The Power of Music...
Combining Music with Power Affirmations

Those of you fortunate enough to have gone to a Tony Robbins seminar know that upbeat music plays a critical role. 

I've attended three Tony Robbins events--two of the Unleash the Power Within (which includes the Firewalk!) and The Competitive Edge (a one day event that I don't think he offers any more). 

His events are a combination of seminar, rock and roll concert, and block party all in one.

The days at Tony's events tend to be very long.  For example, each of the UPW "live" days (Friday through Sunday) typically went until past midnight. 

And breaks for food were generally late and short.  Tony is like the "Energizer Bunny"--he keeps going...and going...

In order to keep the energy of the audience at a peak level, Tony breaks up the day with what I would call "peak state" breaks.  During those breaks, the audience is shouting, yelling, clapping, dancing, etc. 

Tony makes certain that the audience understands the purpose of these breaks by explaining the importance of using your physiology to create your "peak state."  And of course, he is the head "cheerleader" urging the audience to use more and more positive energy.

So What's the Purpose of Music at Tony's Events?

The musical breaks have multiple purposes:

1. To keep up the audience's energy through a long day of teaching.

2. To provide you with opportunities to practice putting yourself into a peak state.  Through repetition with intensity, to develop the habit of being in a peak state.  This is actually a type of "autosuggestion" except that you are using your body instead of words.

3. To put yourself into a peak state before doing the exercises he gives you at the seminar.  The idea is that if you put yourself into a peak state before you do the exercise, you will receive more value from them.

Even though I had studied Tony's book and Personal Power audio program, the seminar far exceed my expectations.  I expected a much more "traditional" seminar.  And the music played a critical part in the positive impact.

The music used at the seminar was almost all new to me.  My musical tastes have primarily been big band and jazz--Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, etc.  I was not prepared for rock, techno, and new age. 

In fact, I've actively avoided that type of music in the past.  I was completely surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  Because I realized that the music was a powerful "anchor," after the seminar, I went on a hunt to find the songs used at the event. 

My idea was to use the music to fire off the anchors to help put me back into that peak state.

Thank Goodness for iTunes...

This was before iTunes and online music services.  The only way to get the individual songs was to buy the entire CDs.  There was way too much music at the event to buy all of it, so I ended up buying about 20 CDs in order to get 25 songs. 

At about $15 per CD, I spent about $300!

It was insane to do that, but the results were worth it.  I was able to copy just the songs I wanted to a couple of CDs so that I would have enough music to put myself into that peak state. 

Whenever I stated to feel my energy slide, I popped in my CD and pretended I was back at the seminar.  My energy and attitude would go back up and my progress and momentum would accelerate.

Now that we are living in the age of iTunes and the iPod, I've taken the process a step further.  First of all, now that you can purchase the individual songs (at least those that are available), the cost of getting most of the music is much less. 

I've identified 255 hundred songs from the seminar that are available in iTunes (there's links to the "iMixes" I set up for the songs below--keep reading).  At $0.99 per song, it's now possible to get almost all the songs for less than I paid for only 25. 

My recommendation is that you only get the most important songs or that you buy them in batches in order to reduce your total cost.

Once you get the songs, you can put them in any order on your iPod.  You can even have certain songs repeated without having to recopy the file (just the name).

...Now Add the Power Affirmations

This is really important.  Because you have control over your playlists (even if you copy the audio from iTunes to a CD), you can intermingle music with Power Affirmations. 

As far as I know, the program I offer is the only one that allows you to do this (because each affirmation is its own MP3 file and there is no music in the audio).

Let's say that you have identified 10-12 Power Affirmations you want to focus on.  Just pick 15-20 upbeat songs and organize the playlist for variety and impact.  When the music comes on, concentrate on putting your body into a emotional peak state. 

Music is an Emotional Amplifier

What do I mean by this?  Simply that you can use music to intensify the emotions you choose to focus on (in this case positive emotions).  With increased emotional intensity comes increased power with respect to the affirmations. 

When the affirmations come on, you will have more positive energy that will make the Power Affirmation more effective.  You will find that when the songs start to play again, you will be reviewing the affirmations. 

This helps with memory retention. 

You will begin to associate the affirmations with the songs.  Throughout the day you will be "replaying" the music and the affirmations in your head.  As that happens, your thoughts will begin to guide your feelings and actions. 

It's when you get to the action stage that your momentum will begin to accelerate.

Just to be clear, the power of affirmations is not in the words or the affirmation recording, but the thoughts and emotions they create within your mind. 

This is why mixing those thoughts with positive emotions is so important.  And upbeat music is an outstanding way to be able to do this consistently. 

If all you do is listen to the affirmations without mixing them with emotion--at least periodically--you will likely be disappointed with your results. 

The more positive emotion--especially the emotions of faith, certainty, confidence, and determination, the faster you will see positive results.  

So How About a List of Songs...

I'll do even better than that. 

In order to help you get started, I've created six different "iMixes" in iTunes.  An iMix is simply a list of songs in iTunes that's already put together for you. 

Using these pre-made iMixes may save you hours of hunting down the songs you want.  When you visit the iMix, you can select individual songs out of the mix or you can buy the entire list. 

Apple's standard charges still apply.  As with any song in iTunes, you can listen to a portion of the song in advance to see if you want it.

The six iMixes I have created are as follows:

There are a total of 177 songs in the first three lists below.  There were 78 songs included in the comprehensive list that I personally didn't find that useful.

I included them in the comprehensive lists because I wanted it to be as complete as possible.  Within the lists, the titles are listed alphabetically.

• The Essentials - This is a list 30 songs from Tony's seminars that I consider to be part of the core music--for example Life (Everybody Needs Somebody to Love)--this is the song that has the tag line --"Life will never be the same." 
  
  This is the best list to select from to start. 

• Recommended Songs - This is a list 88 additional songs from Tony's seminars that I consider to be part of the core music.

• Optional Songs - This is a list 59 additional songs from Tony's seminars that I consider to be the best of the remaining songs. 

The following three lists have a total of 255 songs.  It's the most comprehensive of any list I've seen on the internet:

• A Comprehensive List - Part 1 - This is the first 100 songs of my comprehensive list of all of the songs I've been able to locate in iTunes.

• A Comprehensive List - Part 2 - This is the second 100 songs of my comprehensive list.

• A Comprehensive List - Part 3 - This is the remaining 55 songs of my comprehensive list.

The links in the list above will take you directly to these lists in iTunes. 

If you don't have iTunes installed on your computer, you will be taken to a link where you can download the program for free. 

No, you don't need an iPod to use iTunes.  You can either listen on your computer or burn your playlist to a CD.

If you simply would like a list of the songs without the iMix links, here is the list of all 255 songs as a PDF.

Why Didn't I Include Music with the Power Affirmations in the First Place?

So why didn't I add music to the Power Affirmations recordings in the first place?  This is actually to your benefit.

1. I think that the Power Affirmations recordings stand on their own as is.  There's a lot of people who want to cut directly to the affirmations and not be distracted by music.

2. Everyone's musical tastes are different.  Using this method, you can select the music that you enjoy. 

3. There's a high value in using popular songs to use with your affirmations.  When you select songs that are popular, there's an excellent chance that you will hear the some of the songs periodically in your regular environment. 
   
   Because it's a song you have associated to your affirmations through repetition, you will most likely notice an instant improvement in your emotional state, and automatically think about the affirmations. 
   
   For example, as I was having dinner  this evening, I heard the song, "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going."  Because this is one of my "anchor" songs, I immediately felt a state change and some of my affirmations flashed into my head. 
   
   I happened to be planning my day at the time.  As a result of the inspiration, I received a new idea of an action that will move me closer to an important objective--which I immediately wrote down in my planner.

4. By using the playlist method, you are able to replace songs as you desire for greater variety. 

5. It keeps the costs down.  Had I included any music--whether existing songs or music specifically written for the affirmations, the costs would have been astronomical--and probably on going. 
   
   I would have been forced to sell the Power Affirmations recordings for a much higher fee.

6. For advanced users, you can get audio editing software to actually combine Power Affirmations with music.  In other words, the music and the affirmations play at the same time.
   
   You wouldn't be able to do this if I had recorded music with the affirmations.  This is an advanced use and takes a lot of time to get right.  Instrumental music is best in this case (classical, movie soundtracks, etc.).

So listen and enjoy!  Celebrate your outstanding success--in advance!  I believe that achieving success should be a joy not a chore or a burden. 

Otherwise, what's the point?  Adding hot music to the Power Affirmations playlists is a great way to add joy and laughter to the process!