. I am literally on the brink of signing up, or not, for Date with Destiny. The money is an extreme stretch for me, and as I am just off the back of UPW, iIm not sure whether this is going to deliver. Is there that much of a difference between the two? I actually felt a bit uncomfortable with the upsellng at the end of the days, particularly when, with his wealth of knowledge, he must realise that people are in an extremely PRIME STATE and believe they can do and afford anything. Is this supreme marketing, or a lack of consideration for the average attendee? I just would like to know that this isn’t going to be a huge part of dwd – a repeat of the same supplementary speakers and sales pitches? That being said, I really enjoyed and valued listening to ‘Tony’. Help! Would greatly value your opinion on this ! Thank you so much. PS: On the payout it says ‘apply promo code’. I’m wondering what this is, where does one get a promo code? Thank you.
Hi Audrey – thanks for commenting! I have found DWD to be a remarkably powerful experience. However, I have a certain philosophy about attending trainings and workshops…that if it feels like a extreme financial stretch, that I should really question if it is the right move. While I’ve spent a good chunk of my savings on coaching and personal growth (and yoga) training, it no way has it ever felt like an extreme stretch. I’ve always budgeted and then spent money that I’ve saved, even it took a year or two to build up the financial cushion to do so.
For example, might you budget and save for a while and then attend when it doesn’t feel like a stretch? How about attending UPW again or perhaps spending much less and hiring a personal coach?
Just my thoughts….
I attended DWD as well as UPW and DWD is totally different! And much better IMO. Tony does the entire thing (with the exception of 1/2 day maybe) and it’s really good! I too was turned off by the sales pitches at UPW. If you went in Dec I hope you had a great experience! I am registered to go again this December!
Hi,you have very nicely described in details about the precautions to be taken during the seminar.I actually got motivated after reading the book ,’Awaken the Giant’really want to experience the transformation by attending The Dates with Destiny.
Hello Ravi, thank you for sharing these valuable tips and perceptions about your experience at DWD. I really appreciate that. I’m about to get my international coach certification, and saw that you are also a coach, right? In order to increase my coaching skills and to deliver even more to my clients, do you think attending to DWD is a good idea? What’s your perception about this? Thank you so much in advance 🙂
Hi, thanks for leaving a comment! I think Date With Destiny is most powerful when you go into it wanting to apply everything you learn to your own life and personal situations. This is really the best way to make sure you are engaged fully in all the activities. Will it make you a better coach? Perhaps. However if your goal is to improve coaching skills so that you can pass your learning on to clients, I would go to an accredited ICF coach training. DWD is really about helping YOU connected with you values and life a more empowered life.
Ravi, thank you so much for your response. I totally get your point and that’s what I was guessing. Even though the event seems to be amazing, I don’t think it is the best option for me, at this stage in my life. Thank you for helping me making this decision 🙂 The certification I am about to get is accredited by ICF. thank you again and Wish you all the best.
If you do lmk I have one ticket and I am selling it for 4k 😉
Ravi,
I’ve done UPW twice and consider doing the Mastery.
Have you only attended DWD or have you also done the Life and Wealth Mastery and, if so, was it worth it as much as DWD? Also, have you done their coaching program and was it worth it?
Thanks,
Lenny
I signed up for Mastery U – but ended up doing just wealth and DWD…then did DWD a second time instead of doing Life Mastery (I did need to pay extra to go DWD a second time though). DWD is AMAZING. However, wealth mastery felt very “salesy” and many of the techniques seemed like get-rich-quick schemes. For example…they taught us about flipping houses and trading stocks to generate passive income. I am financially savvy so I felt like it was a waste of time. The valuable part of wealth mastery was the training on the psychology of money and how to save…that part was excellent.
As for coaching…I have had good and bad (very bad) experiences interacting with their coaches….so be careful with that and make sure you vet the coach you work with to make sure they have achieved something in their own life that you admire and that they are trained well as a coach. I found that some seemed more sales oriented than coach oriented.
Of course…I’m a coach myself…so I’m a bit biased. I hold a high standard for what I expect to achieve with my clients and have invested a lot of time/$ improving my coaching skills (in addition to learning coaching/leadership skills through my corporate career)…so I expect any coach I would hire to have done the same. I didn’t get that experience in my exposure to “Tony Robbins approved” coaches.
If you are interested in speaking more about coaching with me, click here to see what I offer and apply for a complimentary session with me to go even deeper: raviraman.com/work-with-me/
Hi Ravi, I am not sure what I want but as a single mom I feel I am always struggling to improve my life, my 10year old daughter, and my aging parents. I listen to Tony’s lecture from you tube on way to work and try to apply it. I have his book but still not able to committe and finish reading it to its intirty. I am not financially stable but I work and make ok salary. I REALY want to go to seminar and meet/talk to Tony.lol. Any advise for a lost sole? Lol.
Senait
Find one of his program online and work through the entire thing. You can even find them at libraries…for example his Personal Power 2 program. In addition, find a few friends to do it with you. Create your own support group. This is really helpful and doesn’t cost anything!
The first time you joined the event were you by yourself?
Yes. It was great being there solo but also with a partner. Lots of people are there solo.
Thanks for the reply, I’m considering going by myself.
I’m trying to find out about how much his seminars cost. Do you have any info on that for me?
Hi Lindsay, you should contact the Tony Robbins folks and they will give you details. The price has probably changed since I did it. I signed up for Tony’s “Mastery University” program in 2006, and that was $10,000 USD for three events (including Date With Destiny).
Here’s one. Stop driving the host hotel employees mad! Thank you.
Hi Ravi
Many thanks for the fantastic review, like everyone else I’ve been searching all over to get some good insights about DWD which I’ll be attending in a few days! I’m coming alll the way from Switzerland to see Tony live and I’m getting really exited!!!!
However, now that I’m reading about the room I’m a bit dissapointed. Is the destiny lounge really next door and I’ll see Tony only from a screen????? Oh man…
How are the breaks organized? Are people going outside to eat or is everyone bringing food from home?
Anyhow, thanks again and I will let you know how the event was!!!!!
Safe travels Petra!
They will have restaurants and probably some places to eat nearby, so don’t worry about bringing food from home. I do recommend that you visit a local grocery store to buy some healthy stacks to keep with you for the week. The days run long, and sometimes there won’t be a lot of time to grab something to eat.
In terms of the “destiny lounge”…you will be with a ton of motivated people and will surely get a lot out of the program regardless if you are in the room with Tony or not. When I attended, the Destiny Lounge was a separate room.
Thanks so much for your article. I am going March 2017 to Unlease the Power Within event, and I am so excited. Your article just made me want to go that much more!
Outstanding! Please drop me a note and let me know how UPW goes for you!
Hi, I am thinking of going to London next year. Which seats did you choose?
Both times I went to DWD I had general seating and it was great. They rotate groups of people around the room each day so you are never stuck in the back of the room. I’ve paid for “diamond” seating at other Tony events but the general seating at DWD worked just fine for me.
Hey Helen,
Exaaactly what I was planning!
UPW in London the 27th of April as well. Which seats where you thinking? …. Now I’m more excited 🙂
Talk about prep work… I actually went a step further and started his Ultimate Edge program which has another program included (Personal Power I). It’s one of his most selling and the source of allot of his believers and fan base other than his books.
Check it out: https://store.tonyrobbins.com/collections/all/products/ultimate-edge ( I feel like one of his sales people .. lol)
Honestly though, Just started the first couple of days and I’m super psyched and can’t wait for the next day to start so I can move to the next level. Let me know if your interested and I can lend you some of his work to see how you like it 🙂 …
Cheers
Something about the way it’s done is just so captivating
Hello Ravi,
Wow .. what a great post! I have been all over the internet searching for some valuable input and reviews about the DWD event and I can’t thank you enough for your time and effort!
I would very much appreciate your advise if you well, since I’ll be traveling for almost 20hrs overseas to attend one of the events.
I didn’t like the fact that Tony is only available for 2 days of UPW and once I found out that he’s available for all 6 during the DWD I was sold! but only to find out that the only seats left were the Destiny Lounge where I won’t get to see Tony live in person, but next room on screen!!!
I thought that was super ridiculous
Here are my questions:
1. This may sound real silly and should be obvious, but what are the main differences between the two seminars?
2. Do I have to attend an UPW seminar first?
3. The million dollar question: Is it really worth getting the Destiny Lounge seats for that event? or am I better off waiting for next year?
:/
There is a lot of difference between UPW and DWD. DWD is much more detailed since it is longer. You cover a lot more ground.
As for the separate room question, that is something only you can decide. Will you get value out of DWD without being in the main room? Of course!!! However, I really wanted to be in the main room when I attended and was glad I was.
Hi Shayme,
What did you decide in the end? Are you going to DWD with the Destiny Lounge seat?
I’m facing the same dilemma :/ Want to go this year, main lounge sold out etc. I understand that it will deliver the result, but not sure it will be the same experience. Then again, do I want to wait for a year?
Decisions, decisions…
Hi Helen,
Taaaalk about Decisions!
Honestly, having to pay almost half the event price for my ticket alone… I’ll be damned if I just sat in a room watching him on a screen while I’m right next door !!
Like you I’m aware that it’ll still deliver … but like you … I’m finding a hard time accepting that and settle for less. I also tricked myself into thinking that the longer I wait the better the outcome 😉 lol
Don’t get me wrong … it’s killing me to wait all the way till next year for the DWD main lounge, but I figured I could save enough money for a closer UPW somewhere in Europe and most certainly enough money for the DWD Dec.17
What do you think?
Thanks for the response! Yep, I’m in the same boat as you. I took a week to think about it, and decided that knowing myself, I wouldn’t want to walk away (especially after that price tag) feeling I didn’t get the full experience. It was hard, especially after a call I had with one of the team members there who made a valid point of ‘the things I could be doing the year’ I’m waiting for the next event. The compromise I made with myself was that I’ll attend the UWP event in London in April, and hopefully that’ll be a stepping stone for the event in December 2017. From what I understand, that is actually the best order to do those events, UWP followed by DWD as the 6 day seminar can be pretty overwhelming if you haven’t done anything like that before/thought of these things etc. Also, next year December seems really far away, whereas April not so much, so I’m excited 🙂
Forgot to say, I like your tricking logic of ‘the longer I wait the better the outcome’…Hahaaa, better start doing the prep work then 😉
Ravi,
Thank you so much for writing this article! I have been interested in Tony Robbins’ teachings for years, but never thought that attending one of his seminars was within reach (what a silly, limiting thought!). After watching the documentary in late July, I made the executive decision to attend Date With Destiny no matter what. I quickly “found” the $5K and officially registered on August 1 (which turned out to be the very last day that seats were being offered in the main ballroom!).
I am incredibly excited about the event and happy to read some tips in advance to help me be better prepared. One of the aspects of the conference that I am most looking forward to is the opportunity to make friends with others who are as hungry about personal development as I am.
One thing of note regarding your tip about staying at the conference hotel: it is already too late this year for attendees to book there! In fact, I believe the two backup hotels are already booked up as well. Apparently the documentary created a crazy demand and the event has been filling up more quickly than it had in previous years!
Well, I could go on, but I will leave it at that for now. I do have one question for you though: in the documentary, there’s a scene that shows some attendees at a VIP event where they are mingling with Tony & Sage. Is that a perk of purchasing a seat at the Diamond level?
Best,
Angela Shock
Technical Writer & Real Estate Agent
Atlanta, GA
Hey Angela,
I ‘think’ that reception is for platinum partners not diamond, but I might be wrong. You should ask them. As for not having room at the host hotel…I can see how there is a huge demand for DWD now! My advice is just to stay as close as you can for convenience.