Jon Gordon's Blog, page 3

The Power of Thank You

In the spirit of Thanksgiving this week I’d love to share with you the benefits and power of two simple words. THANK YOU.

They are two words that have the power to transform our health, happiness, athletic performance and success. Research shows that grateful people are happier and more likely to maintain good friendships. A state of gratitude, according to research by the Institute of HeartMath, also improves the heart’s rhythmic functioning, which helps us to reduce stress, think more clearly under pressure and heal physically. It’s actually physiologically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time. When you are grateful you flood your body and brain with emotions and endorphins that uplift and energize you rather than the stress hormones that drain you.

Gratitude and appreciation are also essential for a healthy work environment. In fact, the number one reason why people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. A simple thank you and a show of appreciation can make all the difference.

Gratitude is like muscle. The more we do with it the stronger it gets. In this spirit here are 4 ways to practice Thanksgiving every day of the year.

1. Take a Daily Thank You Walk – I wrote about this in The Energy Bus and The Positive Dog. Take a simple 10-minute walk each day and say out loud what you are thankful for. This will set you up for a positive day.

2. Meal Time Thank You’s – On Thanksgiving, or just at dinner with your friends and family, go around the table and have each person, including the kids at the little table, say what they are thankful for.

3. Gratitude Visit - Martin Seligman, Ph.D., the father of positive psychology, suggests that we write a letter expressing our gratitude to someone. Then we visit this person and read them the letter. His research shows that people who do this are measurably happier and less depressed a month later.

4. Say Thank You at Work – When Doug Conant was the CEO of Campbell Soup he wrote approximately 30,000 thank you notes to his employees and energized the company in the process. Energize and engage your co-workers and team by letting them know you are grateful for them and their work. Organizations spend billions of dollars collectively on recognition programs but the best and cheapest recognition program of all consists of a sincere THANK YOU. And of course don’t forget to say thank you to your clients and customers too.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for allowing me to share this newsletter with you. I’m thankful for YOU.

What are you thankful for? Share one or two things that you are thankful for in your life. Leave a comment below, Facebook, or Twitter.

Working for a Bigger Purpose

This was a newsletter I wrote a few years ago that inspired me to write The Seed. I think it’s such an important message and we have so many new readers I wanted to share it again.

What if work wasn’t just work? What if work was a vehicle to live and share a bigger purpose?

I believe there’s flawed perception in our society that in order to live a life of purpose we have to leave our jobs and go solve world hunger, feed the homeless, move to Africa or start a charity.

While these are all noble causes and many are called to do these very things, for many of us our bigger purpose can be found in the here and now, in the jobs we have, right under our noses. And when we find and live this purpose it will provide the ultimate fuel for a meaningful life.

You may not build libraries around the world but you can find the bigger purpose in reading to your children. You may not feed the homeless every day but you can nourish your employees and customers with a smile, kind word and care. And while you may not start your own non-profit organization you can begin a charity initiative at work. After all, "charity" means "love in action." You can make a difference every day and touch the lives of everyone you meet.

While these people may not be starving because of a lack of food, you can provide them with a different kind of nourishment that will feed their souls and feed your own in the process.

I heard of a janitor who worked at NASA and even though he was sweeping floors he felt his bigger purpose was contributing to put a man on the moon.

I met a bus driver who knows his purpose is to help kids stay off drugs.

I met an administrative assistant who has become the Chief Energy Officer of her company.

I received an email from a woman in the mortgage business who sees her job as a way to help couples save their marriages by keeping their homes.

I know a Popeye’s Chicken employee named Edith in the Atlanta Airport who makes thousands of air traveler’s smile each day. The list goes on…

Ordinary people with an extra-ordinary purpose.

In any job our purpose waits for us to find it and live it.

I can’t tell you what your purpose should be but I can tell you that every one of us can find a bigger purpose in the job we have.

I can tell you that every job, no matter how glorious or boring it may seem, will get mundane if we let it.

Purpose keeps it fresh and when we are filled with purpose, we tap into an endless supply of energy.

Don’t wait until you go to Africa to start living with a mission. Don’t wait until the weekend to feed people who are hungry. Bring your mission to work, start working for a bigger purpose and nourish others in the process.

Share your thoughts about working for a bigger purpose. Leave a comment below.

Your Caring Trademark

If you’ve followed Derek Jeter’s career and watched his improbable game winning hit in his final at bat in Yankee Stadium the other night, you know that Derek treated every at bat like it was his last and that’s what made his last at bat so special.

No one worked harder, played with more passion or cared more about playing and honoring the game of baseball than Derek Jeter. Jeter’s hustle, passion, commitment and work ethic have become his caring trademark over the last twenty years.

You may never have heard of the term caring trademark before but I believe the most successful people have a caring trademark: a unique way that shows they care and causes them to stand out in their profession.

While Jeter always sprinted to first base and treated every at bat as a sacred experience, Doug Conant’s caring trademark was writing over 10,000 thank you notes to employees while he was the CEO of Campbell Soup. Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith’s caring trademark is that he visits his players in the treatment room when they are injured.

Rita Pierson, a life changing educator, had a caring trademark and it was the encouragement she gave her students and belief she had in them. Unfortunately she passed away but her legacy and caring trademark lives on in the students she taught. She gave one of my favorite speeches ever. Watch here.

Gallagher Bassett CEO Scott Hudson’s caring trademark is that he writes a weekly personal newsletter to the more than 5,000 global employees to highlight what he cares about in work and life. Interestingly, his employees often write back to him with personal stories of their own, further promoting a culture of open communication and caring.

My friend Fitz has a caring trademark and it is writing notes on the back of his business cards and placing them in the jacket pocket of the suits he sells me at Rosenblums. Each time I buy and wear a new suit I’ll find a card and it will say something like, "I hope you are doing something positive right now" or "Your day just got a whole lot better."

Companies have caring trademarks as well and I believe it’s one of the key ways they stand out from their competition in the marketplace.

Chick-fil-A employees say "my pleasure." They never say "no problem." There’s a big difference between "my pleasure" and "no problem." Publix Super Markets trains their employees to walk with you to the aisle and spot on the shelf when you ask them where you can find a specific item. They don’t say "aisle 9, good luck dude."

Les Schwab Tire Center employees sprint outside and greet you when you pull up to their tire center and get out of your car. Zappos provides free shipping and returns. Toms Shoes gives a pair of shoes to someone in need for each pair sold. Sephora gives free samples and allows people to try the makeup in their stores. And I believe Apple’s caring trademark is the care they have put into the design of their products and their ease of use.

When it comes to caring trademarks the list is endless. Someone could write a book about all the unique ways that great companies and people show they care. But even if a book was written I wouldn’t want you to copy someone else.

The key is to create your own caring trademark that fits you and your organization.

Maybe you love to smile and talk to people but don’t like writing hand-written notes. Perhaps your competitor’s caring trademark is to offer the cheapest price but you want your trademark to be the quality of service you provide. You may not want to sprint outside to greet someone but you would love providing memorable goodbyes. And maybe you’re not the superstar on your team like Derek Jeter but you can be the kind of teammate whose caring trademark is to cheer the superstar on.

So think about who you are and what you stand for. Identify ways you love to show you care. Decide how you want to make a difference. What do you want to be known for? Your caring trademark should be an expression of who you are, demonstrate your values in action and reflect your mission to make a difference and serve others.

When you show you care in your own unique way, you will stand out in a world where many have seemed to forget to care. When you create and share your caring trademark day after day, year after year, you will realize that caring is one of the greatest success strategies of all.

We love to hear about Caring Trademarks. What is your Caring Trademark? What is your company’s Caring Trademark? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below and/or on our Facebook page.

-Jon

Sea Turtles… and Distractions that Lead Us in the Wrong Direction

As I ran on the beach the other day I noticed that certain areas were closed off by fences and signs that said "Sea Turtle Eggs."

I remembered reading that female sea turtles swim to shore between May and August to dig nests in the sand and lay their eggs. Months later, the eggs hatch and the baby turtles follow the pure light of the moon back to the surf.

In a perfect world, the pure light of the moon guides every turtle back safely to the ocean.

However, as we know, we don’t live in a perfect world.

Sea Turtle hatchlings instinctively crawl toward the brightest light. On an undeveloped beach, the brightest light is the moon. On a developed beach, the brightest light can be an artificial light source emanating from restaurants, homes and condominiums along the coast.

Unfortunately, these powerful artificial sources of light often attract the hatchlings and cause them to move in the wrong direction when they are born.

Rather than follow the pure light of the moon to the ocean the sea turtles follow the wrong light to a disastrous outcome.

It occurred to me that we humans face a similar challenge.

Rather than follow the path we were meant to follow, unfortunately we too often are distracted by things that move us in the wrong direction.

Technology, online games, too much time on social media, bad habits, addictions, stress, busyness and meaningless distractions lead us astray.

Instead of following the pure light of perfection we allow bright and shiny artificial things to sabotage our journey.

So, what about you?

Are you following your priorities and pure light to the right destination or are you allowing artificial distractions to lead you in the wrong direction?

Are you following the path you were meant to follow or are you letting meaningless things keep you from being your best?

The great news is that unlike sea turtles we have the ability to think, adapt and change direction when we realize we are following the wrong path.

We can tune out the distractions and focus on our priorities and let the pure light lead us to an ocean of possibilities and a great future.

What are your biggest distractions?

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below or on our Facebook page.

The Power of a Positive Educator

When I think about the teachers who made a difference in my life I realize they were all positive. Mrs. Liota smiled every day and made me feel loved. Coach Caiazza believed in me while Mr. Ehmann encouraged me to be my best. Years later as I think about the impact these teachers had on my life it’s clear that being a positive educator not only makes you better it makes everyone around you better. Positive educators have the power to transform lives and inspire young minds to believe they can and will change the world. In this spirit here are seven ways we can all choose to be a positive educator.

1. Be Positively Contagious – Research shows that emotions are contagious. Sincere smiles, kind words, encouragement and positive energy infect people in a positive way. On the flip side your students are just as likely to catch your bad mood as the swine flu. So each day you come to school you have a choice. You can be a germ or a big dose of Vitamin C. When you choose to be positively contagious your positive energy has a positive impact on your students, your colleagues and ultimately your school culture. Your students will remember very little of what you said but they will remember 100% of how you made them feel. I remember Mrs. Liota and her smile and love and it made all the difference.

2. Take a Daily Thank you Walk – It’s simple, it’s powerful, and it’s a great way to feed yourself with positivity. How does it work? You simply take a walk… outside, in a mall, at your school, on a treadmill, or anywhere else you can think of, and think about all the things, big and small, that you are grateful for. The research shows you can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time so when you combine gratitude with physical exercise, you give yourself a double boost of positive energy. You flood your brain and body with positive emotions and natural antidepressants that uplift you rather than the stress hormones that drain your energy and slowly kill you. By the time you get to school you are ready for a great day.

3. Celebrate Success – One of the simplest, most powerful things you can do for yourself and your students is to celebrate your daily successes. Instead of thinking of all things that went wrong at school each day focus on the one thing that went right. Try this: Each night before you go to bed think about the one great thing about your day. If you do this you’ll look forward to creating more success tomorrow. Also have your students do this as well. Each night they will go to bed feeling like a success and they will wake up with more confidence to take on the day.

4. Expect to Make a Difference – When positive educators walk into their classroom they expect to make a difference in their student’s lives. In fact, making a difference is the very reason why they became a teacher in the first place and this purpose continues to fuel them and their teaching. They come to school each day thinking of ways they can make a difference and expecting that their actions and lessons will lead to positive outcomes for their students. They win in their mind first and then they win in the hearts and minds of their students.

5. Believe in your students more than they believe in themselves – I tried to quit lacrosse during my freshman year in high school but Coach Caiazza wouldn’t let me. He told me that I was going to play in college one day. He had a vision for me that I couldn’t even fathom. He believed in me more than I believed in myself. I ended up going to Cornell University and the experience of playing lacrosse there changed my life forever. The difference between success and failure is belief and so often this belief is instilled in us by someone else. Coach Caiazza was that person for me and it changed my life. You can be that person for one of your students if you believe in them and see their potential rather than their limitations.

6. Develop Positive Relationships – Author Andy Stanley once said, "Rules without relationship lead to rebellion." {Tweet That} Far too many principals share rules with their teachers but they don’t have a relationship with them. And far too many teachers don’t have positive relationships with their students. So what happens? Teachers and students disengage from the mission of the school. I’ve had many educators approach me and tell me that my books helped them realize they needed to focus less on rules and invest more in their relationships. The result was a dramatic increase in teacher and student performance, morale and engagement. To develop positive relationships you need to enhance communication, build trust, listen to them, make time for them, recognize them, show them you care through your actions and mentor them. Take the time to give them your best and they will give them your best.

7. Show you Care – It’s a simple fact. The best educators stand out by showing their students and colleagues that they care about them. Standardized test scores rise when teachers make time to really know their students. Teacher performance improves when principals create engaged relationships with their teachers. Teamwork is enhanced when educators know and care about one another. Parents are more supportive when educators communicate with their student’s parents. The most powerful form of positive energy is love and this love transforms students, people and schools when it is put into action. Create your own unique way to show your students and colleagues you care about them and you will not only feel more positive yourself but you will develop positive kids who create a more positive world.

If you commit to being a positive educator I encourage you to read and commit to The Positive Teacher Pledge.

The Positive Teacher Pledge

I pledge to be a positive teacher and positive influence on my fellow educators, students and school.
I promise to be positively contagious and share more smiles, laughter, encouragement and joy with those around me.
I vow to stay positive in the face of negativity.
When I am surrounded by pessimism I will choose optimism.
When I feel fear I will choose faith.
When I want to hate I will choose love.
When I want to be bitter I will choose to get better.
When I experience a challenge I will look for opportunity to learn and grow and help others grow.
When faced with adversity I will find strength.
When I experience a set-back I will be resilient.
When I meet failure I will fail forward and create a future success.
With vision, hope, and faith, I will never give up and will always find ways to make a difference.
I believe my best days are ahead of me, not behind me.
I believe I’m here for a reason and my purpose is greater than my challenges.
I believe that being positive not only makes me better, it makes my students better.
So today and every day I will be positive and strive to make a positive impact on my students, school and the world!

Download, Print and Share The Positive Teacher Pledge Here.

Share your comments below…

Do It Because You Love It. Don’t Do It For Applause.

Almost every day I receive questions from readers of my books and attendees of speaking engagements. Below is a question that I recently received. I wanted to share it with you in hopes that my answer might benefit you as well. – Jon

QUESTION:

I am looking for some advice to give to my 8 year old daughter. She was in a vocal competition yesterday and although she sang beautifully she did not place – so no ribbon. She was mortified and all confidence she had is gone. I don’t know how to help her – I tried to tell her it is just as important to learn how to lose, but that was not helpful. She sings again tomorrow and I am really scared for her. Not sure if she will be able to hold it together. I have read all your books but cant remember if there is one that could offer her some help. Some children just seem so confident… how do you raise children to be this way?

MY ANSWER:

First, remember that she’s only 8 years old. But even if she was 18 or 38 I would say the same thing. Sing because you love signing. Don’t sing for anyone but you and God. It’s not about awards. It’s about shining for God. It’s about doing what you love. Sing with all your heart not thinking about outcomes and awards. Confidence comes from focusing on the moment. Tell her to just give her best and let God do the rest. She may not get a ribbon but she’ll get the joy of singing and sharing her love of singing and talent with the world. If she does this, over time she’ll have more fans than she can count because people love when someone is doing what they love.

Success Story: Oasis Outsourcing

Last year I had the privilege of speaking at the World Leaders Conference. During my time there I met Timothy Pratte from Oasis Outsourcing. After the conference Tim sent me this Success Story below. I hope it inspires you and your team. – Jon

Oasis Outsourcing is one of the largest payroll outsourcing companies in the US. We pay more than 140,000 employees. Our West Palm Beach office serves as our corporate headquarters and one of our main payroll processing centers. In 2011, we hired a new employee on the recommendation of another employee. This new employee started with us, as most do, as a Payroll Specialist I. She had good command of her payroll knowledge and quickly learned about all of our systems. Many of her customers also loved her. Over the next 24 months, she would continually have issues with her teamwork though. She seemed very negative, not speaking with other employees, acting defiantly in some cases, and treating all of her coworkers with indifference. Sometimes this overflowed to her customers, but that was a rare occurrence. In May, 2013, we had enough of it. This employee wanted to be promoted based on her knowledge. We had a different conversation in mind and discussed her lack of performance in teamwork, initiative, patience, and leadership as reasons she was not being promoted. Her manager came to me for advice and I had to think about it a little. Never have we had such a talented employee with great knowledge and good customers service skills, but not willing to work on her relationships. At the end of May, we gave her a copy of The Energy Bus. We asked her to read it and have another one on one at the end of the following week. We began to see small changes immediately. She was becoming much friendlier, more communicative, and exhibited a positive attitude that in later weeks would become even infectious to the rest of her team. On July 8th, she achieved her goal of promotion to Payroll Specialist II, and we were already discussing her future well beyond that due to her vast turnaround. She told her coworkers how the book influenced her and was having an effect on her personal life as well, improving all of her relationships.

Jon, thank you again for all of your books and material. Since we finished The Energy Bus here at Oasis, we are keeping things going in the coming months, and we are looking at either The Positive Dog or Soup as a Q3 book. I look forward to your new book, The Carpenter, as well.

Thanks,

Tim Pratte

Success Story: High School Student Making Positive Change

I recently received this encouraging note and article below from a high school student named Hannah Jennings. Hannah gave me permission to share this because she wants to help other teens going through similar challenges. It inspired me and I hope it will inspire you. -Jon

My name is Hannah Jennings. I go to Spirit Lake High School. I’m an aspiring author plus much more. I wouldn’t be on the path that I am on now if it weren’t for you coming to speak at my school. I had major issues with my grades, my parents, my brother, and pretty much I was going down the wrong path. The week before you came to speak to my school, I was failing 3 classes, one of them being a college class. The week after, I was only failing one. I used to have a lot of mental issues. I was bullied pretty bad in the years past and I turned to some bad stuff after that. Now, I will be writing for The Recovery League and Iowa Advocates for Mental Health Recovery. I have a check list from your presentation that I’m slowly checking off:

*Discover what YOU love to do.

*Be what you’re meant to be.

*Be the driver of your bus.

*Stay on the right road.

I’m working my hardest to become the best person I can be.

I would just like to thank you for pretty much saving my life. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am. I’m looking forward to reading all of your books! Thank you so very much!

Sincerely,

Hannah Jennings

Soon-to-be Sophomore

P.S. My one word is EFFORT. I’m putting 110% into everything I do.

Here is one of Hannah’s articles that she sent me. Feel free to share it with someone you know!

HOW TO TREAT OTHERS

by Hannah Jennings

I remember when I first learned about how to treat others. I was a little kindergartener when I first learned about the pillars of character, and ever since, they have been pounded in my head along with a million other kids. The “Golden Rule” is “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” I have tried my absolute best to base my whole life off of those things, but saying is much easier than doing in any situation.

There was a point where I didn’t want to even think about who I was or how I was treating people. I was just treating people how they treated me. I was making people feel how they made me feel. I was a ticking time bomb. Every little mean thing said to me counted down to the explosion, and when I would blow up, I created damage almost that of dynamite. My anger issues lasted throughout late elementary and all of middle school. I had a hard time accepting myself and accepting what people thought of me. After a lot of work at my attitude and mindset, I rarely explode anymore. I am so very happy that I got out of that portion of my life. It happened right at the right time. Some of the situations I have been in have made me weak, but all of them have made me who I am.

The bad part about the really bad situations was the outcomes. I resulted to things that now, I can’t believe I let myself dig myself that deep into a hole. Bad or good, they shaped me into who I am now. I want to thank the people who put me into those situations because they are the reason I am where I am at now. However, they haven’t learned how to treat anyone better. They haven’t learned about the horrible things they’ve put people through, and I think it’s time now that they learn the true facts.

I hit rock bottom. All because of them, but I am now striving to be the best person I can be. Instead of being who other people want me to be, I am being who I want to be. I am taking every opportunity I can. I have been blessed to receive so many. Every opportunity leads me down a successful path. I am still on my long journey swimming back up from rock bottom, but I am slowly regaining my oxygen and will to live, to breathe, and to be who I am supposed to be.

I want to help people do what I am doing. Because of bullying, not feeling good about myself, and just having the will to die, I almost lost my life to those thoughts. I want anyone to know, whether I know them personally or not, that there are greater things out there for them. I love everyone and I will always be that shoulder for them to cry on until they are strong enough to carry themselves with their own backbone and keep their head held high.

My biggest pet peeve is when people say suicide is selfish. No. Suicide is selfless. In that very moment, the moment when all you want to do is die, you are thinking about everyone but yourself. You are thinking about the people who put you in this position. Those people are probably the exact people who claim that suicide is selfish. Those people have never hit rock bottom.

Now, I think about myself whenever the thought of taking my own life pops into my head. It is not selfish. I take out a piece of paper and a pen and write about my future. I write what I want for my big successes. I write where I want to live, where I want to work, and what I want to name my kids. But guess what? Those things can only happen if I keep living and keep breathing. I take that list and I put it on a path and then I start walking. I promise, to whoever is concerned, to whoever may be thinking these same thoughts, the garden at the end is beautiful. The next time you are bawling your eyes out, cry until there is nothing left. Every tear drop is watering the garden that I like to call “Your Future”. It is beautiful there. You just have to keep living and someday you will get to visit it. I hope you’re on the right path now. Just don’t forget to stop and smell the roses along the way.

Life and Death

Two weeks ago my family and I were on a plane from LAX heading to Atlanta. Shortly after taking off and soaring above 10,000 feet the plane abruptly slowed down and the power went out as the pilot spoke over the sound system, “We’re experiencing a mechanical failure and heading back for an emergency landing.”

The next moment the plane descended so rapidly that my head hurt and I thought we were going down. I looked at my wife and son, who were sitting to the left and a few rows back since we couldn’t get seats together, and saw the fear in my wife’s eyes. I grabbed my daughters hand as she sat in the seat directly in front of me.

She asked, “Should I be scared Dad?”

“Just pray,” I said.

This can’t be happening, I thought. We’re not ready to die. I still have three more books that I know I’m meant to write. I grabbed my phone and tweeted that we were making an emergency landing at LAX and if we didn’t make it that I love everyone. Then I asked people to share my books with others because I write to make a difference.

A few minutes later the plane leveled off as I watched off duty airline employees, who were sitting in passenger seats, get up and run to the back of the plane. The pilot announced that we were going to make an emergency landing and to brace for impact. He said there would be emergency vehicles there to meet us and that the flight attendants were trained on what to do when we landed.

While everything seemed eerily calm and quiet I couldn’t stop thinking about the plane catching on fire or splitting in two when we landed.

Miraculously and thankfully we made a safe landing. The pilot said there was a fire in one of the engines but when we landed the fire was extinguished.

When we walked off the plane my 14 year old son put his arm around me and said, “It means we have more work to do Dad. God has a plan for us.”

When the pilots walked off the plane my wife and I thanked them. I asked if they were scared. “Not at all,” said one of the pilots. “We train for this.”

While we waited a few hours for a new plane to arrive that would take us to Atlanta I wrote about our experience, my thoughts and the tweets I shared, and posted it all on Facebook. To my surprise a few people criticized me saying that my priorities were off because I was tweeting about my books when I thought we were goners. One person said I was being self-promotional.

My first response was to laugh because I thought we were going to die. I didn’t think I would be around to benefit from people reading my books.

My second response was to really think about why I actually tweeted something like that. My wife and I had a deep conversation about it.

I believe I’m here on earth for two reasons; my family and to make a difference through my life and writing. If my family wasn’t with me of course I would be sending messages to them but since they were on the plane with me I wanted to know that my life mattered; that I made a difference. You see, I believe our lives matter when we matter to others. So, yes, I was thinking about my books and hoping they would reach people and impact them, whether I was alive or not.

My wife told me that she didn’t feel what she thought she would feel when it seemed like the plane was going down. She said she was actually disappointed. Disappointed that the three people that she had invested in and poured her heart and soul into over the last 17 years were on the plane and would be dying with her. In that moment she wished she would have made a greater difference in people beyond her family. The experience has inspired her to touch the lives of more people.

The truth is, in the end we won’t be measured by our bank account, wins and losses or awards but by the difference we made in the lives of others. Each one of us can live a life that matters by showing people they matter. Each day is a gift, to be a gift to others. Each moment is an opportunity to leave a legacy.

As my son said, “there’s still work for us to do.” There’s work for me to do, work for my family to do and work for you to do. Let’s make the most of the gift we have been given.

Belief

I use to think that belief was the first step to success. But now I know that the first step is to take the first step. You have to act even when you don’t believe. You need to have the courage to move forward in spite of your self-doubt and fears.

When I started writing and speaking over ten years ago I had no confidence, no experience and no belief and yet I was willing to take the first step.

Did I fail? You bet.

Did I face ridicule and rejection? You bet.

Did I want to give up many times? You bet.

Yet at some point along the way, something interesting happened. I started to cultivate a belief that I could actually do this.

Belief may not be the first step to success, but it is an essential step to building our lives, careers, families and teams. At some point you must believe.

I’ve found the difference between success and failure is often belief. I’ve learned that you win in the mind first and then you win on the field, in the classroom, in the office, in the marketplace and in life. I’ve found that when you believe, the impossible becomes possible.

I’ve also learned that belief doesn’t happen by osmosis. It is something you develop through trials, challenges and experiences. The more you do something, the more you believe you can do it.

You also cultivate belief with your thoughts, words, perspective and expectations.

One of the best things I ever did was to recite certain phrases during my morning walks of gratitude and prayer. At the end of each walk I would say the following words that I have since weaved into The Carpenter:

(Download This and Other Inspirational Carpenter Posters Here)

I started saying these phrases around 2007 and it was amazing how great things started to happen. Out of the blue people would call and book me to speak at an event. Book ideas popped into my head. My purpose became clearer and clearer. I also said phrases about being of service and making a difference, but that’s a newsletter for another time.

For now I want to encourage you to say these phrases, or make up your own, for 30 days. Don’t take my word for it. Give it a shot. Try it for 30 days. Cultivate belief and great things will happen. Please let me know how it goes.

-Jon

Tweetables:

You need to have the courage to move forward in spite of your self-doubt and fears. – Tweet That

The difference between success and failure is often belief. – Tweet That

When you believe, the impossible becomes possible. – Tweet That

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