In this episode, host Steven Pesavento talks with bestselling author Jon Gordon about transformative conversation, exploring the significance of clear vision and purpose even in dark moments. They stress the importance of connecting to something greater, be it a personal relationship with God or a sense of universal oneness. Jon shares his journey from a restaurant owner to working with renowned sports teams and leaders, highlighting the need for both a macroscopic vision and a microscopic focus on daily actions. He reveals the power of shifting from self-centeredness to serving others and its profound impact on personal fulfillment and success.
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About our Guest:
Jon Gordon is a bestselling author, speaker, and leadership expert who has transformed countless lives with his powerful messages. With a humble beginning as a restaurant owner, Jon's journey took a pivotal turn when he embraced his vision and purpose to make a difference in people's lives. Despite facing rejection and challenges, he persevered and became a beacon of hope, spreading positivity and inspiration. Jon's faith and belief in the oneness of all things have guided his path, allowing him to connect with his true purpose. Through his books, speeches, and teachings, Jon continues to uplift others, reminding them of the power of love, vision, and serving a greater cause.
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Steven Pesavento 0:00
Hi, I'm Steven Pesavento, and welcome to the name your number podcast presented by the investor mindset. As someone who comes from a challenging childhood, I've spent my life seeking financial security, personal growth, and ultimately freedom, the freedom to not wake up worried about the next paycheck, but rather, with the confidence of knowing that my passive income pays my bills without the need to think about it. When you name your number that you'll earn passively, that creates your ultimate quality of life, that I believe you've achieved, real freedom. Welcome to my show. It's time to name your number. Those emotions, those values, that quality of life is what matters. And I believe that when you get connected to that, and your money is in alignment, you can actually fuel you in such a beautiful way. So I really appreciate you sharing that because I think so many people are lost and whatever way they find their way back to that connection, I think will really open up a lot of things and help people really create that beautiful life. Welcome back to the name your numbers show presented by the investor mindset, we're on a mission to create financial freedom for over a million investors. And when you name your number, the number that you want to earn passively every month that creates your ultimate quality of life, then I believe you've achieved real freedom. Now, let's get to the show. today. I'm excited to have John Gordon in the studio. How you doing today, John? Even doing great. Yeah, for those of you who don't know, John is a prolific Best Selling Author and keynote speaker, speaking and coaching with sports teams and business leaders all over the country for many years. He's full of so much knowledge, he's really living an incredible life. We're gonna get into that life and how he got there today. So before we get into all those details, I'd love to start out on a personal note by looking back at your life. What events or influences from your childhood shaped who you are today, and how has that played a role in your money in your investing journey? Wow.
Jon Gordon 2:02
So you know, growing up, I grew up in a very middle class family. My dad was a New York City police officer, undercover narcotics. And so he wasn't very positive. He saw a lot of a lot of crime. He saw a lot of shootings going on, he was shot himself. But he was a loving guy, but just one of the most negative guys in the planet. And then my mom was actually an advertising and she was a salesperson. And she sold like local advertising. So I saw both my parents work, my mom was a working mom and the 70s before a lot of women were working. So I saw that I was an entrepreneur at a young age, I would basically go around, and when it would snow, I would sell the idea of shoveling the driveway. And then I'd come back with my brother, who would actually shovel the driveway. So I'd sell it for 10 bucks, pay my brother five, and keep five. I don't know how I thought of that. But that's what I was doing at a young age, getting my brother to shovel driveways. I also sold blacktop driving driveways where I would blacktop the driveways up in the northeast and Long Island, New York. So I was doing that a lot and made some money doing that probably hurt my lungs in the process using all that tar. But that was a good experience in terms of like, I remember going around with a guy who was doing carpet cleaning. And he was paying me like $4 an hour I went one day with him. I'm like $4 an hour to do this. There has to be a better way and all the way back then I think I sold the driveway for like $150 to do the driveway. Okay, a lot of money at once. Doing one driveway, I think I'll take that job and it's my own money. So I think I thought like that at a young age. And it also made me in terms of, of what your middle class family wanting more and wanting to be successful, wanting to have my own money. But at the same time, I also was in sports. So I couldn't work all the time. And I was playing sports a lot. So my sports really did define me, in many ways. Blue collar work ethic, great athlete, I get recruited to play lacrosse at Cornell University. I was recruited for football. And so lacrosse taught me about teamwork, hard work, discipline, dedication. And ultimately, I'm playing sports in the offseason. I'm working doing odd jobs, trying to make money at my own car, wanting to impress a girlfriend. And so that's a lot of my youth dictating who I was back then.
Steven Pesavento 4:28
Yeah, well, it's incredible because you know, where we come from often leads to who we become, right? We go through these life experiences. We have challenges that end up leading to a defining moment where we get to choose who are we going to become and how we're going to look at that moment. Tell us a little bit about because you've written 27 books, you've got a 28th one one truth that's going to be coming out soon. You've been speaking and teaching to 1000s and millions of people over the years. What what was the moment that led you down that path to becoming the person that you are today, where you're going out, and you're really making a direct impact on so many people's lives.
Jon Gordon 5:09
Well, I used to be a restaurant owner was 24 years old, I opened up a bar in Buckhead, and it became a happening place was called park bench, 24 years old, opened up this place, starts to crush it, I found investors, everyone put in money, we made it happen, then we opened up a few more places. And I was doing that. But I knew I didn't want to be a borrower for the rest of my life. And so I got the chance to be part of a.com. And the.com, was really just starting to take off that industry during that time. And I had about 80,000 to 100,000 shares, I was gonna make my fortune. And so I was excited about this opportunity. I'm in my late 20s At that point, like 2728. And I have this opportunity to make a lot of money. So I get this job. And I started working with that company, I have the shares. I even brought some investors together to be part of that company. And I'm not involved in the restaurants anymore. Eventually, I would sell back to my partners, and then move to Jacksonville, Florida. So I my wife, two little kids. Now I'm 2930 years old, and the.com industry crashes. What am I going to do? How will I pay the bills? How will I support my family and I am crumbling, from the inside out full of fear and stress, anxiety, man, people think COVID was tough for them. This was my time that was tough for me. This is where I found my light because I basically was in the darkness. And it was during that time I said, What am I going to do? Why am I here? I've got to change because I'm miserable and negative. My wife said if you don't change were over. She was literally going to leave me and I had to change. So I asked what I was going to do. What's my purpose. And in that moment, I'll never forget writing and speaking, came to me and I knew that's what I was going to do. That's why I was here. I want to encourage people the way I was encouraged by various books i read i love the road less traveled. I love the book illusions by by Richard Bach, Jonathan, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. All these different books that inspired me encouraged me, the greatest salesman by Augmon Dino, love that brother one. So read these different books. I thought, you know, I want to do that. I want to write, I want to speak, I want to encourage but I can't just go do that. How am I going to make money doing that? How do I support my family. I'm almost bankrupt. Now. Because I just lost my job. I got a mortgage, I have kids. So I decided to get back in the restaurant business and second mortgage my home $20,000 in credit cards, and opened up the first Moe's Southwest grill. In Florida. This was the first most in Florida, this was the fifth most in the entire country. Now there's pictures of them all over. But I was the first in Florida to open it up, didn't know what I was doing. But everything into this restaurant had no extra money. Literally, the money is dwindling out of the bank account like almost nothing left hanging on by a thread. And I remember just being fearful, but also having some peace, trusting a lot having faith. And next year, like money came out of the blue where a guy owed me money. And that carried us for a month. And then a company reached out and offered me a consulting opportunity to consult with them on wireless technology, which was what the the.com company was all about. Out of the blue they reached out. I said, I don't really know how the technology works. They said no, this teach us how to sell it. So I met with them $13,000 They paid me which back then was a lot for six weeks of of consulting. That money carried us until we made our first profit in the most. But man I was doing everything possible to make this restaurant successful. So think about I'm consulting, I'm trying to make it work, trying to make my restaurant successful. I know I want to write and speak. And then once we made our first profit, I'm like, Okay, now I could start this process, this journey of trying to write and speak and wipe the tables down in the most. I'm like 30 years old. People think I'm a worker there. They don't know I'm an owner, because I wear a t shirt and shorts. I'm wiping down the table, talking to this woman who was the managing partner for New York Life. Eventually, I shared that I was the owner and she said something about needing a speaker for her company or something. I said, Well, I'm a speaker too. And I offered to speak for her company. She was I can't pay. I said it doesn't matter. I'll just come to him. And it was the first talk I gave and I went and gave a talk and I'm like, Okay, I did it. I was nervous to get out of it. But I did it. And then I realized man, I could do this and that began this journey. I'm saying I am now going to be a writer and speaker.
Steven Pesavento 10:03
I think I think what's so powerful about this moment is that you're in the depths of a dark period, you're in the depths of a period where you've got two kids, you've got a family, you recognize that there's a change that needs to happen inside yourself, that your wife is saying, hey, I want to see a different version of you. I don't like the version I'm seeing, you're lacking the financial capability to make that change to create the life that you want to create. But you know, a skill, you know how to run these restaurants. And so you do what you need to do, because you've actually sat down, you've got clear on what your purpose is, you've got clear on that vision, and then you've had the faith to believe that it's going to happen, that it's going to come through you that it that it will show up at the right moment. And it does. I think so many people forget that because they go into the darkness. I know I've been there. And I'm sure many of you who are listening have been there as well. And it's like when you go into that darkness, it can be actually a beautiful place. If you look at it from that perspective, if you use it as a moment to get clear, to really understand what that vision of your life is, what the purpose is, and what this is all about. And it sounds like through that process. You really redeveloped who you are so that you can be this person who's really giving value and helping change people's lives directly.
Jon Gordon 11:18
There are people who still remember me as that restaurant owner as that Moe's owner. My wife just gave a talk recently in our local area, and people came up to her and said, I remember your husband, when he was just opening Mo's. And now to see what he's doing all these books, millions of copies sold later. Doing all this work with all these companies and organizations and teams and great leaders on the planet. I get to work with the Dodgers, the Rams, the Miami Heat, Shami Vaes, a great friend, Clemson football and Dabo Swinney, I work with them, I get to work with all these teams. And yet I started by working in that restaurant. And you're right, I believe you have to have a vision, and a purpose of where you're going, and why you're going there. And when I talk, I think it's powerful, because I've lived it. I've been there. As you said, I was in the depths of despair and darkness. And in that moment, I still had this eternal hope, with a vision and purpose of where I'm going, and why I'm going that you need a telescope and a microscope, telescopes, a big picture vision of where you're going and why you're going there. And then the microscopes, your zoom focus actions, that you will take each day to realize the pitcher and the telescope. And we need both on our journey because I had this dream. But every day I had to work towards the dream. And I think so often, people have this big idea. They have this big vision, but they don't take the actions each day. And a lot of times they take the actions each day. But then they lose sight of the vision and the purpose, we don't get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it. And I gotta tell you that same vision and purpose that keeps me going to this day. And it was those difficult moments and challenges though, that also makes me humbled to this day, because I know where I've been, I know what it took to get here. And I'm so appreciative of the journey. And even when I wrote the energy bus, my first book got rejected by over 30 publishers. So here I am. Now I have a vision, I have a mission. I sell the restaurants. So in 2005, I sold the restaurants, made some money, not a fortune, but some. And now I'm like, Okay, I want to focus on writing. And speaking 100% I told my wife, we got to sell the restaurant. She's like, No, no, we just finally comfortable. Like it took us several years to get to this place where we're actually comfortable. We have money in the bank, because it wasn't like that for those budget years beforehand. And I'm like, No, I got to do this. Here's what happens if it doesn't work. I said, there are no other options, we've got to go for it. And that's what we did. And she was supportive. I sold the restaurants. But now everything's drying up. The money is actually coming out of the bank account, we're living off of it. And I'm thinking I might have to get a job if this goes on for a long period of time. And I'm walking one day, and the energy bus comes to me, I write the book and three and a half weeks, gets rejected by all those publishers though. So now you're being told your dream is not going to happen. So now I'm not really in the darkness. But now I'm in the phase of pursuing my dream. But now I'm being told that's not going to happen. So I could have went into despair. I could have given up. But I didn't 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. So that was literally my vision and mission because I really did want to make a difference. And I realized I was so miserable when I was focused on me. And that's why my wife almost left me when I made my life about others and serving others and making a difference. I said, You know what, I may not make a lot of money doing this, but I'm gonna love doing this. So I'm going to focus on doing this. It wasn't about the money. And so that's what I was focusing on making a difference in serving and impacting and I wrote this book that I thought could be hatful, and I gotta admit, did I want to be someone of value? Of course, yeah. But I also want to add value to people's lives, I think there's an ego there. But your ego must actually be subservient to a bigger purpose in order to be truly successful. I believe if you're always focused on yourself, eventually that's gonna give way to pride and greed and, and lead to a lack of success, because you gotta build it with people over the long term. And even if you do it alone, eventually you're gonna be very lonely, and have all the money in the world and yet be miserable and have no relationships in the process. So how do you have a meaningful but successful life, it's always with P, it's always with people along the journey.
Steven Pesavento 15:41
It really does. And it's so it's so fascinating, because some of the most powerful experiences I've had in my life, have come from a time when I was focused on myself. And then I had a moment of oneness, a moment of connecting to God, the universe, whatever, anybody who's listening wants to call it, but that moment of feeling like an unlimited amount of love inside, and that that feeling comes from giving, it comes from doing unto others, it comes from putting yourself aside, and being willing and asking for you to be passed over. So that you can actually help another person, I think it's so powerful because we often forget it. Because when we're in that survival mode, we're in that place, where we're fearful, where we don't know if we have enough where, where we're just trying to get by, that we can oftentimes forget that. And that's why I think it's so powerful to create your, what I call the dream life, vision, that that that vision and purpose for what your life is really about. So that no matter what you're doing every day, whether you're, you know, wiping down tables at a restaurant so that eventually you can get to the place you want to be or whether you're working in some career job that that you actually do love, but you know that there's more to life. But I'd love for you to share jhanas share with us a little bit about how somebody can go about discovering that dream life, that vision, and that purpose for those people who are lost, or those people who feel like they're in a good place, but they know that there's more. And by connecting to that they can find their way to it.
Jon Gordon 17:07
Well, when I wrote the energy bus, it was really thinking about what is it that I want? What is it that I want to create? What do I want to build? Who do I want to be? What does that future look like? What am I doing during that future? What is my family like? Am I a present dad, am I involved in my kids lives? I had an idea for training back then. But I knew I wasn't ready to do a training company because I needed to invest in my family first. And it'd be a season later to do that. So you have this ideal vision. But sometimes you have this vision, but it means not yet. You can't do everything all the time, as part of your vision, sometimes your mental weight on parts of your vision. But I did have the vision in terms of writing and speaking and it kept me going. I wanted a 20 city tour paid for myself. Eventually, that book, you know, would get published by John Wiley and Sons and I share that message everywhere in anywhere. We had five people, one city 10 People another 20, another the most people ever 100 People in Des Moines, Iowa, they thought Jeff Gordon was coming. That's why they showed up. And that's a real true story. Actually, they did think that I was just back in Iowa doing an event for leadership training packed house full of that. All the leaders in Iowa there. I mean, amazing people. There's like a full circle moment. And where does that start? It starts as you said, the vision and purpose. How do you get clear on that? For me? I'm a person of faith. So for me, the way you find your vision and purpose as you can't know your vision and purpose, without the without the relationship with the One who created you for a purpose. So actually believe like you have a purpose, you're not an accident. And if it's just a universe, which means one song, by the way, there's a creative the one song but if it's just the universe, and it's all randomness, then guess what? The urine accident. And if you're an accident, then there's no purpose. There's no meaning to your life. The fact that you want a purpose, or you believe you have a purpose. And the fact there's one one for you means that this world is not an accident. You're not an accident, and you're here for a reason. And so as you connect with that God that that oneness that you're talking about, that's my book come out in June called The One Truth. One Truth is about oneness versus separateness, that when we feel separate, alone, disconnected, divided, we feel weak, and powerless and sad, and have a lot of anxiety and worry. And a lot of people right now in this world feel that way because they feel separate. But as you return to oneness and connection, but connected to what connected to the God that created you see, the tree is meant to be rooted in the soil. It's not meant to go grow apart from the tree. We know that fish they're meant to be in the water. That's where they thrive in the water. Well guess what you thrive when you're connected to your Creator? You're not meant to be separate from your Creator, you're meant to be one with your Creator. And when you're one with your Creator, what happens in that oneness, you live your purpose. You live your vision, with the vision that's for you. You live with more love, because love is the nature of God and love starts to move through you, you start to have more power, you have more peace. So as you come back to that oneness, instead of feeling separate, it's amazing how your purpose starts to reveal itself through you. And that's what happened to me I was lost, disconnected, alone, isolated, by the way mental health. Everyone who has mental health issues, they all report feelings of isolation. Yes, connection, aloneness, and separateness, as you move from oneness. To separate as you move from positive to negative, oneness is positive, move towards separateness you move towards a lot of negativity, and feelings of negativity. And that's what people need to understand. That's what the one truth is all about. And once you understand this, everything in your life will change. So how do you know your vision and purpose? You start to pray? You start to be open. I'm not talking about religion, I'm talking about relationship. God, what is your plan for me? Why am I here? What is my mission? Show me the signs. I had a friend who wasn't a big believer had trouble trusting and believing in God. And they just said, God, if You're real, you gotta show me God to just show me that you're real, surely some sign? And guess what? They got signs. I tell people all the time, the minute you ask God to prove it, God's gonna prove it. But you may not like what he shows you, but he's gonna prove it. And so this is not meant to be a preaching sermon. But I do want people to feel more joy, more peace, more love. And I know as you connect to that, now, you talked about the universe. If the universe is impersonal, is that going to heal? You? Can an impersonal universe love you? It's like, can you heal with a stranger? Because we know that relational psychology says you heal in a loving relationship. So can you heal with a stranger? No, it has to be a loving relationship. Well, guess what, if God is impersonal, it's not a loving relationship. But if it's a personal God, that you know, loves you, and you connect to that love, that's what heals you. And that's the love that's meant to heal you. So I hope people connect with that and resonate with that.
Steven Pesavento 22:12
Yeah, and I really think there's something really powerful there. Because, you know, for me, personally, John, like I grew up Catholic, I got pretty far away from religion, I almost looked at it from a negative place because of some of the beliefs and values that I learned that made me feel shame and blame and all of these things. And then later in life, I ended up finding my way back in a different way, not necessarily to religion, but to that connection to oneness to this personal connection was something that's so much greater and I don't know the right words, to describe it, and trying to speak in a way that will speak to a lot of people but you know, whether you call it God or oneness, or, or, or, or something, but it is a personal connection, it is that feeling that what I found for myself was that when I actually was connected to that, when I was giving when I was asking for signs, the synchronicity is the magical things that start showing up and you start believing and having faith versus living in that place of fear. Right, having that faith coming in. And in really living in that, I did feel like this unlimited feeling of love. And I really believe that is what the relationship with God your Creator, whatever the word is, somebody wants to use with that. That's what it's all about. And that's where, you know, I've, I've dealt with depression in my life, on and off, I know, you've experienced that yourself, and, and it's this place of feeling so isolated, so alone. So like, there isn't like everything's not going to just work out. But it's interesting, because when you come into that place of faith, when you come into that place of believing that there is something greater out there, that there's something greater for you to connect with that there's a greater purpose, and that you can then make your life about giving versus receiving you end up receiving so much more. It's It's ironic, I had an experience about a week ago where I was doing a healing with some people and it was very large event and, and it was one of the most powerful feelings I cried for hours afterwards. Because during that experience, I was just giving everything that I had asking God asking the universe asking oneness, whatever we want to call it, to bring down and help this person. And it's funny, because in that moment, when you're sitting in that place, and you're putting yourself aside, that's what life is actually about. But we've gotten distracted, because our ego is there and we want to be big, and we want to be valuable, and we want to make an impact. And look I'm on a mission to help a million people become free financially, not because money is the important piece, but because those emotions, those values, that quality of life is what matters. And I believe that when you get connected to that and your money is in alignment, you can actually fuel you in such a beautiful way. So I really appreciate you sharing that because I think so many people are lost and whatever way they find their way back to that connection, I think will really open up a lot of things and help people really create that beautiful life.
Jon Gordon 25:05
That's why I hope people read the one truth because they're going to recognize that that in oneness, there's power. And in separateness, there's there's weakness. And you talked about money, money is just an exchange of energy. And so there's nothing wrong with having money. There's nothing wrong with making money, you're meant to make money, you're meant to actually use that money for good. You're meant to use that money to make heaven, right to shard make earth like heaven and bring heaven to earth. If you can take that money and do good with it. Think about the impact you can have, if you're sick, you can help someone be well, the goal is that you are well to help others be well. So if you can take your money and do good with it, wow, think about the impact you can have. So I like to make a lot of money. And guess what, I give away a lot of money. And again, it's what you do with it. No ego stands, by the way, for edging God out. And so what happens is, when you have a big ego, you actually feel separate, going back to separateness, you feel a separate so because you feel separate, you feel powerless. This gives rise to the ego that tries to give you a sense of power, and control. And as it arises, it's actually weak power. Because it's connected to self, it's not connected to something greater. You mobility connects you to God and to others, and leads to something greater. But ego disconnects you from God and others and causes you to actually feel powerful, but actually, it leads to weakness. And that's why leaders with egos aren't very good leaders. But leaders who are humble are actually really great leaders. Now, it doesn't mean you think less of yourself, it just means you think of yourself less as the old verbiage goes, the old saying goes. So it's really about making sure that, okay, I have an ego, I want to be great. I want to do great things every human being has that desire. But how can I use that to bring out the greatness in others? How can I grow and then help others grow in the process? How could it be subservient to making a greater difference, and be part of the bigger picture, and the bigger one, this one connected to something greater? Why? Because you are meant to be connected to others relationally in relationship, and to be connected to God in relationship. And so again, the universe is not personal, the universe is a medium, it's a echo chamber of the Creator cream, the one song that we're all living in. And this is creator, that's a loving creator that loves you. And I'll never forget the best advice I ever got. Because I'm trying to question everything and had trouble because so many hypocrites in religion and you know, I grew up, I grew up Jewish, was Bar Mitzvah. And then I was a new ager of Buddhists that I'm doing a lot of meditation, I practice all these different religions. And then I had a spiritual encounter with Jesus. And I asked, you know, this, this pasture, you know, what about all the hypocrites, he said, John, don't let Christians keep you from Christ. And because they're the Christ is a unifying energy, that restores you and creates the oneness that you seek by taking the burden, and the pain and all the things you're holding on to takes it off. So now you can connect to and be one with God. It's so simple, and you really think about it. And I think religion has really, a friend of mine said the other day religion is a false union with God, it actually makes you feel like you're one but you're not. It's actually false. It's a lot of actual big ego involved when you look at that way, but love you miletti Surrender trust, spirit connects you together. There's research from Gallup poll that shows that couples that pray together, 99% stay together. 50% who go to church, right, get divorced, same rate, same rate as church or non church, it's 50%. But you pray together, one Spirit coming together, all praying, that's what leads you to actually have a great marriage, a great relationship. So So yeah, I think it's powerful for people to understand and you talked about healing. We all have a wound in our soul. We all have a hole in our soul. And guess what that hole in your soul is a wound. And that will affect the way you make money. The way you look at money, the way you look at success, how you try to achieve success, it will cause you to actually live from your ego, from your wound, and from your separateness. But when you heal the hole in your soul, and you become whole W H. O le, now you become one you become powerfully become strong. And you're not meant to go through life, with fear, without clutter, with stress and chronic anxiety. Like so many people in the world today. Think about it. So many people deal in that deal in that way of feeling that way because they're actually feeling separate. You're meant to go through life with power, with peace, with joy, with love and with purpose. And that is how you're meant to go through life and that
Steven Pesavento 30:00
comes from oneness. Yeah, that's beautiful. And there's really, it's really connecting to that oneness, that energy, whether it's in your relationship or with money or with yourself that ends up really bringing you to that place. I think that's beautiful. We've got a couple more questions before we wrap up. What I love is if you're open to it to share personally, what is that ultimate life that dream vision that you're creating? You've, you've published 27, almost 28 books, you're speaking in front of incredible people. What is that vision for your life? How do you interact with your family? What are those emotions that you want to feel love for you to share that with us for some inspiration as somebody who has been really mastering this in their life.
Jon Gordon 30:38
Now I see my daughter speak and she's 24 years old Jade Gordon, go follow her on Instagram or Twitter. And Jade Gordon is crushing it now at 24. She's doing great work. So it's awesome to see her live this purpose and she was terrified to speak a year ago, she was so afraid. And then she stepped into it because she felt a calling to make a difference. She was working at Nobu in Malibu as a hostess, you know, hospitality graduated from Clemson University. And now she starts doing this work. And it was it was it was crazy to see her step into this because I thought she'd be doing it maybe when she was 3035. And here she is now 24 stepping into it. So it looks like my daughter. Now doing this work. And us doing it together as I coach her and guide her and help her on this journey. And to see her make a difference. And she just worked with a company the other day, got a message from the CEO that she shared with me that check this out, see like, raved about her talk and presentation like so cool to see my wife is doing the same thing. My wife is also speaking, she has a podcast, Catherine for real. So it's not like supporting her, then I have a team of speakers. And I'm supporting that. And we have a train the trainer program where we train people to deliver the energy, bus power, positive leadership power of a positive team. And we're growing that. So it's really the mission of now reaching more people, more leaders, more teams impacting more lives. And now leveraging where we now train trainers, and speakers and coaches to go out and do this. And that's where you multiply and you can impact the world that way with this message, positive leadership, positive teamwork, a positive mindset, not Pollyanna positive, the mental toughness and grit, and how to go through life with this power we're talking about. And guess what the fruit of that is? Money. Yeah, when you invest in the roots, you get a great supplier fruit. Focus on the fruit, ignore the root, the tree dies, yeah, I'm all about invest in the root. Because I know when you invest in the root, you're gonna get a great supplier of fruit and you're gonna make a lot of money. And it doesn't have to be your focus. I always say I wrote this book, The carpenter, people's hands, my best book, it's great for entrepreneurs in your audience. Love serving care, you love serving care, you don't worry about growing your business, you just love serving care, and your business will exponentially grow from there. So to me, that's what I'm, that's my mission. That's my vision. That's what it looks like, no different than what I'm doing now. Maybe have a plane I'd like to have a play would be nice as the one thing I forgot missing. Because it would allow me to go to more places easier, make more of an impact and be less tired when I am traveling to all these different events and organizations. So that's kind of the one thing I've been charting some planes more companies have been bringing me more in their planes. I would love that. But other than that, it's continuing to do the work that I'm doing my mission and vision and my dream life is not sitting on the beach. Yeah. And enjoying all the money I have, I could do that right now and retire if I wanted to, because I never thought I would make the money I have made with all the books have sold like over 5 million copies do the math, right? And all the speaking I've done over the years now for like, what, 18 years. But for me, it's to continue to do this continue to impact and leave a legacy. But if someone doesn't want to hang on the beach, and that's their idea of a dream life. That's nothing wrong with them. I think that's great if that's your vision and mission. But I would say while you're on that beach, what are you doing to make the world better. Because if your dream doesn't involve making a difference in the lives of others, then you need a bigger, bolder and better dream. I'm convinced of that.
Steven Pesavento 34:09
But I really do truly believe that that when you are focused on making an impact for others, you're going to feel a level of fulfillment that really will motivate you will drive you you'll want to continue doing it because that feeling that feeling and that love that we were talking about for this entire episode that connected to that oneness comes from making an impact for others once you get your house in order and and you're no longer worry, you're no longer in survival. You're really living in abundance you're giving away because you know that it's there that it's fruitful. You often will find people move more towards exactly what you and I are talking about here. Just want to share It's so inspiring to hear your vision because you're living it you've been living it for 18 years you've you've truly gone through the the tough times and the great times to create a phenomenal family and be able to go and see those people succeed and then be able to support so many others are on that path. So really, really appreciate you sharing, you're truly an inspiration, you're truly making a difference in the world. Wrapping up on this question, what is your advice for those who are listening? Who are on that path towards creating their dream life? And they're getting caught up financially? What advice do you have for them on how to be able to navigate that so they can really live fully connected to everything that we've been talking about?
Jon Gordon 35:29
Well, I'm glad you asked that. By the way, my son is graduating college in two weeks. So that's also part of my dream and vision. It's been a miracle to see him graduate because he's on the five year plan. So I'm very thankful for that. I want to give him credit for that. But he had fear along the way. And so did I. And so does everyone. So my advice to everyone, as you are talking about this, you said financially, it's not the financial stuff. It's actually the fear that they have about the finances. It's the fear they have about being secure. It's the fear they have about living up to their potential and failing. So my advice would be, don't fear it, love it, you focus on love, instead of fear because love casts out fear. So the minute you focus on love, what happens is, fear will dissipate. And right now we have so many people fearing the outcome, fearing not being successful, fearing not being worthy. But all you have to do is everyday love what you do. Love the moment. Love serving people love building your business, love all the challenges you're facing, knowing that they lead to growth, the minute you focus on love, fear will dissipate, and you will operate at a higher level. And why is that? I wrote about this in the one truth. Love creates connection to that oneness we're talking about. Love creates connection. When you love someone, you feel more connected to them. So love creates connection that creates clarity. The minute you have more connection, you start to have more clarity, you start to see things so much clearer. From there you have confidence. People often think that confidence breeds clarity. It actually works the other way. It's the clarity that reads the confidence. So now I see things clearly. I'm in the zone. And man, I feel like I can take on this world. And I know what I need to do. And that brings confidence. And then that brings courage. So the more confidence you have now you have courage. So my advice is focus on loving it and you'll have the courage to go after your dreams to build your dreams and to ultimately be successful. Love it. Don't fear it and you'll be more powerful and I can give you examples with Clemson football, focusing on love. I can talk about the athlete that I helped, who's a professional athlete is full of fear, got him back to love next, you know, he performs at a higher level. I could talk about the college athlete or Pavarotti. He said, You know what? Everybody wants the audience to love them. But I love the audience. That's what made him so great. And when you love what you do, it shines through.
Steven Pesavento 37:55
Well, this has been so beautiful. It's It's inspiring to hear this. I feel like everybody needs to be able to connect to that to that dream life to that oneness and really be able to step in and live this. John, where can people find out more about you or dive into more of your materials and get in touch?
Jon Gordon 38:12
Yeah, go to John gordon.com J o n gordon.com. Or the new book is get one truth.com also twitter instagram at J O N. Gordon 11. And if you've heard us on this, please let me know that you heard me and Steven talking. Share with me via Instagram. If any questions you want to ask me along the way, feel free to hit me up there. I do you answer my DMs and Instagram. I don't answer Twitter. But I answer. Instagram if you have any questions. I love to encourage people. And so I'm always trying to encourage people on on the journey. And Steven I appreciate the work that you're doing bringing people to oneness. And guess what, as you are one and you feel that oneness, you know it comes from that money. And so focus on that. And the money will be a byproduct of that the life you want will be a byproduct of that success will be a byproduct of that. So what happens is, you seek the kingdom first and then everything else is given to you seek the root invest in the root, you get the fruit. Invest in
Steven Pesavento 39:13
the route, you get the fruit. Thanks so much, John, thanks so much for listening, all of you and we'll see you guys on the next episode. Today's episode is sponsored by von Finch capital. If you're interested in investing alongside me in the same type of real estate opportunities that I personally invest in that head over to Vaughn Finch capital and join their private investor network, you can do so at Vaughn finch.com/invest. Join me on that next deal. I look forward to seeing you on the inside. Thank you for listening. If you like what you heard, make sure to rate review, subscribe and share with a friend. Head over to the investor mindset.com to join the insider club where we share tools and strategies from the top investors and entrepreneurs and how to take it to the next level.