I’m thrilled to share the latest episode of The Amberly Lago Show with someone I’ve admired for years, the incredible Jon Gordon! If you’ve read The Energy Bus or The Power of Positive Leadership, you already know that Jon is a powerhouse of inspiration and wisdom. In this episode, we dive into what really drives success, and it’s not just goal setting. It’s about making deep, unwavering commitments, building your life on faith, and leading from a place of love and positivity.
Here are a few of my favorite takeaways from our powerful conversation:
The Power of Commitment Over Goals
Jon had me rethinking everything I thought I knew about achievement. He shares that while goals are helpful, they’re not what keep us going when life gets hard. It’s our commitments, the things we show up for every day no matter what, that fuel real transformation. He challenged us to stop asking, “What do I want?” and instead ask, “What am I truly committed to?” That shift changes everything, from how we lead to how we live!
Live LIGHT
One of the most beautiful parts of this conversation was when Jon introduced his acronym, LIGHT: Love, Inside out, Get to, Have faith, Talk to yourself. This framework is all about shining from within. I especially loved the mindset shift from “I have to” to “I get to.” That one change can instantly bring more gratitude and joy into your life. Every part of LIGHT is a reminder that you don’t need to carry the weight of the world alone. You just need to return to the light within you.
Faith and Resilience
Jon shares how his faith has been his anchor through life’s storms. He opens up about the role of prayer in his journey and how connecting with a higher power brings peace and clarity. His message really hit home for me. So many of us try to power through on our own, but there is incredible strength in surrender and in seeking guidance from something greater than ourselves.
I left this conversation feeling more grounded, more committed, and more filled with hope and I know you will too! Whether you’re a leader, an entrepreneur, a parent or just someone trying to live a little lighter, Jon’s wisdom will leave you feeling seen, supported, and energized to take the next step on your journey!
Tune in now and let this episode encourage you to lead with light, love, and faith!
About Jon Gordon
Jon Gordon is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and leadership expert known for his transformative work on positivity, culture, and personal growth. He has written more than 20 books, including The Energy Bus, The Power of Positive Leadership, and The Coffee Bean, many of which have become required reading for leaders in business, sports, and education. Jon’s message of optimism and resilience has been embraced by Fortune 500 companies, professional sports teams, school districts, and faith-based organizations around the world. With a deep belief in the power of commitment, service, and faith, Jon continues to inspire millions to live with intention and lead with purpose.
Follow Jon
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jongordon11?igsh=MTcwdzh1NW1sMzNubA==
- Website: https://jongordon.com/
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Transcript:
Amberly Lago:
Hey there, thank you so much for tuning in to the Amberly Lago Show. I have my favorite author on the show. I know Jon Gordon, thank you for being here. John, my listeners have heard about you a lot because I seriously rave about you all the time. And I’m so grateful. I tell people that when you agreed to write the forward for my book, that I actually cried.
Jon Gordon: So that means a lot. And really, thank you so much. I appreciate you very much. That means the world.
Amberly Lago: Oh my goodness. Well, I have your new book. Actually, I’ve ordered your book for, um, so many of my friends and all the ladies in my mastermind, the seven commitments of a great team. Y’all, Jon Gordon is an amazing father, husband, friend. Um, when he’s not busy, you know, running through airports and speaking on stages and leading teams, uh, he actually just ran into you on the beach doing your walk on the beach.
Jon Gordon: Yes.
Amberly Lago: And you have had such an impact on me, um, taking walks. So I’ve started taking, walks of gratitude because you’ve inspired me to do that, but you’ve inspired so many incredible leaders and your new book is just incredible. Is this number 30? Is this book number 32? And I have to say also, Jon, I love how you’ve added in the back of your book, how many different ways people can, work with you. Like I, I love that you’ve added all your books and that ways that people can either be in your mastermind. So I feel so blessed. I’m in your inner circle mastermind, which has been amazing. And I just got to see you. We had a gathering that you put together in Florida. Um, but I really want to ask you this. Did it really take you like three days to write this book?
Jon Gordon: Well, not three days, not three days, but it took six, 16 days and I say 16 days, it really took 54 years to write this book. All of the knowledge, all of the experience, all the teams I’ve had the opportunity to work with, all the lessons I’ve learned all along the way, all the exercises that I’ve been doing with teams to see the impact that they have. Ultimately, when I decided to write this book, I sat down and it just flowed. It’s a fable. It’s a story. So I brought all these ideas, all this knowledge, all this experience into this book. And as you know, I wrote it through characters and a story of a team that has to become committed together. And so as you read this book, you follow their journey and you learn the lessons along the way. You learn the frameworks, you learn the commitments, you learn ideas on how to become a stronger, more cohesive, more successful team. Any team that reads this book will become more committed together and they will become stronger together and I guarantee they will achieve more together. So even though it took 16 days, and as you know, my son Cole said, dad, don’t tell people it took 16 days. They’re going to think it’s not good. Well, no, it took 16 days because it just flowed magically. It’s that special. It was such a special story. The main character, his name is Tim. Well, I had a teammate named Tim. I named all the teammates in the book after my team members and my teammates. And so I had a, great friend, a great teammate named Tim. And when I was done writing this book, I had my cell phone off. I always shut it off while I’m writing so I don’t get distracted. When I’m done writing, I turn my phone back on and I got a text from Tim. My teammate Tim texted me. I hadn’t heard from Tim in six months. And Tim reached out to me literally as I was finishing this book, put it down, looked at my phone. I couldn’t believe it. I’m like, what a great sign. Like this is going to be something special.
Amberly Lago: It is. And I love that you talk about goals versus commitment. Cause there are, you know, a lot of people that have a lot of goals, but Just explain a little bit the difference between goals versus really commitment and being committed to something.
Jon Gordon: Well, Amberly, I ask teams all the time, do you have goals? Everyone says yes. I said, who has written down their goals? And about half the people raised their hand. I said, how many of you have written down your commitments? No one raises their hand. Goals are great, you need to write down your goals, you need to have goals, but your goals will not take you to where you want to go. Your commitments will, but not your goals. What are you committed to? Are you committed to working hard? Are you committed to sacrificing? Are you committed to growth? Are you committed to serving more, selling more, impacting more? Whatever you’re committed to, that will lead you to your goals. So in a world that loves to focus on goals, I believe the conversation is going to change, especially after people read this book. Everyone’s now going to start focusing on their commitments. I was working with a team and I had them write down their goals and then I had them rip them up and everyone was all upset. What? Why did we write them down if you’re going to have us, you know, rip them up? And I said, well, just give me a second. So they ripped them up and then We went over what their goals initially were. I wanna have so much success. I wanna have this number of accomplishments. I wanna have this reward, you name it. They had all their goals. I said, everyone else has the same goals and every other organization, every team organization, every meeting room, they had the same goals. So then I had them write down their commitments and the conversation was very different. They started talking about what they were gonna do. they started talking about extra time practicing, extra time preparing, how they were gonna eat healthier, because they wanted to be in better shape and perform better. So the whole conversation changed when they talked about commitments.
Amberly Lago: Yeah, and I have seen firsthand how committed you are to everything that you do to be the best version that you can be and show up the best way. I mean, you practice what you preach, you eat healthy, you are committed to your daily walks on the beach. What keeps you motivated to keep moving forward, to go to write more books? And I remember, Jon, I remember one time being at your house, I was like, this is the busiest I’ve ever been with speaking. I’ve done, you know, done this many events. And you’re like, Oh, I did 114 speaking events, different cities. And I was like, wow. How do you stay motivated? And do you have days where you’re just like tired and don’t want to go? And then what keeps you going again?
Jon Gordon: Well, I don’t want people to think I was like touching you saying, Oh, I’ve done so many more events than you know.
Amberly Lago: Just put things in perspective. I was like, you are like, you are my like really my biggest inspiration. And I just want to say this real quick too, that my husband loves you so much and he will always use you as an example. Would Jon Gordon do that? Like there was one time I put a story on Instagram and I was like, Oh my gosh, well, I’m going to speak at this event. Their keynote speaker Today was an astronaut, and I’m their keynote speaker tomorrow. Wish me luck. And Johnny saw my story, and he messaged me. He’s, take that off your story. Take that off social media right now. Would John Gordon do that? No, John Gordon would not say that. He would be like, I’m going to go crush it. I’m going to go get them. And so my whole family really admires you and looks up to you. That means a lot. Oh, but are there days where you’re just like discouraged or not motivated? And how do you get through those moments if you are?
Jon Gordon: Jonny’s awesome. And he is such a great human being. And I really appreciate what he’s saying in that, in that instance, because Amber, you have to have confidence to believe that you’re there for a reason. And I know you know that, but there are times we all have self doubt. There are times that we have fear. There are times we feel like we don’t measure up. And I’ve had those moments myself. So to be used as an example, like, well, darn, Gordon do that. That’s a lot of pressure because I am a flawed person and we’re all flawed. And I also know that I am humble in a lot of ways because I’m humble in knowing that God is in control. I’m humble in knowing that there’s a creator and it’s not me. And there’s a God and it’s not me. And I must answer to this God. I must serve others. I must make an impact in this world. I know why I’m here. It’s to make a difference, make an impact. But I have become confident over the years in what I’m here for. I believe once you know your mission and why you’re here, you become so much more confident. You wake up every day going, okay, This is why I’m here. This is my purpose. This is what I’m meant to do. And there’s a lot of confidence that comes from that. But do I still have moments of doubt and fear and anxiety? Yes, everyone does. You asked about my commitments earlier. Well, today, Catherine and I, you know, Catherine, my wife, who’s good friends with you, we went to the phlebotomist to get, you know, blood work done. We got so many vials of blood taken out of our body because they’re going to be testing because we want to be healthier. So we’re going to basically test everything in our blood to make sure that everything’s okay. We’re actually gonna go to this place down in Louisiana, it’s my good friend Kevin Schneider, it’s Paradigm Health, and we’re going down there, we’re gonna do the whole scan of your body, your brain, looking at your arteries, looking at everything just to make sure that we are healthy. But the funny thing is they took out so much blood, I’m a little lightheaded right now. So if I’m not making sense today, just know it’s because I’m a little lightheaded because they took so much of my blood out of my body, but I think that’s a commitment, okay? I’m committed to being healthier. I’m willing to do this and sacrifice the time, the energy, and the money to go down there to make sure that. We are indeed in good health. Now, there’s many ways to sacrifice for your health. It’s eating right. It’s exercising every day. It’s doing the little things that add up to big things. And I guess my mindset is I always want to be the healthiest, best version of me. Was I always the healthiest, best version of me? No. Was I always someone who got up every morning and did thank you walks? No. But my goal has been to get better over time. And I think the key is to get better every day. If you try to improve on a daily basis, every week, every year, and you see improvement, you see progress, well, those days and those years stack up over time to an improved life. But it does take commitment. And it’s always gonna be, what am I willing to give? and what am I willing to give up? I wrote about this in the Seven Commitments of a Great Team. Every team member must say to their team, what am I willing to give and what am I willing to give up to sacrifice for the team? There are things that you have to sacrifice in your relationship with Johnny and also being a mom. Like, especially, you know, Ruby being younger and, you know, rising up now and, you know, she’s not in college yet though, right? Not in college yet, but there’s a cost there because you could do more speaking events, but you don’t because you’re spending time at home. So you’re always having to sacrifice something. Commitment will cost you something, but the reward is always so much greater. So you exercise and that commitment leads to greater reward of health. The thank you walks every day lead to greater peace of mind. Me pouring into other leaders and investing in leaders leads to greater relationships, and I grow as I help others grow. So I have found that when you’re committed and you’re always improving yourself, you become someone who can help others improve. And then when you make it your mission to help others grow, you actually grow. So it’s like this nice circle that really works. And you talked about my mastermind. That’s the name of my mastermind. It’s called my circle. I didn’t want to call it a traditional mastermind, right? Mastermind, mastermind. I want to call it a circle. It’s different. It’s not, it’s just, we get together, but we’re not necessarily a mastermind. We’re a circle. Although there are great masterminds. Your mastermind’s awesome, but I wouldn’t call your mastermind necessarily a mastermind. You’re just like a, you’re like a, like a. a brand catalyst to go to the next level in your speaking and your writing and in your platform. You’re a platform catalyst.
Amberly Lago: When you started your inner circle mastermind, I was like, I have been waiting for this. I am so excited about it. The people that you attract, in your inner circle, in your life, are just amazing. It’s a family, so I’m so grateful to be a part of it, truly grateful.
Jon Gordon: You’re an amazing part of it, and we love having you involved, because you bring in so much wisdom, and you have your own mastermind where so many are learning and growing from you. I really believe everyone should be a mentor and also be a mentee. You need someone who is speaking into you, helping you grow, and then you’re growing others. And when you do that, that’s how you grow the most.
Amberly Lago: Yeah, I agree. I’m a firm believer in always having a mentor in everything that you do, whether you’re a coach or you want to write a book or whatever, speaking, whatever, what you’re doing. One thing that I love that you share, whether you’re speaking, Jon, or in your books, is you lay out things to where I can remember them. Like I love in your book that you talk about five ways to stay positive and live light. Can you share that? Because this is something that is so impactful, but it’s easy for somebody like me to remember.
Jon Gordon: Yeah, light, live light. So the whole idea of living light is an acronym, right? And so it starts with love, the power of love over fear. The more we bring love to it, fear dissipates. So anytime you’re fearful, just bring love to it, because love casts out fear. And the minute you focus on love, that fear dissipates and you’ll operate at a higher state of mind. As I wrote in The One Truth, love creates connection. The connection creates clarity. Clarity creates confidence. And the confidence then generates courage. And so the more loving you are, the more courageous you’ll be. The I is inside out. We create from the inside out. And this is the coffee bean analogy that the power is not on the outside, it’s on the inside. So you have the power to transform the world with the power inside of you. You’re not a victim of circumstance. Amberly, you could say that your injury, what happened to you, the accident, that… defines your life. But no, you wake up every day defining your life by who you are, by what you believe, your passion, your energy, your desire to help others. You could have said, I’m gonna be a victim and just give up on life. No, you’ve taken on life and now you’re a great inspiration to us, our family, and so many others. So that is the inside out power that everyone has. If you feel like the world has power over you, you’ll go through life very weak and powerless, and you won’t accomplish much. But if you know the truth, and this is the truth, that you have the power over your circumstance, and you live from the inside out, it’s gonna be a very different life experience in how you take on this world. So that’s the I. The G is get to. Right, you gotta get to instead of have to. We’ve heard that so often now lately, get to instead of have to. I actually wrote about that in the No Complaining Rule in 2008. Get to versus have to. Every day, life is a gift, not an application. You don’t have to do anything, but you get to do everything. And there’s so much power in that. When you change your have tos to get tos, you change a complaining voice to an appreciative heart. And then the H is have faith. Just have faith, just trust, just belief that faith allows you to take one more step to move towards the future. Whatever you’re going through, have faith that tomorrow will be better than today. There’s so much power in just having faith. When we don’t trust, we don’t have faith, then we try to be God. And the minute we try to be God, we feel the anxiety of the world, we feel the burden of the world, because you were never meant to be God. I was never meant to be God, right? You were meant to be you and trust in God. And you make a crappy God. But God is pretty good at being God. So have faith and trust in God. And then there’s the T, and that T is talk to yourself. Don’t listen to yourself. So instead of listening to all the negative thoughts that are coming your way, all the outside negative voices, talk to yourself with words of life, words of encouragement. The thoughts we think and the words we say become the reality in the life that we live. So how you talk to yourself. is essential to giving yourself power and moving forward. Because negative thoughts are always coming in. And I think we talked about this with The One Truth on our last podcast when we talked about that. Negative thoughts are always coming in. And when they come in, we often believe those lies. And we believe them, we reinforce them. And then we speak them out loud. And then those thoughts become who we are. But you have to realize those thoughts are not who you are. You’re not the thoughts you think, you’re the thoughts you believe. So don’t believe those lies. Don’t believe those negative thoughts. And the key is speak truth to the lies and talk words of encouragement and life to yourself. You might say, I’m getting stronger. I’m getting healthier. My leg is powerful and strong and I’m healthy and I’m ready to take on this world and dominate this world. And you say that every day and I’m telling you over time, you’re going to feel that power. That’s the power of talking to yourself. So live light, love inside out, the fact that you get to have faith and talk to yourself.
Amberly Lago: I love that. And you know, I, I’m, catch myself when I’m thinking a negative thought or I’m saying something negative and I try to flip it, flip the script and change it. And I even, you know, Jonny doesn’t mean this in a bad way at all, but he’ll say something like, Oh, is that the bad leg? And I’m like, no, there’s no bad leg. This is the leg that’s getting better. Like I constantly put it out there. No, this is the leg that’s getting better. And I love so much that you talk so much about your faith in God. And Ruby made this little ceramic frog for me. I love that. Well, it reminds me, fully rely on God. That’s what frog symbolizes. Fully rely on God. Just in case I forget, there’s my reminder. I need to be reminded sometimes because I can get in my own way. So, do you find your biggest inspiration when you’re doing your walks out on the beach, or where do you gather your inspiration?
Jon Gordon: Well, first I have to ask you where that FROG acronym came from, Fully Rely on God. Where did that come from? I love that.
Amberly Lago: Oh, yeah. I heard that, so I got sober in 2016, and that’s kind of a saying that we have in sobriety. And now I say it so much, I even had one of my clients give me a coffee mug with a frog on it that says, fully rely on God. So yeah, it’s just something I heard a long time ago, and I’ve always said it. And every time, you know, like when you said your friend texted you right after you finished writing. and you turned on the phone and you got, I believe in signs and I can be having a hard day and I will be outside on a walk and see a frog. And I’m like, okay, fully rely on God. So now every time I see a frog, I’m like, okay, fully rely on God. Just keep God close. That’s cool.
Jon Gordon: I love that. I really love that. You asked me about my inspiration. Yeah, I would say it’s mostly when I’m walking. on the beach like I saw you and Julie walking that day. I’m walking, I’m praying, I’m getting ideas. That’s where all the books usually have come to me on those walks. And so I can honestly say taking a walk of gratitude for over 20 years now has changed the course of my life. I mean, it’s probably 24 years now. Yeah, 24 years of walking and practicing gratitude and praying and thinking every day. Yeah, I’m a walker, and that’s where the best ideas come from.
Amberly Lago: Yeah, and I mean, here you had a big event and went for a walk. Most people might want to, you know, lay down, or no, you go for a walk. But that beach is gorgeous. And I will just share with you that Jonny’s actually looking for properties, or I think I’ve got him convinced to move to Florida.
Jon Gordon: Let’s go. Let’s go. Beach walks are great, but you can walk anywhere. I mean, wherever you live, wherever I go, when I’m on the road speaking, I’m walking around the hotel. I’m walking around you know, wherever I am, I am literally going to walk around the building. I’ll walk around a school. I’ll walk around a, an event center. You name it. I will get the walk in whenever I get to a location or a destination. Now, if it’s really cold, then, then I’ll walk inside, but summertime and it’s not raining. Could pretty much walk everywhere.
Amberly Lago: Yeah. Well, I just, um, and so inspired by all the events that you do and all of the traveling that you do. I’m just like, Wow, you are just on the go nonstop. There are a lot of people that listen to the show that they want to write books. They want to speak on stage. What would your suggestion be to someone who’s listening who wants to become a speaker? What, where should they start? What should they do?
Jon Gordon: Well, you first have to ask yourself, what do you want to speak about? What’s your core message you want to share? And that is the first step at identifying why you’re here and what you’re here to speak about. And then it’s about coming up with a framework that you’re going to talk about. What’s your framework, what’s your principles, what’s your core message? Like Amberly, when you first started, what was your first core message?
Amberly Lago: Yeah, for me, um, believe it or not, one of actually my first talk on stage um, was a Ted talk and I had no idea what I was doing. And I really wish if I could go back, I would have hired a coach or somebody to help me with things for a Ted talk. Cause I didn’t even know like the importance of a title. I would have titled my talk completely different. because so it would have been more searchable through Google, you know?
Jon Gordon: Yes. That’s good. That’s good. That’s good advice. Yeah. You can, what’s your, what’s your main gist of your talk? What’s the title of your talk? An overview and outline is key. And then getting very clear on the message you want to share. And is there a book associated with your talk? that you wanna share because a lot of times, it’s really cool, like if this is your core message and you write a book on it, then when you’re talking, you could promote the book and the book, you then promote your talk. So that’s something I advise people to do is really bring your first book to life based on your most popular talk and also, if you wanna write a book, make a talk that is focused on the book. We have Jon Gordon Certified where we, teach people how to present. We teach them frameworks and how to do workshops. We give them all our materials, all of our intellectual property, and our guidance along the way on even how to sell your workshops, how to sell your speaking. So we’ve been doing that a lot, but it’s not for everybody. I want people who are focused on positive leadership, people who want to develop others, impact others. It’s meant for people like that. So that’s something that we’ve been doing. And a lot of people will get certified with us, and then they’ll also do their own messages, their own talks. But a lot of people also want to deliver my programs and my material. So it’s a combination of the two, but that’s something that’s been really rewarding and investing in people along the way. And as you know, Catherine now has Gordon Publishing, and she’s helping people publish their books. which has been really exciting. So this is if you want to own the rights to your book and you want to publish it, so you get to own the rights and then we help you basically through the process of even helping you write the book if you need help writing it, helping you get it published, the book cover design, everything. and then taking it to market, we help you with all of that, and then you own the rights to the book, which is a pretty cool thing. Looking back, I wish I owned 100% of the rights to all my books. I would be worth a lot more money if I did that. The publisher makes about 80%, 75% of every book. So even though I’ve sold five million books, thankfully, and thank God, the publisher makes a majority of that money off
Amberly Lago: Yeah, and I think that I will never forget when I wrote my first book. You know, I got so many people that reached out and said the nicest things, and it was the one person who said something negative that it stuck with me. You know, it’s like that negative stuff sticks like Velcro. Well, this guy reached out and said, I can’t stand people like you who make money off of their story writing a book. And I wanted to say, well, first of all, Do you know how much it cost me to write this book? Like that was my first book. I was like, I haven’t made any money on this. And I don’t think, you know, I think when you do it, you know, self-publishing, yes, you have more rights, you can make more money, but it’s unbelievable that, yeah, a lot of people think that you, I guess, If you’re selling five million copies, I mean, that’s a lot, but I’m excited that you’re doing your own publishing. Are you going to be publishing your books in the future? It was a dream come true, actually, that Wiley reached out to me. I only knew of Wiley because of you. And I have all of your books. And I have to say, Jon, one of my proudest moments as a mom is when I walked into my daughter’s bedroom and she was reading one of your books one time. And I think I messaged Catherine right away. I took a picture. I was like, Look what I just saw, Ruby’s actually reading and she’s reading John’s book.
Jon Gordon: I love that. I love when kids read my books as well because that happens often where parents will be reading it and then the kids pick it up and start reading it. or they read it together, or they’ll be doing the audio book in the car on the way to an event or something like that, competition. It’s a lot of fun to impact the next generation. And that means a lot that Ruby was reading it. And when you join with Wiley to do your book, I just love that because I’ve been really happy with Wiley. I think the world of you, I think Wiley is awesome. Joy for the Journey, you know, incredible book, right? When we look at, Wiley, like they’ve been a great partner and great publisher over time. So it’s not like I’m ready to jump ship and leave, but in the future, yeah, I may, I may very likely go with my own publishing company, do my own books. It’s going to be based on. You know, I might be a mixture of both. I might be do some with Gordon Publishing and I might be do some with Wiley. And which one makes the most economic sense, you know, going forward. But I believe in my model so much and Gordon Publishing so much that I’m definitely gonna do some books with Gordon Publishing. And I think it’s gonna be fun to see how that goes and doing that. Because the whole game of publishing has changed. The publisher used to own everything and say, hey, We’ll pick you. Now you can pick yourself. Now you can say, you know what? I have a book in me. I want to share it. I want to own the rights. I want to take it to market. And you look at a Gordon published book. They look the same as a Wiley book. It used to be where self published books. didn’t look as good. And there are a lot of self-publishers out there that are not good, actually. There’s a lot that the books look like a self-publish. But I would tell people, if you’re going to self-publish, make sure it doesn’t look like a manual. Make sure it doesn’t look like it was printed at your local Kinko’s. Make sure it looks like a real book, because you could tell the difference. And when it looks like a real book, And it’s indistinguishable from a publisher. I believe there’s a lot more value and status and credibility to that book. And our books, you cannot distinguish between Wiley and a Gordon published book, which is, which is, which was the goal, which was the goal.
Amberly Lago: Oh, I agree. And so the reason I have two covers for true grit and grace, the first cover was with a publisher. Um, that I had to get my rights back. It wasn’t a great fit, so I’ll just keep it at that. So I got my rights back, and I had one month to get my book self-published because I was about to go do my TED Talk and I wanted it to be on Amazon. And so what I did was I didn’t want it to look like a self-published book because even six years ago, a lot of people weren’t It wasn’t as popular as it is now in self-publish. So I created a publisher for myself. I called it Crawford House Publishing. That’s my grandfather’s last name. I got a logo, created a logo. I even got the domain name in case anybody looked. There was an actual Crawford House Publishing. So I just became my own publisher because I didn’t want it to look like a self-published book. want. So I even went as far as like had that logo on there and everything. But.
Jon Gordon: Amber, you were ahead of your time. You were really ahead of your time. I mean, that is pretty brilliant. Seriously.
Amberly Lago: Yeah. I was like, well, uh, I don’t have time to get another publisher, so let me just be one.
Jon Gordon: Um, but. Worden Publishing may have to buy Crawford, you know, Crawford Publishing.
Amberly Lago: Yeah, I was like, at least my grandfather’s name lives on. That’s cool. Yeah, I was excited about that. I want people to be able to find you and I love that Cole, like your whole family really helps with all the business stuff. Like every event, I love that Cole shows up in a suit and he’s ready to greet people. You know, Jade is running around with a mic, letting people ask questions. I mean, just the whole, and of course, Catherine runs the show.
Jon Gordon: But Catherine at the events, she runs the show, but then at the event, she, she smiles and talks to everyone. So that’s Catherine as you know. Yeah. She runs the show, but then at the event, she’s like, okay, now I’m, now I’m, you know, hanging with everyone.
Amberly Lago: Yeah. She’s amazing. And you know what? I met y’all because of your book relationship grit.
Jon Gordon: Hey, that’s right.
Amberly Lago: Um, I saw David nurse had posted a picture of your book when it first came out.
Jon Gordon: Wow. That’s right.
Amberly Lago: And that’s how I found you. I was like, cause the show used to be called true grit and grace. And I reached out and you and Catherine agreed to be on the show. And that has to been like four years ago.
Jon Gordon: Was it four years? Longer, I think.
Amberly Lago: Oh my goodness. Wow. Well, and I think it was before COVID.
Jon Gordon: I think it was before the pandemic.
Amberly Lago: Actually, you know what? You’re right.
Jon Gordon: Five, six years ago, Amberly.
Amberly Lago: Yeah. And I always kind of measure things with, was that before COVID or after COVID? Yep. Right.
Jon Gordon: What most of us, most of us do. And I remember, yeah, I remember True Grit and Grace was out, the book, so.
Amberly Lago: Yeah. And that was when I first met y’all. And I want people to be able to look to you if they, you know, if it would be a good fit for you to publish their book, how would they do that? is that can they go to JonGordon.com and find all your links? What’s the easiest way for them to do that?
Jon Gordon: The best bet is to go to GordonPublishing.com, just GordonPublishing.com for that. If they’re interested in certification and becoming a speaker, trainer, coach, I would go to JonGordonCertified.com, J-O-N GordonCertified.com. And then my website, JohnGordon.com, J-O-N Gordon.com is for pretty much everything else that we do. And John Gordon Circle, J-O-N Gordon Circle, is if you’re interested in that circle, in our inner circle. We only have 100 spots. We got about 80 something, so we got a few more left. But that’s been, as you said, really rewarding. Having you involved has been great. And I really made an intentional decision to start pouring into more leaders, and that was the vehicle I was gonna do it. These are high-level leaders like you. And then I really have enjoyed that more than anything. It’s really been an incredible experience. I, for so long, was just out there writing and speaking, and that’s it. And now it’s really about the second half of my life, I see it as pouring into others, investing in others, developing others. And when you do that, as you know, because you do that, life becomes so much more rewarding and impactful.
Amberly Lago: Well, we’ll have all these links. up because you and y’all have to sign up for his newsletter too. I love getting your newsletter because you always, always add so much value. Thank you. With so much noise out there, your newsletter is one that I really look forward to opening because I always get so much value in it. And y’all have to check his podcast out, The Jon Gordon Show, and you’ll have all the links in the show notes. But what would you say out of all the books that you’ve written, which one of your books out of all your 32 books is your favorite?
Jon Gordon: Well, first I want to say thanks for promoting the newsletter because I, you know, if you don’t do anything, just sign up for the newsletter. Cause I really do love writing a weekly positive tip and I’ve been doing it since 2001 Amberly, 2001 sending out a weekly positive tip. And so it’s something I value and I want to add value to others and it’s why I write it. So I’m always thinking of what I can. say and share that will impact people. And it’s always fun to write, and it just keeps me focused on serving others. But we have over 500,000 subscribers to that newsletter now who get that weekly positive tip. And like I said, I’ve been doing it for years, so it just grows organically to reach all these listeners. And then we have the podcast now, and I just added a positive mindset Monday. So every Monday I’m now sharing like a couple minute things on having a positive mindset Monday and on Wednesdays, I edit a positive leadership tip every Wednesday. So now I have my Friday interview that drops and now I’m really providing a lot more value with the positive mindset Monday and the positive leadership on Wednesday. So just little tips people can listen to and just go to, go to podcast, Jon Gordon podcast, and you’ll find it there, which is great.
Amberly Lago: Oh, and you know what I have to say one time you added a quote of mine, I don’t know if it was from my book or something, in the newsletter. And I was speaking at an event and somebody came up to me and said, Well, I’d never heard of you, but I just opened Jon Gordon’s newsletter and look, and she showed me her phone. And I was like, No way! He put a quote of mine in his newsletter? I mean, that was like, I think I even cried then. I’m not kidding. But yeah, somebody came up to me. So yes, y’all sign up for his newsletter. I’ll have that link in the show notes as well.
Jon Gordon: I forgot what you had asked me before I went into that.
Amberly Lago: Well, your favorite book that you’ve written. Favorite book? That you’ve written. Yeah, Training Camp.
Jon Gordon: Really? What the best do better than everyone else. It’s a fable about overcoming fear, finding your faith to be who you’re meant to be. So training camp, no doubt. I would say The Carpenter. People often tell me it’s my best book, The Carpenter, which is about building greatness. That’s a great fable about the greatest success principles. The one truth is definitely the most impactful and innovative. When you read the one truth, you’re going to change your thinking, understand how thoughts work, and it’s going to change your mindset, your connection. It changes everything. It really is the one thing that changes everything. And then the last one, the latest one, the seven commitments of a great team, I think is probably the most special and bringing it all together into one little story and package.
Amberly Lago: Well, I have extra copies of both the seven commitments of a great team and one truth. And I give those out as gifts.
Jon Gordon: Thank you for that.
Amberly Lago: Oh my God. I love they’re, they’re incredible. Well, you’re just incredible. Um, when you are going through any kind of a struggle and I will wrap it up with this, uh, any adversity, how do you keep going and stay energized and not lose your, your edge?
Jon Gordon: Yeah, I think it’s going back to the live light we talked about earlier. It really is about having faith that tomorrow’s gonna be better than today. That somehow, someway we’re gonna get through it. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t mean that there’s not pain. It doesn’t mean that you sometimes lose hope and have doubt. And there are times you wonder whether you’re gonna get through it or not. But I believe the faith and the trust, and a lot of times it’s surrender. God, I can’t control this. but you’re in control. And it’s a simple thought, a simple saying, God, I trust in you. I trust in your plan for my life. Show me the way and what I’m meant to do. And when you do that, pretty much in those moments you find peace. So I would say that’s how I do it. It really is my faith in God. And I’m not sure how you get through it if you don’t have faith in something greater than you. Because so often you’re not strong enough. So often you’re not skilled enough. So often you’re not wise enough. So often you don’t have the answers to what to do next. And when you pray, so often those answers come to you. Prayer will always change you. Why is that? Because when you pray, you’re connecting and commuting with the creator of the universe. So in your prayer, you’re actually praying and commuting with your creator. You are spirit and God is spirit. And so when you pray, you become one spirit. And in that one spirit, his spirit becomes your spirit. His power becomes your power. His strength becomes your strength. His genius becomes your next great idea. So that’s what happens in the power of prayer. I can truly say that my life is what it is. the ideas I’ve had, the books I’ve written, what I’ve done has come because I’ve taken the time to pray. So I’m really on a mission to help people pray more and encouraging them to pray more. Because as you do, it’s really the power source that you need. It’s like, you got to plug in your car if you have an electric car. You got to fuel up with gas if you got a gas car. Well, guess what? You got to plug into the ultimate power that keeps you going.
Amberly Lago: Oh, there is power in prayer. I just feel different. In fact, You know, before I get on stage, I always pray. I do pushups and prayer. That’s what gets me set.
Jon Gordon: Pushups and prayer, I like it. Do you do the prayer while you’re doing the pushups at the same time?
Amberly Lago: I have before, especially when it’s quick, I got to get it in. And you know what? I have no shame in my game. I have been in my dress or a skirt and there’s no green room and I’m just in the back about to go on stage and doing push-ups or praying. People are like, oh, they seem so shocked that I can actually do push-ups. I don’t know if it’s that I look that old or that I’m a girl, but they’re always like, oh my gosh.
Jon Gordon: I’ve seen you do the push-ups before the events. I love that.
Amberly Lago: But I just feel better when I pray. And in fact, I was speaking at an event and we had the wrong address, and I do not like being late. I like getting there early. I like having my time for push-ups and prayer. And let me tell you, I just got there right in time to be taken right up to stage and I didn’t have a chance to do my prayer pushups, I did not feel as connected to my purpose, to my, you know, my story, to the people in the audience. And I felt, I feel like, because I wasn’t as, I didn’t connect with God beforehand, you know? So I think it’s, there’s power in that prayer.
Jon Gordon: Everybody, last time we talked, I think on your podcast, or maybe it was mine, your book idea for your new book, you know, came to me, right? I got another one for you. I get another book title pushups and prayer. That’s going to be your next book title. Pushups and prayer, pushups and prayer, pushups and prayer, like the secret to staying positive, anxious, free, and connected to give your best in the moment.
Amberly Lago: Okay. Well, you are the master at book titles for sure.
Jon Gordon: I would want to read Push Ups and Prayer. I don’t know about you, but I would want to read that title.
Amberly Lago: Okay. I’m going to write that down. It’s going to be a sticky note.
Jon Gordon: I’m not saying you should do it. I’m not saying I’m always right. I’m not always right, but it could be pretty cool. Maybe it’s a book one day, but I like the concept. I like the title.
Amberly Lago: Yeah.
Jon Gordon: It’s unique.
Amberly Lago: I like it too. Well, Jon, thank you and congratulations. Hello, national bestseller, Barnes and Noble bestseller, Amazon bestseller.
Jon Gordon: USA Today, thankfully. Yeah.
Amberly Lago: Yeah. Wasn’t it like number two?
Jon Gordon: It would have been a Wall Street Journal, but there’s no longer a Wall Street Journal bestseller list anymore, unfortunately.
Amberly Lago: I know, but I mean, number two in business, is that what it was?
Jon Gordon: Yep.
Amberly Lago: Oh my goodness. Amazing. Y’all, Grab this book for sure. Actually, I have all of your books and I highly suggest every single one of your books. I’ll have the link where y’all can find Jon, but make sure you go subscribe to his podcast. Go check him out and share this episode. Tag me on Instagram and John Gordon, that’s G-O-R-D-O-N. Well, I’m sure they already know you because I, talk about you all the time, but thank you so much for being here, and we’ll have your links for people to find your inner circle mastermind, your books, your newsletter, and all that good stuff. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks, Erin Bailey.
Jon Gordon: Thanks for having me. Thanks for all that you do, and tell Jonny I said hi.
Amberly Lago: I will, and thank y’all so much for tuning in.
