After losing his job during the recession, Jon Gordon was not in a good place. He was overly negative, bitter, and frustrated. For his family, he was difficult to be around. His relationship with his wife became corrosive. Eventually his attitude got so bad, his wife sat him down and told him he needed to change or their marriage was through.
At a crossroads, he began to reconnect with his faith. He began to go on regular prayer walks, and reconnect with God who had become distant to him - not a regular part of his life. He committed to a new journey of positivity rooted in faith, hope and love. He also committed to writing more regularly. As a restaurant owner his life was busy. Yet he knew his passion for writing could become a more active part of his life. He began to carve out one hour a day to write. Eventually he launched a newsletter around positivity and positive tips. A dream and vision began to stir around writing and influencing.
His passion continued to grow, and so did his writing skill. Eventually he published his first book on positivity called The Energy Addict: 101 Ways to Get Addicted to Positive Energy. Excited to have his first book published by a small company he was disappointed to find it flopped. The book barely sold. Eventually the publisher stopped selling the book as he was trying to promote the book. A very frustrating process, but Gordon kept at it.
He published a second book on positivity called The Ten Minute Energy Solution. Again his book flopped. Now two books into his writing career, and both books had zero traction. Understandably so, Gordon entered a period of drought. A desert season. A season of disappointment and frustration. He stopped the regular routine of writing. He felt like quitting his journey as a writer. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a successful writer after all? His career was not taking off.
One day on a prayer walk he got an idea. The concept of a fable story about positivity came to him. It became crystal clear he was to write a story book with positive leadership wisdom. He was so excited and rejuvenated that it took him three weeks to write the book from start to finish. He called it The Energy Bus: Ten Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy. This was the book.
Gordon began to submit the book to publishers and was rejected by over thirty publishing companies. Thirty companies decided this book was not worth investing in because it would not sell. Eventually Wiley Publishing picked up the book and began to launch it worldwide. The book became a giant hit in South Korea but nowhere else initially. Progress at least.
Five years after launching, The Energy Bus began to catch traction in the United States. The book began to spread rapidly, becoming an international best-seller, topping the charts as a Wall Street Best Seller. As the success of The Energy Bus began to spread, Gordon kept writing. Within five years of The Energy Bus being rejected by thirty publishing companies not only had The Energy Bus become a best-seller but two other books of his became best sellers as well; The No Complaining Rule, and Training Camp.
Years after the failure of his first two books, and the rejection of his third book, Jon Gordon has authored twenty total books with eight books reaching international best-seller status. He is a trusted speaker and consultant to Fortune 500 companies, professional sports franchises and school districts across the country. His current clients in the sporting world include the Los Angeles Rams, the Tampa Bay Lighting, Clemson University Football, and the Miami Heat. His principles on positive leadership have impacted many people. The Energy Bus has sold over 2 million copies.
“My vision was to encourage and inspire as many people as possible, one person at a time, and I knew that even though I was starting out small, it was still worth it. The goals for my business have changed over the years, but the vision has always remained the same.”
A New Relationship With Rejection
Is rejection an outcome to be avoided or an inevitable part of the process of becoming great? Is it possible to achieve anything of value and avoid rejection at the same time? For Jon Gordon, had the experience of rejection been crushing, he would have never written one of the best-selling books of all time. Perhaps our default view of rejection should be altered to view it as a stepping stone instead of an eviction notice on our dreams.
Flexible Yet Stable Vision
Jon Gordon had a vision of encouraging and inspiring as many people as possible. A vision he was willing to hold on to despite rejection and frustration in the process. There is tremendous value in having a strong vision for the future. A vision that cannot be pried from our hands. There are visions given to us that we must white-knuckle in our grip no matter the circumstances. However, Gordon was able to pivot and alter his writing voice. He maintained a level of flexibility in the process to find the best strategy for fulfilling the vision. Had he remained fixed on writing non-fiction, lecture-like books he may have remained stuck in the restaurant business instead of being one of the most sought after speakers in the world. He displayed the perfect dichotomy of flexible, yet stable vision.
Walk the Walk
One chapter of humility after being confronted by his wife caused Jon Gordon to change from the inside-out. One period of re-committing his life to God and influencing through faith, hope, and love changed the course for him. The habit of a regular prayer walk served as the laboratory for ideas and problems larger than him. One of the avenues to breakthroughs can come in the form of a prayer walk. I wonder what breakthroughs are on the other side of a week of prayer walks.
Stay The Course,
JB
Book of the week: The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon
Podcast episode of the week: Linch with a Leader: Jon Gordon
Article of the week: Lighting Spurred by Motivational Speaker
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