Are you in a career rut, or could you use a little extra motivation in some other area of your life? Meet two of the world’s greatest motivational speakers: Dale Carnegie and Anthony Robbins.

I was introduced in a college lecture to Dale Carnegie’s groundbreaking book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” I later purchased the audiobook, and I listened to it once every few years over the next few decades until my last cassette player stopped working. I was about to download it a few days ago when my online search led me to the free audiobook recordings on YouTube.

“How to Win Friends and Influence People” was written in 1936, and Carnegie’s wisdom is every bit as relevant and applicable today. His advice about management, public speaking, people skills, avoiding stress, and enjoying life is timeless. Even more remarkable, applying his principles won’t just enable you to find greater career success and happiness, it will also make you a better, more empathetic human being. It’s no wonder his training produced so many famous graduates, including Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Lee Iacocca, Ann Landers, Johnny Cash, Bill Belichick, Warren Buffet, and Mary Kay.

Here are a few of Carnegie’s core principles, which are expounded in the audiobook on YouTube:

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
3. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
4. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound.
5. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.

https://youtu.be/YcNfyBJILZE

One of Dale Carnegie’s students was Anthony Robbins, among the most successful motivational writers and speakers of our time. Chances are you’ve seen his infomercials and perhaps even read one of his books or listened to an audiobook. He is known for applying neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) concepts in his training. NLP teaches people to model and change their patterns of mental and emotional behavior to achieve positive outcomes. In other words, the patterns we fall into become the greatest obstacles to our success.

Robbins relies on studying successful people and what they have in common as much as he relies on science, and the combination is fairly potent. I say “fairly” only because his books, audio, and video can be somewhat redundant at times. But the substance is there.

Here are a few of Anthony Robbins’ core principles, which underlie most of his material:

1. Everything we do is motivated by a desire for pleasure or avoidance of pain.
2. To master a discipline, we move through three levels: intellectual, emotional, and physical.
3. Knowledge is power and action is results. Decide and act; in fact, take massive action.
4. Real success comes when you find out ways to do more for others and add value to their lives.
5. Don’t be limited by your present attitudes and beliefs; always be a student of new possibilities.

This recent video entitled The Keys to Massive Success is a good introduction to Robbins. Watch it and see how he builds on his core principles, including the five above, to create powerful, yet pragmatic concepts you can apply in your career.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVKZSatIEng[/embedyt]

If you have had a chance to listen to or watch these videos, what lessons did you find most readily applicable to your life? What else did Carnegie and Robbins say that really resonated with you? And are there any motivational speakers that you would like us to introduce to our community? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook!