The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon

I recently read a book entitled, The Energy Bus, by Jon Gordon. One of my player's urged me to read this. Upon her request I did and I'm thankful for it. This is a terrific book that I would suggest you purchase and read for yourself. I have taken my own notes on this book and turned them into this blog. Again, these are my notes and will read like notes. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

If you only read as far as this paragraph, try to do these two things more often. Smile and say Yes. A smile changes your energy. They way you feel, the way you act, the way you interact with others. Also, you can't get more positive than the word yes. Try saying it more often throughout your life. Don't become a dimmer. Dimmers are lifeless, tired, exhausted, fatigued, and have given up on life.

THE 10 RULES FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE.
1. You're the Driver of Your Bus.
2. Desire, Vision, and Focus Move Your Bus in the Right Direction.
3. Fuel Your Ride with Positive Energy.
4. Invite People on Your Bus and Share Your Vision for the Road Ahead.
5. Don't Waste Your Energy on Those who Don't Get on Your Bus.
6. Post a sign that says: NO ENERGY VAMPIRES ALLOWED on your bus.
7. Enthusiasm Attracts More Passengers and Energizes them During the Ride.
8. Love Your Passengers.
9. Drive with Purpose.
10. Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride.

The following are the important concepts I found from each rule discussed in the book.

1. You're the Driver of Your Bus. "It's the most important of the rules because if you don't take responsibility for your life and control of your bus then you can't take it where you want to go. If you're not the driver, then you'll always be at the whim of everyone else's travel plans."

MORE PEOPLE DIE MONDAY MORNING AT 9 A.M. THAN ANY OTHER TIME. People would rather die than go to work. They feel like they don't have a choice so they give up. Drive your bus: One thought, one belief, one action, one choice at a time. Go where you want to be.

Fill your life with positive energy. Energetic music, foods, projects, thoughts, words. If it burns you out...leave it out. "Our thoughts are powerful because they are loaded with energy. When you identify what you desire and write down your vision, you begin the process of mobilizing the energy to create the life you want."

CREATE YOUR WORLD:
1. My vision for my life? (including health)
2. My vision for my work, career, and team?
3. My vision for my relationship and family?

"Sometimes we have to see what we don't want, to know what we do want."

"Every crisis offers an opportunity to grow stronger and wiser; to reach deep within and discover a better you that will create a better outcome."

2. Desire, Vision, and Focus Move Your Bus in the Right Direction. "Focus on Your thoughts." Each day focus on your vision for 10 minutes and see yourself creating everything you wrote down on that paper. The law of attraction. The more we focus on something, the more we think about something, the more it shows up in our lives." What we think about we attract. What we think about expands and grows. What we put our energy and attention on starts to show up more in our life.

"You cannot be the person who focuses on what they don't want, don't like, and don't have. When you complain; you get more things to complain about. "We're winners...not whiners." If you keep thinking what you've been thinking, you'll keep getting what you've been getting."

E + P = O (Events plus perception equals your outcome)
"We can't control the events in our life, but we can control how we perceive them. Our perception and response to the events determine our outcome."

3. Fuel Your Ride with Positive Energy. What is positive energy? Trust, Faith, Enthusiasm, Purpose, Joy, and Happiness. This is the type of positive energy that inspires and leads others. Fuel your tank with high octane positive energy. Let go of all the negativity in your life. Throw it out. Release it.
**Think about how thankful you are to have a job.Think about how you are healthy enough to go to work. Be thankful you have a car. Be thankful that you can afford to eat. Everywhere a negative exists, there is a positive on the flip side. Fuel up with positive thoughts, cultivate positive feelings, and take positive actions! Without fueling up with positive fuel your ride will stall. Negative energy will fill the void. Fuel up each day.**

"A man goes to the village to visit the wise man and he says to the wise man, " I feel like there are two dogs inside me. One dog is this positive, loving, kind, and gentle dog. Then, I have this angry, mean-spirited, and negative dog and they fight all the time. I don't know which is going to win." The wise man thinks for a moment and he says, "I know which is going to win. The one you feed the most, so feed the positive dog."

 10 Minute Exercises to Feed the Positive Dog!
-Thank You Walk: It's physically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same moment. Walk for 10 minutes and say what you are grateful for. Counting your blessings will make you feel great. Being grateful floods the body and brain with positive endorphins and emotions. Combined with walking it is a great energy booster.

-Success Walk! (The One Great Golf Shot Theory.) People forget all the awful shots from their round, but they remember the one good shot that keeps them coming back for more golf. However, in life people tend to go to bed and think about everything that went wrong. Instead, let's think about one thing that went right in our day. It will help us get addicted to life...like golf.

4. Invite People on Your Bus and Share Your Vision for the Road Ahead. Continue to ask people to get on your bus. Try to create a standing room only bus to create as much positive energy as possible. Hand out tickets or e-tickets that say..."This is my vision for our team and our product launch and this is where my bus is going and I want to invite you to get on." You must share your vision...make it clear...and explain the expectations.

"I am not bound to win, I am bound to be true.
I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light that I have." -Abraham Lincoln

Develop mental and emotional muscle to get your bus rolling. There will always be negativity everywhere in your life. You will always be surrounded by negative people. It's not these people so to speak. It's the negativity they represent that will destroy you. All of this negativity is inside each and every one of us. Self-doubt, fear, hopelessness, and negative energy that drains us and sabotages everything we want in life. This is why it is so important to FEED THE POSITIVE DOG!

Don't take negative people personally! Don't focus on these people personally. Forget they even have names. Don't think of it as you versus them. Just realize they represent negativity.

5. Don't Waste Your Energy on Those Who Don't Get on Your Bus. Don't even try to make these people get on your bus. They might ruin your ride. You can only drive your bus and those willing to get on. Just let them sit at the station. The more energy you spend worrying about the people who didn't get on, the less energy you will have for those who are on your bus and those you are asking to get on. Don't spend time thinking about the wolves, spend that time thinking about those who want to be with you.

If you want to be successful you have to to be very careful about who is on your bus. After all there are people who increase your energy and there are people who drain your energy. I call the people who drain your energy "Energy Vampires." They will suck the life out of you, your goals, and vision if you let them. They will cause an engine leak, make your ride miserable, or even slash your tires. However, don't take it personal. They are just part of the negativity that exists in the world. Do your best to eliminate these negative people.

6. NO ENERGY VAMPIRES ALLOWED. "Your positive energy and vision must be greater than anyone's and everyone's negativity. Your certainty must be greater than everyone's doubt." Doubters will always exist. They will tell you you can't do this and you won't be able to accomplish that. They think dreams were meant for others but not for people like you and them. Some won't want you to succeed because it makes them see their own weaknesses and failures. They try to ruin everyone's ride instead of driving their own bus. Sometimes you have to kick these people off your bus and move on.

"Positive energy is like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets the more powerful you become."

"Trust that great things are happening."

"The goal is not to be better than anyone else but rather be better than you were yesterday."

The gifts you bring to this world is your presence of feeling good and being happy and bringing this to others. Being around happy and positive people makes people feel happy. Too many people try to please others and this only makes them unhappy. It's better to feel good and let this feeling shine on others. When you feel good you give from power. When you feel bad and try to feel good by pleasing others you only give away your power...and this makes you weaker.

Lead with your heart. Emotional intelligence is responsible for 80 percent of adult success.
CEO = Chief Energy Officer...become one today!

7. Enthusiasm Attracts More Passengers and Energizes Them During the Ride.
When you get excited and enthusiastic about your life and work you bring this powerful divine energy to everything you do, and people notice. They can see it and feel it. When you're enthusiastic people want to get on your bus.

Walt Whitman said, "We convince by our presence, and when you are enthusiastic you project an energy that convinces people to get on and stay on your bus.

8. Love Your Passengers. You must show them you are concerned and that you care about them. They want to know that you love them. When you show your passengers this they will work hard for you, remain loyal to you, and love you back. Enthusiasm gets them on the bus. Love keeps them on the bus.

The Rock:
"Find the value in a rock and you will find a priceless treasure inside yourself and in all the people you encounter."
**Focus on bringing out the best in each person on your team. When you love someone you want the best for them. You want them to shine. The best way to do this is to help them discover the value inside them.**

FIVE WAYS TO LOVE YOUR PASSENGERS:
1. Make time for them. (Be present mentally and emotionally with them)
2. Listen to Them. (empathy)
3. Recognize Them. (Feed the positive dog inside them. Catch them doing something right and tell them.)
4. Serve Them. (Serve those on your bus rather than have them serve you. How can I help them more?)
5. Bring Out the Best in Them. (Help them do what they do best!)

Take a "Leap of Faith". Through trust we tap into the ultimate GPS. (God's Positioning System). Trust your people and they will trust you. This can turn fear into faith and faith into resolve.

9. Drive with Purpose. With purpose we don't get tired, bored, or burned out.

10. Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride. "Live young, have fun, and arrive at your final destination as late as possible, with a smile on your face." Don't worry about meaningless things. Why fight or get stressed over promotions, deadlines, emails, or family members. Don't be blind to the beauty around you. 95 year old's say they wish they would have: 1. Reflected more. 2. Taken more risks and chances. 3. Left a legacy.

 I wish you the best as we all try to improve our lives, relationships, careers, families, organizations and teams. I hope this blog has inspired you to improve your life and to purchase this book from Jon Gordon.

-Josh Williams