Jon Gordon is a best-selling author and an amazing motivational speaker. He has written 27 books including 12 best-sellers and 5 children’s books. The most popular ones are The Energy Bus, The Power of Positive Leadership, Training Camp, Stay Positive, and The Garden.

The Energy Bus has sold over 2 million copies and inspired people around the world to change their lives and achieve success. Jon also worked with many Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sport teams, school districts, hospitals, and non-profits.

(00:00) Jon's Background

• John’s father (step-father)
• New York City undercover narcotics officer
• Loving father, but with a negative world view (aught him to be stronger than the world)
•  Learned to be tough, but had to deal with negativity later
• The Lord of the Flies neighborhood 
• Jon's Father got shot (came out of it a bit more positive)
• Biological father was a social worker
• The family were encouraging and supporting
• At 30, John’s life crumbled (realized he had to start feeding himself with positivity)

(08:34) Getting out of a negative mindset

• Got married at 26
• Young entrepreneur with a restaurant business
• Ran for city council (dreamed about being in politics)
• Attacked with lies and didn’t win
• Went to law school and dropped out
• Got an opportunity to work for dot.com (everything crashed)
• Going back to your passion
• Had a second mortgage, credit card debt, and no savings / plan B
• Lived in fear that he would disappoint his family
• Asked God for help
• Success and energy vampires

(17:16) Advice to future entrepreneurs

• Do the research
• Understand what you are doing
• You have to truly love it and want it
• Even if you fail, you still did what you loved
• Choose your hard
• Side hustle before you make it full time
• The moment Jon became a true entrepreneur
• Decided never to put his family’s future in someone else’s hands 
• Except struggle and challenges
• Build a good team
• Life is short, live it with no regrets

(26:10) Building the newsletter and publishing a book

• Started researching positive psychology
• Made complex ideas simple
• Number 1 tip: take a gratitude walk everyday
• Your mind is a garden, weed the negative, feed the postivie
• Jon failed with 2 books
• The Energy Bus succeeded through the power of prayer
• Don't believe negative people
• Optimism is the ultimate competitive advantage

(44:40) The message of the “Energy Bus”

• Positivity and overcoming negativity
• Dealing with the energy vampires and sabotage
• Negative people suck your life
• George, the miserable, negative person meets Joy the Bus Driver
• 10 rules for the ride of his life

Coaching and Staying Connected:

1-on-1 Coaching | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | LinkedIn