The Importance of Positive Energy: Review of ‘The Energy Bus’ by Jon Gordon

I’ve been called an ‘optimist’ plenty of times in my life. It’s often a compliment. But it isn’t always. I’ve had people roll their eyes at me and wonder how I could possibly have taken something positive out of something negative.

But here’s the thing: not everything rolls off my shoulders. Sometimes it takes me awhile to shake something off and see the good in what’s happened. But, more and more, I see the value in doing this: in looking for the good even when it’s difficult. And that’s because attitude — and positive energy — can make a world of difference to your day, your week, your month… your life.

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That’s one reason I enjoyed reading “The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy” by Jon Gordon. Gordon wrote about all the benefits of positive energy and attitude by rolling into in an allegorical story about George, a man down on his luck in both life and work.

Through his story, it’s easy to see how we can be run down by negativity — but how we easily we can overcome it too, simply be changing the way we react and respond to what happens to us. “Every flat tire happens for a reason. You can choose to ignore it or ask what that reason is and try to learn from it,” Gordon writes. “You can choose to see the curse or the gift. And this one choice will determine if your life is a success story or one big soap opera.” (pg 7)

It almost sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? That simply shifting the way you react and respond to things can make such a drastic difference in your life as well as your work? But it is that simple… with a few ‘rules’ to help you out from Joy, the driver of the ‘energy bus.’ I won’t detail all ten rules that the book gives out, because I think it’s worth reading for yourself (and it’s an easy quick read anyway).

But everything really boils down to the first rule: you are the driver of your own bus. You determine how you react to a situation. No one else does. Two people can experience the same exact situation; one can walk away declaring ‘woe is me,’ while the other asks, ‘what can I learn from this situation?’

The story also delves into how this positive energy and positive attitude can impact your business, and it’s an adage I’ve heard time and time again in network marketing: “People do business with people they like and who love them. The more love you put out the more that comes back to you.” (page 116).

So really, as the Beatles once sang, all you need is love.

Some may call the book hokey, or overly optimistic. But I disagree. Attitude is everything. And at the end of the day the only question is: are you going to be someone who focuses on the negative? Or looks for the good? Your answer to that will make a world of difference in your work and your life.