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Home » Diary Of A CEO: w/ Tony Robbins (Transcript)

Diary Of A CEO: w/ Tony Robbins (Transcript)

Here is the full transcript of world-renowned author Tony Robbins’ interview on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, January 15, 2026.

Brief Notes: In this powerful episode of The Diary Of A CEO, world-renowned life and business strategist Tony Robbins joins Steven Bartlett to discuss why the next decade will be a defining moment for humanity. Robbins opens up about the traumatic childhood events that fueled his lifelong mission to end suffering, including a transformative Thanksgiving encounter that changed his perspective on strangers and kindness forever. From the psychological impact of the AI revolution to mastering the six fundamental human needs, he provides a masterclass on navigating extreme stress and finding true fulfillment beyond professional achievement. This conversation serves as an essential guide for anyone looking to retool their mindset and design a life of purpose in an era of rapid global change.

Introduction

STEVEN BARTLETT: Tony, I was shocked. It was so surprising to me that you had the childhood you had based on the outcomes that you’ve accomplished in your life. And as someone that has followed you for a very long time, I imagine that there’s many other people that have followed you for a very long time that have no idea about the early context. For those people, can you take us back to the environment that shaped you into the man that you are?

Growing Up in Chaos and Violence

TONY ROBBINS: I think, you know, I grew up in a tough environment. I had four different fathers. My mom was a very intense and passionate woman. We never had any money. We were very, very poor.

My mom was probably the most important influence in my life by far. Very loving woman, but very stressed woman. And under that stress, she drank alcohol and took prescription drugs. And when she did that, she became very violent. So I took the brunt of that and then figured out how to manage her emotions. Basically that’s where all my beginning training really happened.

And yet at the same time, she was loving. She pushed me. She believed in me. She wanted me to be something. So she influenced my life in so many beautiful ways and then probably changed my life the most though, is my fourth father especially made it clear no one gives a damn about anybody else.

We lived in what I thought was an upper class community or city, but we were on the other side of the tracks. It was lower middle class and we were literally right by the railroad tracks where the worst of the worst live, so to speak. And so we were kind of looked down on. And so it really looked like nobody cares.

The Thanksgiving That Changed Everything

And then the thing that changed my whole life, a single event, was a knock on the door on Thanksgiving. We had no money, no food. When I say no food, we had crackers and peanut butter, but not a Thanksgiving dinner, right? And my dad and mom are screaming at each other through a door. And my dad had lost his job.

You get the knock on the door, and I open the door, and there’s this tall guy standing there with two bags of groceries, one in each hand. And at his feet, he had an uncooked frozen turkey in a pan. And he said, “Is your father here?” And I was like, just one moment, you know. And I was like, it was Christmas morning.

So I go to my dad and I go, “Hey, dad, there’s someone at the door for you.” And he goes, “Who is it?” And I said, “I don’t know. It’s for you.” He goes, “Well, you answered.” I said, “I already did. It’s for you.”

So he goes over there, and I’m waiting with such excitement for him to open the door. And he saw this man, and he was not happy. He looked at this man before the guy said a word, and he said, “We don’t take charity.” And he went and slammed the door on the guy.

But the man had leaned in because of the groceries, and it hit his shoulder and it bounced off, which made my dad even madder. And the man said, “Sir, sir. Somebody knows you’re having a tough time. Everyone has tough times. They want you to have this food for your family for Thanksgiving. I’m just the delivery guy.”

And my father said, “We don’t take charity.” And he pushed the door again, but this time because the guy’s leaning, his foot now stepped in, it hit his foot and bounced off. And now my dad’s getting more fired up. And I’m standing looking at this whole thing, and it’s like a car crash happening.

And the guy said something to my dad. I thought my dad was going to punch him in the face. He didn’t say it meanly. He said, “Sir,” he saw me, he said, “Don’t make your family suffer because of your ego.”

And I could still see it like yesterday. My dad’s veins on both sides of his neck were just pumping, and he was red as can be. And then he just dropped his shoulders. He took the groceries, he slammed it on the table, and he slammed the door. And he never even said thank you.

The Three Decisions That Shape Every Moment

It took me maybe a decade to eventually figure it out. It became a very useful distinction for me about how he and I processed that day differently because I believe there’s three decisions you make every moment of your life. You’re making them right now. If you’re listening to me and so is your audience.

The first one is, what are you going to focus on? You’re going to be focused on what happened yesterday, what you’re going to have for lunch, what I’m saying, how it relates to you. There are millions of things you can focus on, but you don’t experience life.