Tony Robbins: Priming, the 6 Human Needs, RPM, Books and Events

Tony Robbins has spent more than four decades teaching one idea above all others: how you feel in any moment is a state, and a state can be changed. On days when you feel flat, heavy or drained, his advice is not to wait for your mood to lift, but to change the three things that create it: your body, your focus and your words. [1] [2]

His profile covers his life story, his events and his best-known tools, from priming to the 6 human needs. This article takes a narrower, practical angle: the specific things Tony recommends for lifting a low mood and finding more energy, gathered from his own writing, with simple steps you can try today.

New to Tony Robbins? Read our full Tony Robbins expert profile for his life story, best videos, books and courses.

Your mood is a state, not a sentence

Tony’s starting point is that many people believe they simply have to live with whatever mood they are in. He calls that a limiting belief. “We often feel like our emotions are beyond our control, but that’s entirely untrue,” his team writes. “In reality, you can learn how to change your mood – and do so in an instant.” [2]

He describes your state as your emotional, physical and psychological condition at a given moment, and argues that the gap between your best days and your worst is usually not ability but state. [1] Patterns of feeling, in his view, are learned behaviours that can be unlearned: “those patterns aren’t your destiny.” [3]

The first step, then, is to notice the belief behind a low day. If you catch yourself thinking “I’m just someone who gets down” or “I can only feel good when things go my way,” write it down and replace it with something more empowering, such as “I can change how I feel, one small step at a time.” [2]

Lever one: change your body first

Tony teaches that you cannot change your state through willpower alone. Instead you pull three levers, which he calls the Triad: physiology, focus and language. Of the three, physiology is the fastest. “The way you move, breathe, stand, and use your voice signals to your brain how to feel,” he explains. “In other words, motion creates emotion.” [1]

His practical suggestions for a low or tired moment are simple:

• Fix your posture. Notice how you stand when you feel sad compared with when you feel elated, then deliberately adopt the second. [2]
• Smile. Smile at yourself in the mirror, or put on a funny video or a favourite song. [2]
• Move. Dance to that song, take a walk outside, or get your heart rate up with exercise. [2]
• Stand tall and breathe. Standing tall with your chest open and taking deep, slow breaths is one of his go-to resets. [3]

“The fastest way to change how you feel is to change your physiology,” his team writes. “If you feel overwhelmed, go for a walk. If you feel stuck, do something physical.” [4] The wider evidence supports this lever: a large overview of research found that physical activity, including walking, helps improve symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress across many groups of adults. [5]

Breathe your way out of fatigue

Breath is the part of physiology Tony returns to most. “When you’re anxious, your breath becomes shallow and rapid. When you’re calm, it’s slow and deep,” he writes. “By mastering your breath, you can flip the switch from stress to calm, from fatigue to vitality.” [6]

He shares four exercises, two of which suit low-energy days especially well: [6]

1. Rapid breath for energy. Take 30 quick, powerful breaths through your nose and mouth. Tony says he uses this when he needs to break through fatigue or mental fog.
2. Box breathing. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four, breathe out for four and hold for four, four times over, to calm the nervous system and sharpen focus.
3. Extended exhale. Breathe in for four seconds and out slowly for eight, for moments of overwhelm or before sleep.
4. Priming breath. Combine breathing with gratitude and visualisation as part of his morning priming ritual.

Research on short daily breathing practice is encouraging: in a month-long study, five minutes a day of structured breathing improved mood and reduced physiological arousal, with slow, exhale-focused breathing giving the biggest lift. [7] If breath work is new to you, our guide to meditation is a gentle place to begin.

Lever two: where focus goes, energy flows

The second lever is focus. “Where your attention goes, energy flows,” Tony teaches. Shifting your focus from problems to solutions, he says, trains your brain to look for opportunity rather than fear. [3]

Two of his favourite focus shifts suit low days:

• Gratitude. Instead of dwelling on what is missing, deliberately list what you already have. Gratitude sits at the heart of his ten-minute morning priming exercise. [8]
• Giving. Tony often says “the secret to living is giving.” Helping someone else, even in a small way, moves your attention off your own worries and onto what you can contribute. [9]

He also suggests turning a harsh inner voice into a friend rather than a foe. Next time you catch yourself in negative self-talk, ask whether you would speak to a close friend that way, then think of something kinder and more useful instead. [2]

Lever three: soften the words you use

The third lever is language. Tony points out that the labels we put on our feelings can turn up their intensity. His four-step process is practical enough to start today: [10]

1. Check yourself. Notice the habitual words you use for unhappy or stressful feelings.
2. Pick three words to replace. Write down three words that intensify your negative emotions, then choose softer alternatives. His own example: instead of saying you are “depressed,” say you are “a little bit down.”
3. Use the new words. Practise them until they become habit.
4. Find two accountability buddies. Ask two people you respect to gently check you whenever the old word slips out.

The aim is not to deny how you feel, but to describe it accurately so it feels more manageable. You can then add words that lift you, such as the short power phrases Tony uses alongside his physiology changes. [1]

Build an energy routine

Beyond in-the-moment resets, Tony’s team stresses daily habits that keep energy steady. Their advice on building a routine starts with starting small: pick two simple goals, such as a light workout and getting up 30 minutes earlier, do them consistently for a week, then build from there. [8]

• Fuel up. Eat a breakfast with protein, healthy fats and vegetables, and avoid big sugar spikes that lead to energy crashes. [8] [4]
• Hydrate. Stay properly hydrated and choose foods rich in water and nutrients. [4]
• Prime or meditate. Tony spends ten minutes each morning on his priming exercise, a form of active focus with gratitude and clear intentions for the day. [8]
• Move daily. Exercise, at any time of day, gives more energy and mental sharpness. [8]
• Protect your sleep. His team calls sleep “a performance tool,” vital for memory, emotional regulation and decision-making. [4]

Prices and programmes vary, but every habit above is free and works the same whether you live in the US, the UK, India, Australia or anywhere else. For more ideas, see our guides to motivation and stress management.

A five-minute reset for a heavy day

Put the three levers together and you have a quick routine, built entirely from Tony’s own suggestions, that you can use whenever you feel low or drained:

1. Stand up and open your posture. Shoulders back, chest open, chin level. [2]
2. Breathe. Thirty rapid breaths for energy, or a few rounds of box breathing if you feel wired and tired. [6]
3. Move for two minutes. Walk, stretch or dance to a song you love. [2]
4. Name three things you’re grateful for. Say them out loud and really feel them. [8]
5. Re-label the feeling. Swap “I’m exhausted” or “I’m depressed” for something softer and truer, like “I’m a bit low on energy right now.” [10]

Tony’s message is that you are not at the mercy of your moods: “You have the power to shift your focus, change your physiology, and rewrite the story in your mind.” [2]

Frequently asked questions

What does Tony Robbins recommend for a low mood?

He recommends changing your state through the Triad: move and breathe differently, shift your focus towards gratitude and solutions, and soften the words you use to describe how you feel.

What is Tony Robbins’ breathing exercise for energy?

Thirty quick, powerful breaths through the nose and mouth. He says he uses it when he needs to break through fatigue or mental fog.

What does “motion creates emotion” mean?

It is Tony’s way of saying that your body leads your mind: changing your posture, breathing and movement changes how you feel.

How does language affect mood, according to Tony Robbins?

He teaches that strong labels intensify emotions, so swapping a word like “depressed” for “a little bit down” can make a feeling more manageable.

What daily habits does Tony Robbins suggest for more energy?

Start small, eat a breakfast with protein and healthy fats, stay hydrated, exercise, protect your sleep and spend ten minutes each morning on priming.

Keep exploring

• Tony Robbins: full expert profile
• Motivation guide
• Stress management guide
• Meditation guide

Sources

1. Tony Robbins: High performance is a trainable state
2. Tony Robbins: Change your state of mind to impact your life
3. Tony Robbins: Break your patterns, power up your life
4. Tony Robbins: 5 health habits of high-performing leaders
5. Singh et al., Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews, British Journal of Sports Medicine 2023
6. Tony Robbins: The guide to breathwork for peak performance
7. Balban et al., Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal, Cell Reports Medicine 2023
8. Tony Robbins: How to make a daily routine for energy and vitality
9. Tony Robbins: What to do if nobody cares about you
10. Tony Robbins: Transform your emotional life with conscious language

By Saj Ali, founder of Self Help Supermarket.