DJ Khaled and Tony Robbins, two of the most inspirational human beings on earth have combined their motivational talents to appear on a cover of a magazine together.
Just three months ago world-renown motivational speaker Tony Robbins barely knew who or what a DJ Khaled was or did, but he said he was “impressed” with his zest for life.
Fast forward to now, Complex has brought the two of them together for a cover story.
In an intense Q&A the pair of motivators each talk about their early struggles [both used to live in their cars], the stresses of raising a family while having a demanding career and Robbins even attempted to get DJ Khaled past his fear of flying.
Here is an excerpt from the conversation:
Complex: Tony, what’s your strategy for commanding a crowd?
Robbins: Get out of your head. I’m in the audience. I’m feeling what they are feeling. I might have a game plan of what I’m going to go for, but that game plan disappears the minute I feel the audience. Whenever people have trouble public speaking, it’s because they are just thinking about themselves. I don’t give a shit how I’m coming across. All I give a shit about is if I can produce the result. Stay in the moment and fully associate it to who you are trying to serve.
Complex: Khaled, you DJ for arenas…
Khaled: Yes, stadiums.
Complex: [Laughs.] My mistake, stadiums…. And we’re talking about packed venues and private jets, but you both once lived in your cars. What advice do you have for someone in a similar situation?
Robbins: I learned to park outside of Denny’s because it’s 24 hours. I made a deal at a 7-Eleven with a mailman so I could get my mail delivered there. The biggest thing I did was that I used to go to the library. I fed my mind every day. I was like, “If I don’t change my mind, if I don’t change my heart, if I don’t develop some skill, I’m always going to be sleeping in my car.”
Khaled: God has blessed me to see the luxury side of things. I’ve seen my family work so hard and come up, and I’ve seen it all get taken away. I had to man up, and part of that was sleeping in my car, getting an apartment for a month, and getting evicted the next month. Staying in the $25–$35 hotels. I just never panicked. I stayed focused and I never surrendered. Now I take care of my mother, my father, and my entire family, as well as myself, my woman, and my team that I consider family.
Robbins: Baby on the way.
Khaled: And a beautiful baby on the way.
Complex: Tony, do you have any parenting advice you could share with Khaled?
Robbins: I’ll say—I have four kids! I married a woman when I was 24 years old. She was 13 years my senior. She had been married twice before. I adopted them. I was 24 and had a 17-year-old son instantly, an 11-year-old daughter, a 5-year-old, and a child on the way. So I had to learn how to become a parent very quickly.
The most important thing is what you already do. It’s being authentic. It’s being curious, trying to discover their gifts. Then being there like the rock that I know you are. It’s not playing a perfect life where there are no mistakes, no challenges. That makes people grow up and think that they are not going to have any. They are not prepared.
Read the entire story here.
