SPS 273 Unlocking Positivity: Self-Publishing, Gratitude & Competitive Edge with Jon Gordon

We had some amazing speakers and amazing sessions at the event , and so I wanted to give you a sneak peek into the event and share one of the sessions , one of my favorite sessions . This is with a guy named John Gordon .

So I'll give John an intro here in just a second and you'll kind of get to hear why he's so special to me and just think just a really , really sharp person and somebody you're going to learn a lot from . But whether you missed the event , this is a great chance to see a sneak peek and maybe mark it on your calendar and grab a ticket for next year .

Or you were at the event and you want to relive it and have a double dose of inspiration . I think you're going to love this episode . So , without further ado , let's dive into the content from Author Vanish Live with Mr John Gordon . I've been so inspired by his books , I've been so inspired by his speaking . I'll never forget .

My mom and dad went to this conference gosh , probably five , 10 years ago , and they said we saw this guy speak and it was incredible . And I mentioned that to a friend , a mutual friend , and they were like , yeah , you know , I think he was sick and we were really hoping to get our book signed .

And then our mutual friend talked to John and John signed books to send to my parents . This is like five , 10 years ago . This is like the character of the guy that you're about to hear from and the guy that you're about to learn from . So John Gordon is our next speaker . He is a leadership author , he's a speaker , he's a consultant .

He's worked with some of the biggest companies , brands that you can think of , ceos in the NFL , nba , major League , baseball . He does a lot of work with my Clemson Tigers , which I obviously love , with Davo . He's got great books . Maybe you've read them . They're called the Energy Bus , the Power of Positive Leadership . Positivity is a Competitive Advantage .

He's got so many awesome books . He's an incredible speaker . He's written 30 books and just published at a high level . He's a great speaker , runs great conferences . Like I can't say enough good stuff about this , this guy . So join me , let's give an author of videos live Welcome . Come on now from Mr John Gordon .

We're in the millions now . But I also remember when I just got started . I truly remember just beginning and what that felt like . And right now there's a choice right , do you get published ? Should you go with self-publishing ? And I'm really a huge fan of self-publishing these days . I really believe that that's the model to go towards .

It's freedom , there's a speed to it , you can get it done quicker . You also can get the content you want out there and also like there's no barrier to entry now in terms of publishers are doing less and less in terms of for the author .

It's your platform and you get to make a whole lot more money as a self-published author , which is actually a really great treat , like for me .

You know I'm published mostly , and so for my books , I'll make two to $3 a copy of book , but when you self-publish , you can make 10 to $12 a copy and listening to some of those titles earlier that have published with you Chandler , incredible titles .

Titles are so important and it's so great to see that so many have chosen these incredible titles , written these great books . And guess what ? You're only a book away from changing your life , and I do believe everyone should write a book .

I believe everybody has a book in them , maybe not two books , but I believe everybody should write one book , because everyone has a story to tell . Everyone has a core message that they're meant to share , and I just want to encourage you on that .

I'm going to encourage you , as you're about to find out , and you know what I love talking about positivity being the competitive advantage . That's what I'm going to talk about today . But the interesting thing about that is that I am not naturally positive . If you're like me , put in the chat . If you're not naturally positive , just put that in the chat .

Say yeah , that's me , that's me . If you're not naturally positive . Now , if you are naturally positive , I want you to put in the chat . Yes , I am one of those naturally positive people that others find annoying . I'm totally kidding . But yeah , just say I'm the positive one . Put in the chat , I am the positive one , if you are one of the positive people .

And so I grew up in Long Island , new York , in a Jewish Italian family . A lot of food , a lot of guilt , a lot of wine , a lot of whining , and my dad was a New York City police officer , undercover narcotics , and so he was shot a few times . He wasn't very positive , a loving man , but one of the most negative guys on the planet .

So you'd get up in the morning and you'd say good morning dad . You'd say what's so good about it ? Like , my dad was Al Bundy before Al Bundy was Al Bundy . And then I remember when I first started speaking , my dad said I can't believe people actually pay you to speak . When you were a kid , we paid you to shut up . Is what he is .

He told me my dad had the gift of discouragement . Like , seriously , my brother and I still remember to this day being teenagers and literally sitting in our kitchen talking about our hopes and our dreams and our future , and my dad said , yeah , I can see it now the law firm of useless and useless . The law firm of useless and useless .

That might be a book one day , by the way , because I think it's a brilliant thing that he said . I laugh about it to this day . My brother does as well , but that was our dad . We grew up with a lot of negativity .

And one more thing I remember telling him that I'm going to be a writer and speaker and he said what the heck you want to do that for ? That's a load of junk that won't amount to anything . That's a waste of time . He said just focus on your restaurant .

At the time , I owned a Moe's Southwest Grill , and so he did not share my vision , he did not share my mission , he did not share my purpose . He did not see what I could see , and so many people are not going to see what you see . Your positive energy must be greater than their negativity .

Your certainty , your belief , your faith must be greater than all the doubt . You see the reason why I was telling him I want to be a random speaker , because what happened was I was so miserable and negative growing up .

I struggled so much with my mental health and challenges along the way as a division one athlete and still struggling on the field , and then an entrepreneur in my 20s and running for city council , going door to door , trying to win an election and then losing in the last couple of days and having that failure and challenge at 26 years old , thinking my life was

over , but then realizing sometimes you have to lose a goal to find your destiny , and then go into law school and then dropping out after a year and a half of law school and then going to work for a dot com , thinking I'm going to make my fortune , and all the while I have a couple of places in Buckhead that I own since I was 24 years old bars and

restaurants and so forth . And now I get to this com , sell the restaurants , I'm going to focus on the com , I'm going to make my fortune . And then I lose my job during the com crash and I don't know how I'm going to pay the bills .

I don't know how I'm going to pay the bills , I don't know how I'm going to support my family , and I am struggling and I am crumbling from the inside out , truly crumbling , and I'm blaming my wife for why my life is not what I hoped it'd be , why I've not lived up to my potential . I'm blaming her and she had enough of my negativity .

She said I love you , but I'm not going to spend my life with someone who makes me so miserable . If you don't change , we're over . And that moment changed my life . In that moment , I remember saying why am I so miserable ? What am I born to do ? Why

am I here ? And in that moment , writing and speaking literally came to me . I'm like that's what I'm going to do . I'm going to write and speak . I'm going to make a difference in that way . I don't know how , but that's what I'm going to do and that's what I'm going to be happy .

I'm going to live with purpose and in my purpose I'm going to find more happiness . You know , we often seek happiness , but happiness is actually a by-product of living with passion and purpose . And so I said I'm going to now start to live this purpose .

I'm going to focus on others instead of myself , because I was so focused on creating success and now it began about how can I help others , and that began this journey of researching ways I could be more positive . It was during the emerging field of positive psychology . So now I began practicing these ideas .

Like you , can't be stressed and thankful at the same time . If you're feeling blessed , you won't feel stressed . So every day , I began taking these walks of gratitude day in and day out . I highly recommend them . They rewired my brain from negative to positive , changed my life . Over 20 years now I've been doing these walks and every day I was doing that .

And then I began a weekly positive tip . Again a weekly positive tip . All the way back in 2002 , I began a weekly email newsletter , one of the first of its kind . Right Now everyone has one , but I began doing that years ago and I was sharing these tips of what I was learning and how positivity was impacting my life . And I had five subscribers .

Initially five my mother , my brother , best friend from college , but everyone I would meet . I would then get them signed up for the newsletter . That would eventually lead to years later speaking at events and inviting people to join the newsletter . Now it's lead gens . I believe everyone should have a newsletter .

If you want to write and speak , have a newsletter and provide value every week or every month , it could be weekly , it could be biweekly , it could be monthly Monthly should be the least amount you do it , but definitely at least monthly and you're sharing a value with your audience .

You're not looking for anything , you're just sharing value , and that was my goal back then I just share value . Looking back , it was the smartest and best thing I've ever done . That newsletter list is over 500,000 people now of loyal engaged readers who now , every time a book comes out , we share it and then they go out and get the book .

It's built a regular , loyal , engaged following because I provided so much value . So so I think that's really key , being consistent with that , and I write that newsletter literally every week for the last over 20 years now , 22 years since 2002 , I've been doing that . As my friend John Maxwell says , consistency compounds . He told me one day consistency compounds .

So that newsletter is key . So I began doing that , and now , as people were reading my newsletter , they started sharing it with others . Next thing , you know , I get offered to write a book . Someone wants me to write a book , a small , very small publisher . I began there and that began my journey now as a writer and speaker .

And then I wrote the Energy Bus in 2006 . It came out in 2007 . And that was a huge game changer for me . That book started being shared everywhere , right , all over the place , and a lot of leaders then started bringing me in to their companies to speak . And now , years later , what I know to be true is that positivity really is the competitive advantage .

I had to live the lessons that I wrote about in the energy bus as an author , so this really fits well with you and this message , because positivity and what you want to do go hand in hand . And I want to share with you how you could activate this positivity so that you can have the competitive advantage in your life .

And we activate it , first and foremost with our vision and mission , like where ? Activate it first and foremost with our vision and mission , like where are we going and why are we going there ? It's essential to have your vision and mission , and I love that channel where I had you write down what you want to build . What do you want to get out of this ?

What does success look like ? Because if you could see it , you can create it . You have a vision . You also have the power to make it happen . Could see it , you can create it . You have a vision . You also have the power to make it happen . When I wrote the Energy Bus , it was rejected by over 30 publishers .

I was told to give up , but I couldn't give up because I had my vision and mission and it was this to encourage and inspire as many people as possible , one person at a time . I want to make time for that one person . Finally , the book gets published and now it's coming out and I asked and I prayed for it to be a bestseller and it came out .

And it was a bestseller in Korea . I learned you have to be specific with your prayers . It was like this huge hit in South Korea . But not one bookstore would carry the book in the United States not one . So I went on a 28 city tour , paid for it by myself , city to city . I had my vision and my mission . I had to get out there .

I had to go do it . I saw myself speaking to audiences and making a difference . I saw this book helping people , engaging them . I had the vision of doing this work and working with organizations and I just couldn't not go . And so I went from city to city . We had five people in one city , 10 people in another , that's it , 20 in another .

It was not going well . The most people we had were 100 people in Des Moines , iowa . They thought Jeff Gordon was coming , the race car driver . That's why they showed up . Not a joke , that's a true story I remember I got home and I didn't know what the future held , but I knew that I had to live my vision and mission and show up every day .

So what I want you to do is pull out your telescope . Your telescope is this big picture vision of where you're going and why you're going there . We don't get burned out because of what we do . We get burned out because we forget why we do it . So keep that vision alive and it will keep you alive .

Then have your microscope that zoom focus those actions you will take every day to realize the picture in the telescope . And every day you show up . I want you to pick a word , one word , if you haven't done this already one word that will give you meaning and mission , passion and purpose .

One word that you will look at every day to remind you to live your vision , to achieve your mission , to continue to work towards it every day . Whatever that is . Pick that word , and I know it will drive you , it will encourage you . Those words have been incredible life shapers over the years and molded me and shaped me .

I was just with a school district and a teacher said her word was endurance . She told her students I will outlast you . And then I had a manager recently and he picked the word retirement and I said no , you're not allowed to pick the word retirement . That's not very energizing . He said well , to me it is .

And I made him change it to finish and he said you know what ? I'm going to finish , strong in my career and my work and the impact that I want to have . What word will drive you and mold you and shape you to be all that you're meant to be ?

This is how we create a crystallized vision and mission and we can make it real , not some ethereal thing that we just look at once and then we forget along the way . You got to keep your vision alive and it will keep you alive . So that's how we activate this competitive advantage . We keep the vision and mission alive and we focus on it .

I had to do that right . I got back from that tour . It wasn't successful , but I knew every day I was just going to show up . It took five years for the energy bus to become a bestseller . Five years of just working and living it and breathing it and showing up .

And now that book has sold over 3.5 million copies and I don't tell you that to be impressed with me . I tell you that because that's what it takes to get your book out there . It's not going to happen without your work , without your implementation , without you taking action to achieve and realize your competitive advantage .

But if you don't have the vision , you're not going to act . So you need both on this journey . So we got the vision , we got the mission . And then the other part here . The other essential part is we've got to make sure that we are fueling up every day with optimism , with belief and positivity .

There's research from Duke University that shows that optimists work harder , get paid more and are more likely to succeed in business and sports . And what these researchers found was that these optimists , because they believed in a brighter and better future , they took the actions necessary to create it . It became a self-fulfilling prophecy .

So often what you believe determines what you create . I want you to put in the chat right now . Do you believe that you could be successful as an author ? Do you believe that you can create a future doing this work ? Do you believe you have something important to say that others , if they read it , will benefit from it ?

Do you believe that what we believe is so important . Our thoughts , our beliefs determine the life that we create . Great example of this Dr James Gills , the only person on the planet to complete six double Ironman triathlons . Double Ironman , which means you do an Ironman , a day later you do another one . And the last time he did it he was 59 years old 59 .

I can't even swim the length of a pool . And he was asked how he did it . He said this I've learned to talk to myself instead of listen to myself .

He said if I listen , I hear all the fear , the negativity , the doubt , all the reasons why I can't finish this race , but if I talk to myself , I could feed myself with the words and the encouragement that I need to keep on moving forward . How many of us need to talk to ourselves instead of listen to ourselves ? I really believe we all do it .

If you're not raising your hand , you just don't feel like raising your hand , because we all need to talk to ourselves to give ourselves the life and the encouragement that we need to keep on going forward . The word encourage means to put courage into . So when you're encouraging yourself , you're putting courage into yourself .

When you're encouraging others , you're putting courage into them . We've got to encourage ourselves even more than ever . And I realized this even a year and a half ago with my wife , catherine , and Chandler's met my wife Catherine . Some of you have my wife about a year and a half ago .

She was being really negative and I have permission to tell you this story . She was being really negative and she's usually the really the positive one . I'm actually the one who's been more negative in the past and now she's like I'm getting old , my body's breaking down . She said I'm sore all the time I work out . It doesn't work . I try to lose weight .

It doesn't work . She said it's just hopeless . I should just give up . I'll never be like I was when I was younger . I said honey , what are you talking about ? I go . We got to stay positive . She said shut up , positive guy Didn't want to hear a word to say I go into a speaking engagement

. I'm gone for two days and I have to admit I was actually glad to be gone those two days . I get back and all of a sudden she's like a different person . She's light and free and bouncing off the walls and all happy and energetic . I'm like , okay , what's going on here ? Like I was there and you were negative .

I leave , I'm gone for two days and I come back and now you're all positive . You know you can imagine what I'm thinking . I said did you find a boyfriend or something ? She goes no , no . I had this health coaching call via Zoom with this company where they do your blood work , they look at your DNA , they look at your DNA , they look at your genes .

It's this cool , innovative thing they're doing nowadays . They said this is really rare . They told them we don't see this often . They said you have the genes of an Olympic athlete . So now my wife is walking around the house going I am an Olympic athlete , I am an Olympic athlete . I am an Olympic athlete . You want to play pickleball tomorrow ?

I'll crush you because I'm an Olympic athlete . And , by the way , chandler and I played some mean pickleball together , by the way . And so she wants to play pickleball because she's an Olympic athlete , thinking she's going to crush me the next day she is meal prepping for her workouts because she's an Olympic athlete . I kid you not .

The soreness goes away , the inflammation seems to go away , the pain goes away . She's now working out every single day , feeling great , acting different . What changed Her mindset , her thoughts , as a woman thinks , she becomes , as a man thinks he becomes .

The thoughts you think and the words you say become the life and the reality that you create , the only difference between someone who achieves success as an author and someone who doesn't . I am convinced . Besides great writing , writing is important , but there are some books out there that are not great writing but that have done really well .

It is your belief of what you believe and because you believe it , you will take the actions necessary to create it . It becomes that self-fulfilling prophecy , optimism and belief . I had this belief when I was starting out . Do all the rejections , all the failure , even that tour , somehow , someway it was going to work out .

And I just had to show up every single day consistency compounds , and take action and do the work and share the message and go speak . I did 80 free talks when I first got started . Right , 80 free talks . I did everything and anything to get out there .

It was a passion , it was a mission and I was willing to do it day in and day out , activating that competitive advantage with that vision and mission , with that optimism and belief . So in the chat right now , I want you to ask yourself what could you accomplish if you had more optimism and belief and positivity ? Do you believe you could accomplish more ?

Put in the chat and just put yes , you truly believe you could accomplish more if you did not have those negative thoughts holding you back . Now something important on this , really quick , on negative thoughts . I want you to know your negative thoughts are not coming from you . Your negative thought , by the way , my name is spelled J-O-N .

Gordon , by the way that's somehow the graphic has J-O-H-N , but it's J-O-N , if you're trying to look me up . So J-O-N . Gordon . And so your negative thoughts come from you . And here's the next question If you believe your negative thoughts come from you , who would ever choose to have a negative thought ? Would you ever choose a negative thought ?

You would never choose a negative thought , and neither would I . They're always coming in . I've talked to neuroscientists . No one has ever found a thought inside of a brain . Thoughts are always come in when you're dreaming , having a nightmare . Are you choosing those thoughts ? No , you're not .

And so the negative thoughts come in from a spiritual place and they often tell you things about yourself and your future that just aren't true and they often lie to you to keep you from your destiny and the work that you're meant to do and the gifts that you're meant to share .

And so I really believe there's a force that doesn't want your book to get out there . There's a force that's trying to keep you from living your mission and destiny , because it's like this resistance that happens and you got to feel that resistance and you have to understand how that works . Like I was talking to a Chicago Bears the other day .

Chicago Bears , like I just gave a talk to the team and I talked to them about this . So many guys could connect with this . They're trying to be superstars , they're trying to make it in the NFL and they got all this resistance . I'm going to go speak to the Seattle Seahawks coming up next week and Clemson football , chandler on Friday .

It'll be my 13th year speaking to Clemson football . But it's not just athletes , it's also writers , it's anyone who's trying to accomplish , accomplish something great . And here's the thing you're a hero in your own epic story . We all are , and that hero in every great movie , in every epic movie , has to overcome what A villain and negativity with what Positivity .

Overcome negativity with positivity to do what ? To create their future and ultimately , impact others , save others Sounds like a writer to me . It sounds like we have to overcome negativity with positivity to create our future , to be able to then be someone who can now impact others and change lives .

And so often you have to go through a life change to change lives . You have to go through the battle to become someone who can help them through their battle , through their adversity , through their setbacks , and that's the journey of life . Everyone will have to overcome this and negativity is a big part of it .

And this is why positivity matters so much , because how do you overcome the negativity ? With positivity , real positivity , resilience and grit and elevating our mindset . Negative thoughts divide and weaken us and make us feel powerless . Positive thoughts uplift us , unite us and connect us and make us feel strong . When you're disconnected , you lose power .

When you're connected , you gain power . And , by the way you need to understand this is really key . The root for the Greek word of anxious means to separate and divide . So when you feel anxious , you actually feel separate and divided . Negative thoughts separate and divide . Positive thoughts connect and elevate . It's essential .

So positivity literally is essential to being connected , to being powerful and to being strong , and that's why it's so important . And this brings us to love . Love is the ultimate way that we activate this competitive advantage . If you truly love it , you will work hard to be great at it . If you don't love it , you won't work hard and you'll give up .

Love is the main driver of grit , actually . If you love it , you'll keep going and you won't quit . If you love your team , you won't quit on them . So love is the ultimate way to elevate our state of mind and it gives us the ultimate competitive advantage .

In our own business , in our leadership , in our teamwork , in our customer service , it all comes down to love . So do you love it ? And so often what happens is , yes , you do , but we allow the stress and the fear and the negativity and all the setbacks to get in the way of the love that we have . I want to encourage you to get back to loving it .

Anytime you start to feel fear , just focus on loving it . I was writing the Carpenter and I had writer's block . I could not write this book . I never had writer's block before . I was thinking it's going to be a piece of junk . People are going to say my best work was behind me and I don't know if I'm going to be able to write again .

I was literally having all this fear and then one morning I woke up . It was the greatest gift , with the truth . I really believe it was a gift from God . Love casts out fear . John , all you got to do is get back to love and writing . That's how you wrote the energy bus Love the reader , love that reader that you're writing for , and love the process .

And , spiritually , for me it was to love God and just focus on that . If I do that I focus on love and I receive love , then fear will have no power over me . I wrote that book literally in two and a half weeks . Two and a half weeks . The energy bus took three and a half weeks of just divine inspiration , of love and it came out .

People say it's probably my best work in terms of best writing the Carpenter . And so love is what did that ? The other day , someone asked me what can you do that ChatGPT can't do ? Since ChatGPT can't do , since ChatGPT , artificial intelligence can write about what ? A million books in how many seconds ? Pretty quickly , I said you know what I can do .

I could love the reader . I could love the reader . Artificial intelligence can't do that , yet I can love the reader and so can you , and you can love the process and you can love that you get to do this work and the minute you do that .

That's what elevates you and elevates your writing and elevates your mindset , and it elevates your connection with others , because love creates connection . So love is an essential part of this competitive advantage , as is serve . Because you love , you serve , and I really want to encourage you on this . You have to come from a place .

When you're writing a book , I truly believe it is to serve the reader . You're writing something that you can then impact others with , and even if it's a family story , you're serving your family and perhaps your grandkids . But it is about serving the reader .

You're going to say something that could impact that person , make them feel a certain way or learn something that could impact their life . And this goes back to purpose . If you don't write it , if you don't write it , then you can't make a difference in their life . So that's why it's so important that you do write it .

If you don't share it and promote it and market it , then it can't reach people that you're meant to help . You didn't write this book to sit on a shelf . You wrote it to reach people , so do it from a place of purpose .

When you're out there , promoting a place of serving and a place of making a difference , I always say you have an obligation to get out there because if you don't , then they can't benefit from your gifts , your talents , your message and your heart and soul . That is meant to write this book and share this book . That's why this is so powerful .

So we love and we serve . Is this helpful ? Is this resonating ? Can I get an amen ? I can't really see y'all , but can I get an amen ? Can I just like hear from you right now via the chat , like loving and serving makes so much sense , like love and serve . And one other word when I share this final word , you're going to go . It all makes sense .

It's care right . We activate the competitive advantage when we care . Caring is the currency of greatness . If you don't care , you can't produce something great . If you don't care about people , you can't bring out the greatness in them . So it's about loving , serving and caring . And I always say don't focus on building your business .

Focus on loving , serving and caring and your business will exponentially grow . Now are you gonna learn a lot of great ideas to build your business . Yes , learn all the strategies , all the techniques . They are helpful . We need to learn how to scale . We need everything that Chandler is offering for this incredible event .

Right , we need to learn all of that , but we do so knowing that if there's no care behind it , none of these techniques and strategies are going to work . So the ultimate thing is how do I invest in the root every day if I want a great supply of fruit , focus on the fruit of the tree . Which is the outcome ? Ignore the root and the tree dies .

So loving , serving and caring is that root . So how can I serve others , how can I impact them ? How can I make a difference ? And that's been really my message and my work and my approach all these years now , with 30 books selling millions of copies not having initial success . Even when I write a new book , it usually doesn't take off right away .

It takes time for it to get out there and then it starts to sell more and more copies over time . I don't go for that quick hit . I don't go for that one hit wonder . It's like it's , over time , making a difference , producing success . We all want , right , the instant bestseller , but very , very rarely does that happen .

You need to know the real truth of this , and it's about showing up and implementing all these strategies .

You're gonna learn with care as the essence behind you and from that essence or I should say the essence within you and the essence within you driving you to do all these things that you do that's what's going to make you successful , because people can tell if you care or not . So love , serve and care .

And then one more thought on this , and I want to take questions after this . We'll have some time for questions , so feel free to ask me anything and maybe , Chandler , you can read the questions and we can answer those for people . But that caring should produce a spirit that really is competitive . In a way , we're talking about the competitive advantage .

Yeah , you should have a spirit that produces this competitive advantage , and that spirit is something that you have to fuel every single day . So it's feeding the positive , it's uplifting your mind and soul , it's encouraging yourself and others and it's loving it on a daily basis .

It's fuel and I'm going to put in the chat here , my team's going to put in the chat .

We have a resource that is fuel that you can read each day to fuel yourself and fuel others . This is also great for kids . If you have kids , this is great for family members you can share with them . To encourage people on how they can fuel themselves on a daily basis , to fuel their competitive spirit . It's essential .

So competitive spirit is not a bad thing , it's actually a really good thing . We were made to compete . We really were Like Chandler and I were playing pickleball and we're battling , we're competing , and I won the first game and then he got fired up and really got fired up and he won the second game and the third game .

Man , now we were both just battling and I got to admit he won the third game . I got to admit he won . He's one of the few people that beat me in singles . He beat me in the third game . I was down . I have to admit I wore down . Now isn't that an excuse ? No , I got to get in better shape . I got to get in better shape .

I knew I got worn down . I got to get in better shape . So guess what it drove me now to be in better shape , to work out more , to train more , to get my cardio up so that when I am playing again , I am now in better shape . See , competition elevates us . Competition makes us better . Everyone has to go through a battle to grow stronger .

My good friend just published a book and he self-published it . Worthy Opponents , worthy Opponents . Now we all need a worthy opponent in order to grow . Well , guess what ? When you're doing a book , you're going to face a lot of worthy opponents , but they're going to make you stronger and they're going to help you grow . Well , guess what ?

When you're doing a book , you're going to face a lot of worthy opponents , but they're going to make you stronger and they're going to help you grow . And you have to have the competitive spirit to keep fighting . I was with John Maxwell not too long ago and John's 77 now I'm 53 , right .

So I said , john , when I was in my 30s I came to visit you and you were in your 50s . I said now you're iconic . You really weren't then you were known , but you weren't iconic . I said what's the key ? And he said , john , consistency compounds . I said I love that . And then I said do you also have a competitive spirit ? Are you a competitor ?

He goes oh yeah , big time . He said I played ball , I was a competitor . And it translates into this . I know a ton of pastors . They're the most competitive people I know and so they're competitors . But now they have a different scoreboard . Their scoreboard is about making a difference . It's saving lost souls , it's helping people get closer to God .

That's their measure of success now . So they're out there competing and battling and fighting . So I believe that you have two scoreboards . That's part of your competitive advantage and part of your competitive spirit .

You're meant to go through the battle and fight and because you want to win Good , want to win , want to produce a successful book , want to produce and get a lot of copies and sell a lot of copies , go for that produce that compete to make that happen . Get out there and have a stubbornness that you're not willing to give up . That was me .

I wanted to do something that mattered and made a difference . So I was a competitor and , being an athlete , I couldn't give up because I had my vision and mission right All the things we're talking about and I had my optimism and belief and I had my grit right .

So I'm fighting , I'm battling , but then the scoreboard changes over time , like that , one scoreboard that we have now gives way to a bigger scoreboard , and I think we all need to have this one scoreboard where we're competing and we want to achieve numbers . That's okay . But then there's that bigger scoreboard that makes even a greater difference .

It's like , okay , how can I impact lives , how can I love and serve and care about others , how can I do something that leaves a legacy and leaves a lasting impact in this world ? And now you're really going after that bigger scoreboard . And so what are you chasing ? What scoreboard are you measuring yourself by and your future ?

And if you're in that one scoreboard right now , okay , that's a season , but eventually try to bring in that other , bigger scoreboard . And now , okay , that's a season , but eventually try to bring in that other bigger scoreboard and let that drive you . And that's where I am now .

I have a certification program and we're certifying people to do my work , to do my programs , to go out there and speak on them and do workshops , and that's the bigger scoreboard . And we're seeing people do it , impacting lives , impacting teams , organizations . It's incredible to watch what these people are doing and I realized that's what my life's about now .

For the first 50 years it was about building up the platform . That first scoreboard , just making it happen right , and the bigger scoreboard of transforming lives and teaching positivity and helping organizations and teams and people . That was a huge part of it too . I had the big scoreboard , but now it's like even more so .

The bigger scoreboard is just like a priority . For me Now it's about investing in people , pouring into people and help them to become all they're meant to be , and seeing you seeing you all on this wanting to write your book , then writing it , then becoming someone who gets out there and shares it , impacting lives from people who read it .

Knowing that that's been my journey , and then wanting to see that in others Because , trust me , there's abundance and there's enough for everyone . Nothing makes me happy when I see someone doing this work and living and breathing it and then rising up , and I want that to be you .

I really want to see you make a difference and make a huge impact doing this work . That to be you . I really want to see you make a difference and make a huge impact doing this

work , and when you do that , that will give you the ultimate , ultimate competitive advantage , because when you make a difference in someone's life , you keep going every single day , because you see the fruit of that . There is no better feeling than knowing that your work , your book , your writing literally impacted someone's life the best heal in the world .

And you will start to do that every day , knowing , okay , if I can help one person , I got to help more . I wrote the One Truth just recently , and teenagers are reading it and it's saving their lives because it's helping them understand how negative thoughts work .

So , instead of feeling broken like something's wrong with them and they feel beaten up , they feel like they need to be fixed . They're realizing no , this is just part of the battle . And they're understanding how thoughts work . And then they're learning how to win the battle of their minds through this book .

And now they're winning the battle , man , it's literally saving lives . So what am I doing now ? I'm out there talking about it , sharing it and knowing that I'm going to get out there even more because I got to help people save lives . I got to help these teens keep their lives , and that's what keeps me going .

So right now , I want you to think about and just write down in the chat what's your bigger scoreboard all about ? What is it that you want to create going forward ? What kind of difference do you want to make ? And from that , what did I say today ? Which one resonated with you the most ? Was it optimism and belief ? Was it division and mission ?

Was it loving and serving and caring ? What's going to stick with you ? Was it one word ? Was it just taking a gratitude walk ?

What's going to be the one thing that you do day in and day out to help you be your best to give you the fuel that you need to fuel this journey , because there'll be your best to give you the fuel that you need to fuel this journey , because there'll be times you want to give up , there'll be times you feel tired .

There'll be times you wonder should I even do this ? And the answer is yes , keep going , don't quit , because the world will be better . Because you didn't quit , because you stayed the course and you did this work , you wrote your book and you made a difference . All right , let's take some questions .

Well , hey , I want to be cognizant of John's time , so I want to do two quick things . We're running out of time . Number one I love it . Number one what was your biggest takeaway in the chat ? And then number two we've got time for one , maybe two questions , all right , so we'll answer one or two questions , if you have them , for John in the chat .

And I gotta say , john , I didn't have me beating you at pickleball on my bingo card , of things that would come up during your talk .

I see the takeaway is you can't do what you don't love . You must love it day in , day out . That's awesome . This is a great one from Angelica for you . John says how do you build your team and capacity as an author ?

It initially started , though my wife was helping with my speaking business , and my wife was handling my contracts , and we'd go to bed arguing whether she did the contract or not , because sometimes she didn't . And she said you're sleeping on the couch and I said , okay , you're fired . I said we're done .

I said you're sleeping on the couch and I said , okay , you're fired . I said we're done .

I said you're just going to be my wife from now on , and I went out and said , okay , I have to hire someone to handle my speaking requests , and that was my first hire , and that person you know began handling all my speaker requests that were coming in to talk to people .

So it's about doing that the capacity of , as an author , find out the best time for you to write and write during that time . I write every December usually , and I wake up every morning and have to write in the morning , and I don't do any social media or emails before I write . If I do , I will not be creative .

So I write , I go take a walk , I come back and then I write some more and I'm done for the day . I edit what I wrote at night and I begin the next , the next , the next day , and that's how I write a book . Is that process ? So that's how I increase my capacity . The more you do it , your capacity will grow .

I mean I don't know if you can relate to this , john , but for so many years you know Dabo talks about this all the time it's easier to become great than it is to stay great right , and you got a lot of joy in the journey when you're climbing the mountaintop for the first time .

But then you get on the top of the mountain and then there's suddenly a lot of pressure and it almost squeezes the stress . The stress squeezes the joy out of the moment .

And so I've been noticing myself over the last , you know , maybe six months or so , especially leading up to the wedding we're in this renovation and all this stuff just getting stressed all the time , and I'm not someone who often gets stressed , but I just noticed it just creeping in , creeping in , creeping in .

And so we started doing these gratitude walks to end the day of just like , hey , what are you grateful for ? What are you excited about ? What's a win from today and just the difference when you're looking for the positive , like in everything that you teach .

I mean , it's just made a huge difference in just how I'm seeing the day right , and so I want to give a lot of just gratitude and appreciation to you for that and to the person who asked about building a team , and obviously John just spoke on that the book you can see it over his left shoulder the Power of Positive Leadership Really really great book on

becoming a better leader and so highly recommend that book . And I want to wrap

up with this , john , I know that your team dropped a link in the chat for folks who want to subscribe to I think it's the Positivity Newsletter . But where's the best place for people to go to find out more about you , to check out your books , that sort of thing ?

Everybody , let's give a shout out to that . That's a huge deal . I'm banking on him . More , you know , just staying around the house , more just being a little more homebody , so he's not going to be as competitive on the pickleball court . That's . My hope is that he'll slow down a little from that .