Dear Jon,

I’m a single mom and we’ve been through some pretty intense stuff, but one of the things I prided myself on was my passion for my job. I’m a pharmacy tech at Walgreen’s and 6 months ago I transferred to the roughest store in the city. My passion quickly fizzled out from difficult customers and negativity in the pharmacy. I was ready to throw in the towel, but I really didn’t want to start over at anther job, and I truly love my job, I knew something had to change. So I thought of you and your books.

Over the last 2 weeks, I read Training Camp and The Seed and started to apply some concepts to my job. I decided that my purpose at work is “To provide selfless service to my coworkers and customers and to make it a fun and uplifting environment.” The first day of my purpose I brought a huge pot of queso dip for no reason but because it’s just darn good, everyone was so excited! Then I brought my ipod and speakers and we listened to my music, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Beach Boys, etc. All upbeat tunes. The atmosphere changed instantly, as well as everyone’s attitudes. It was so fun! The difficult customers I use to dread serving are now opportunities for me to shine. My goal is to make sure they leave my presence with a smile on their face. I help my coworkers at every chance I get and I make sure I try to lift them up with encouragement and compliments. I even leave little gifts for them, like a compliment on a sticky note for the new guy or a little picked flower for another single mom. I am loving my job again, I’m living in the moment and my passion is back! Thank you!

You have really changed things for me and I appreciate it so much!! It seems you write your books mostly for teams and businesses, but I have really been able to apply so much to my personal life. Please keep doing what you are doing!!

Thank you, thank you!

Sincerely,
Ursula

Do you have a Success Story that you want to share? Email info@jongordon.com

We all have a positive and negative dog inside of us. It’s part of our human nature. The key is to feed the positive dog and starve the negative dog. The more we feed the positive dog the bigger it gets and the stronger it becomes. The actions are simple. We just need to make them a habit and do them every day. Here are a few ways to feed the positive dog:

1. Practice Gratitude – You can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time. Gratitude is like muscle, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets. Take 10 minutes each day and make a list of what you are thankful for. You will fill your body and brain with costless and priceless anti-depressants.

2. Take a Walk of Gratitude – I do this each morning and it feeds me all day long.

3. Turn off the News – Starve the negative dog.

4. Smile More – It enhances your serotonin levels and uplifts you.

5. Focus on Get to vs Have to – Read the article here.

6. Read uplifting books or devotionals.

7. Get together with a positive, uplifting person.

8. Reach Out - Call or visit someone who has made a difference in your life and thank them. (research shows this is a huge happiness booster)

9. Write a few Thank You Notes Today – When you thank others you feed them and yourself.

10. Watch a funny movie that makes you belly laugh.

11. Take out your Telescope - I often talk about a telescope when encouraging people to create a big-picture vision for their future and dream about the life they want to create. The telescope represents our dream for the future and, according to Barbara Fredrickson, research shows this is a simple way to boost positivity. Today dream about your future and it will feed you with positivity now.

12. Be a Coach – Coaches bring out the best in others. The best coaches mentor, encourage, praise, inspire, and lead with optimism and positivity. Today, feed others and yourself with positivity by being a coach.

13. Start a Success Journal – Write down the one great thing about your day. The more you look for success, the more you will find it.

14. Decide to Make a Difference – When you help other people with their problems you forget about your own.

What strategy will you start today to feed your positive dog?

Share your thoughts, leave a comment below.

- Jon

We all have two dogs inside of us. One dog is positive, happy, optimistic, and hopeful. The other dog is negative, mad, sad, pessimistic, and fearful. These two dogs often fight inside us, but guess who wins the fight? The one you feed the most.

So begins the story about a negative mutt named Matt and a big dog named Bubba who teaches him how to feed himself with positivity each day and in the process Matt transforms his own life and the shelter they call home.

For anyone looking to overcome negativity and challenges to become more positive, The Positive Dog provides the inspiration, strategies and action plan to feed yourself and your team with positivity. When you feed the positive dog and feed others, everyone benefits!

The Positive Dog is available where books are sold and at:
Amazon | Books-A-Million | 800CEORead

Win a Free Skype Session with Jon for Your Team at Work or Home

To celebrate the release of The Positive Dog we’re giving away 3 private Skype coaching sessions with Jon. Great for work teams, schools and families. On Wednesday, May 9 we will pick 3 winners, at random, from all submissions and award the 3 private Skype sessions which can be scheduled for any time (mutually agreeable) within the next 12 months.

For a chance to win, here’s what you need to do:

Buy at least one copy of The Positive Dog from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Books-A-Million

And…

A. Follow Jon on Twitter and Tweet “I just bought The Positive Dog by @jongordon11 www.FeedThePositiveDog.com” – Tweet Now

Or…

B. Like Jon’s Facebook Fan Page and Post a Note on Your Wall “I just bought The Positive Dog by Jon Gordon! www.FeedThePositiveDog.com”

– Post on Facebook Now

Or…

C. Recommend the book to your LinkedIn Network as a great recourse to feed your team with positivity! – Post on LinkedIn Now

Feed Your Team with Positivity Have Jon Speak to Your Organization for Free!

Here are three additional ways to feed your team with positivity!

1. Jon Speaking Free – If you purchase 1,000 copies of The Positive Dog for your organization by May 15th from an approved retailer, Jon will speak to your organization for free. (Limited to the first 3 organizations. Speaking date can be any time, mutually agreeable, within the next 12 months. Email Daniel@JonGordon.com for details.)

2. Private Skype Session for Your Team – If you purchase 150 copies or more of The Positive Dog by May 31st, Jon will do a complimentary private Skype session with your work team or school staff. (Skype date can be any time, mutually agreeable, within the next 12 months. Email Daniel@JonGordon.com for details.)

3. Signed Books – If you want Jon to sign books for your team email Anne@JonGordon.com and she’ll explain the process.

4. Take the Positive Pledge – Share positivity with others by signing and sharing The Positive Pledge at www.ThePositivePledge.com

The giveaway is now over and winners have been selected.

To be fair we decided to pick 5 winners from Facebook and 5 from Twitter, all at random from everyone who Tweeted, Posted and Commented.

And the winners are…

Kim Jentsch Young
Chenda Moore
Greg Williams
Robin Tatz Forney
Daniel Gilbert
Valerie Atkins
Dr. Justin Tarte
Ron Swanson
Ellen Tidwell
Valerie Futch Reed

If you were one of the winners noted above, we sent you a message to email your address to brooke@jongordon.com.

Thanks so much. I hope each of you enjoy it and thanks again to all for joining in!

Stay tuned to next week’s Positive Tip Newsletter where we’ll share a special offer for the release of The Positive Dog.

If you haven’t signed up for our free teleseminar on May 2, you still can here.

For a chance to win, do one (or more) of the following:

1. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet “I believe in the Power of Positivity! @jongordon11 www.FeedThePositiveDog.com” – Click Here to Tweet Now

2. Follow me on Facebook and Post a Note on Your Wall with something to the effect of “Looking forward to @jongordon’s new book, The Positive Dog. Overcome negativity, be more positive! www.FeedThePositiveDog.com” – Click Here to Post to FB Now

3. Encourage your friends to join in!

On Friday, April 27 at 4pm EDT we’ll pick 10 winners at random from those who Tweet and Facebook Post as noted above.

Are you in? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Toby said that Coach Harbaugh was the main reason because he brings such enthusiasm and passion to the team, inspires people to want to play at Stanford and makes everyone better.

Jim’s dad was the one who taught him the importance of enthusiasm.

Every day when his dad would take his brother John, who is also an NFL coach, his sister and Jim to school he would say to them,

“Attack this day with enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

The Harbaugh children repeatedly heard this powerful and positive message and clearly their enthusiasm has become a huge part of their lives and careers.

Jim shared the same enthusiasm he did at Stanford with the 49′ers last year as a rookie NFL coach and transformed the team.

Research shows what we’ve always known to be true. Emotions are contagious. Studies conducted by HeartMath.org demonstrate that when you have a feeling in your heart it goes to every cell in the body and outward. Up to five to ten feet away people can sense feelings transmitted by your heart via electromagnetic signals.

This means that each day you are projecting enthusiasm and passion or apathy and indifference…and people can feel it.

That’s why when you walk into a restaurant, an office, a hotel, a football locker room, a hospital or a school you can feel the energy and get a sense of the culture, the people and their enthusiasm and passion.

Enthusiasm and passion attract people to you and make them want to get on your bus. And while they are on your bus your enthusiasm infectiously makes them better.

When you live and work with enthusiasm you not only create a more exciting life and career, you also inspire your team and customers to be excited about working with you.

So today I want to encourage you to heed the advice of Mr. Harbaugh and decide to:

Attack this day with enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

Share your thoughts on Enthusiasm below.

Everyone marveled at its ability to produce a record harvest each year.

The owner who sold his fruit at the local market had become one of the wealthiest men in town and he was the envy of all who knew him.

However, as the years passed the owner spent so much of his time counting and selling his fruit that he forgot to nourish the root.

He became so prideful and focused on results that he neglected to see the signs that the tree was dying.

Then one day when the owner went to pick fruit from his tree he was shocked to discover that the tree was barren.

“How could this be,” he asked?

But when he inspected the root he found his answer.

The root had dried up.

He was so focused on the fruit that he neglected the root.

He wished there was something he could do but it was too late.

It was a lesson he would never forget!

How about you? Do you focus on the numbers, the outcomes and the fruit?

Or do you focus on the purpose, people, innovation, culture and root of your success.

Always remember the amount of fruit we produce is just an outcome and measurement of how well we are nurturing our root.

If we take care of our root we’ll always have an abundant supply of fruit.

Ignore the root and say goodbye to the fruit.

What is the root of your success? What do the root and fruit mean to you? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below or on our Facebook page.

-Jon

Download the replay as an MP3 file here. *Note: The free Seed Action Plan mentioned during the call was only available for those who participated LIVE.

Once you have listened to the audio, here are 3 action steps:

1. Tell us one way that YOU will stand out. Leave a comment below, send us an email, post a note on Facebook or send Jon a message via Twitter.
2. Set some time to discuss with your team or family how you will stand out TOGETHER.
3. Share this message with someone you know (click the share links to the left).

ABOUT THIS TELESEMINAR:
There are reasons why certain people, companies and organizations stand out from the competition and continue to grow while others remain stagnant or falter. In this informative and inspiring teleseminar Jon Gordon will share 5 ways successful people and companies separate themselves from the pack and become leaders in their industry and profession. Whether you are looking to enhance your career, grow your business, improve sales, or reenergize and refocus your organization, Jon Gordon will help you and your team grow to a higher level.

It’s not the kind of the bubble that is about to burst and cause markets to crash and people to lose fortunes.

Rather it’s a bubble of optimism that drives innovation, creates jobs and represents everything that is right and great about America.

While the rest of the country was going through the great recession the people who lead and work for the companies in Silicon Valley refused to participate in the recession.

They were too busy trying to change the world.

While companies and businesses around the country were closing their doors and people were losing their jobs and homes, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google and thousands of other innovators and start-ups were changing the way we communicate, connect, learn, read, search, interact, live and work.

In Silicon Valley there is a bubble of optimism that is filled with a collective belief that anything is possible. If you have a great idea it gets funded. If you are willing to innovate and work hard the American Dream is very much alive and available to you. If you believe and you can execute and turn this belief into a reality, you can change the world.

The innovators of Silicon Valley are alchemists who turn ideas into gold. Where others see what is impossible, they see what is possible. While others see them as crazy, they see the future.

When a new idea or product fails they come up with a better idea and a better business. Failure is accepted as a part of innovation and growth. Ideas are tested and the best ones win. When old management techniques no longer work the innovators create new practices to make meetings productive (Jack Dorsey at Twitter and Square), engage employees (Duarte), and extract the genius and ideas inside each of their employees (Google).

Silicon Valley embodies the can-do spirit, creativity, drive and courage that made and will continue to make America the birthplace of ideas and innovations that change the world. But you don’t have to live in the valley to embrace their approach.

Amazon and Starbucks have created a bubble of optimism and innovation in Seattle. Zappos has found happiness in Las Vegas. GM and the big auto companies are powering forward with new ideas and making world class cars in Detroit. And thousands of technology start-ups located in cities and universities across the United States are dreaming of ways to change the world.

Every business, wherever they are located, can create a bubble of optimism that inspires them to think differently, act differently and lead differently.

And you don’t have to be a technology company to surround your business with a bubble of optimism. Whether you are a traditional big company or a small business there is a new idea or a better way of doing something waiting for someone to implement it.

The question is, are you bold enough, optimistic enough and even crazy enough to do it!
If you are, you just might change the world!

“The People Who Are Crazy Enough To Think They Can Change the World, Are the Ones Who Do” -Steve Jobs

Do you agree or disagree with this article? Why? Join the conversation and post a comment below.

-Jon

In this spirit we decided to make this pledge available to everyone. I hope you will join me and read the pledge below, sign it online, choose to be positive and make a positive impact on the world!

Go to www.ThePositivePledge.com to sign the pledge, leave a comment and share The Positive Pledge with others!

You can also download a Positive Pledge poster (PDF) that you can print and post as a reminder to be positive every day!

Together we can make a positive difference!

- Jon