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Travis Makes Money
INTERVIEW | Make Money by Building Positive Habits That Compound Over Time with Jon Gordon
00:25:53
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- [00:00]
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You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast presented by gohighlevel.com for a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet, just go to gohighlevel.com travis what's going on everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast where it's our mission to help you make more money. Today on the show, I have an old friend of mine who is coming on to talk about another one of his books. Dude's a prolific, prolific author. His name is John Gordon. John is a best selling author and his talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals and nonprofits. He's the author of 32 books, including 18 bestsellers and five children's books. His books include Timeless classic the Energy Bust, which has now sold over 3 million copies, the Carpenter, which is the top five business book of the Year, Training Camp, the Power of Positive Leadership, the Power of Positive Team, the One Truth and now his latest release before this one, the seven commitments of a great team. He's also been on the Today show, cnn, cnbc, Golf Channel, Fox and Friends, and has worked with clients like the Dodgers, In N Out Burger, the LA Rams, Campbell Soup, Dell, and the list goes on and on. John has been on the show two or three times in the past and I'm super excited to welcome him back. John Gordon, what's up man? Welcome back to the show, Travis.
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C
Great to be with you. I don't think your podcast was always called Travis makes Money. I like that though. I like that.
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B
Yeah, it was not. It was not. It's been a couple of rebrands. It was build your network the first time that we had the con and then what ended up happening was we switched build your network to Travis makes Friends because we thought that that was like a better, you know, overall way to build relationships is making friends instead of quote unquote networking. And then we're like, man, I miss having the business conversations and so we started up Travis Makes Money so we could have daily business conversations. And then now we have Travis Makes Friends, which is all about friendship and stuff like that. So, yeah, it's been a. Been a little bit of time, a few updates in the meantime. And I know that you're, you're the same. Tell me, tell me, John, a little bit about the new book. What was the purpose behind why. Why this topic and why now?
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C
Well, you know, for years I've been sharing leadership principles, practices. I help teams get better. You mentioned some of my clients. I work with The Rams, Sean McVeigh, Dave Roberts and the Dodgers, Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, a lot of corporate clients. I mean, I coach leaders. My mission is to develop positive leaders who make a positive impact in every business, school, team, organization and community to create a more positive world. But you first have to elevate you. You can't make a difference in the lives of others unless you're feeding yourself. And the more you feed yourself, then you can have a greater impact on others. Well, when I got started, I actually got started on this journey, working to become a more positive person to myself. And I began researching ways I could be more positive. And I began doing those things and then sharing what I was doing with others. I started a weekly positive tip all the way back in 2002. I had one of the first E newsletters that was being sent out probably in the world, sharing these tips. Well, it's so funny because now, you know, years later, Here We Are, 2026, and my book is the Power of Positive Habits. These are all the tips, all the ideas, all the strategies. Travis, this is like my greatest hits collection. These are all the greatest hits over the years that have worked with people, with leaders, with clients. These are mindset habits. These are leadership habits. They're health habits. They're relational habits. They're how to build a great team habits. They're, you know, I said relationship, also marriage habits. So there's a lot of cool habits. There's 93 total habits in this book that will elevate you exponentially. It's like as you do these habits, you're literally going to grow exponentially. Now I say greatest hits. Some of the hits are new hits because I did a lot of research in writing this book and I found some really good health habits that I thought were really key as well. And also I've been doing some health habits along the way. So this is fun. Like, this is a really fun book. Short one to two page chapters of Each tip. And you're reading this book. And the goal is start anywhere. Just peruse through the book and read the different habits, see what appeals to you. Put those into action. You know, pick a couple of them and you'll see results in your life. I don't think someone should do all 93. You're supposed to do the ones that you'll actually use and, and implement in your life. And then you're going to see exponential growth.
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B
What have been some of the habits that you point to for a lot of your success, especially in the writing area? I mean, 30. What is it, 32 books now that you.
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C
This is my 33rd book. I have 33 books. Yeah. 18 bestsellers. Probably sold over six and a half million copies out there in the world. You know, for me, it's the thank you walk. I begin the book with a thank you walk. And the idea is that you take a walk and you practice gratitude. And when you're doing that, the research shows you're flooding your brain with these positive emotions that uplift you rather than the stress hormones that slowly drain you and over time, slowly kill you. Do it one day, it doesn't do a whole lot, but do it for a week, do it for a month, do it for a year. The garden of your mind, by weeding the negative and feeding the positive, becomes magnificent. And me doing this is where I rewired my brain from negative to positive. This is where I felt a shift in my spirit. This is where all the ideas for the books have come on on those walks. I've had the ideas for these books that really allowed me to do this work and make a difference. So I know without a doubt that one habit changed my life. And that's the whole point of this book. One habit literally can change the course of your life when you put that habit into action. Now, I do want to share the first habit. The first habit, I think is really key, and it's really cool. It's the habit before the habit. So this means that if you want a habit to work in your life, do the habit before the habit. For instance, if I'm going to take that. Thank you, walk in the morning, the habit before the habit means I put out my clothes and my sneakers the night before. So when I get up, I see my clothes, I see my sneakers. It's less resistance to keep me from the habit. So I'm now gonna go do it. Because I've done the habit before the habit. If I wanna read a book at night, and I know I wanna read more. I'm gonna put the book on my bed. So as I go to bed, I see that book there and it's a reminder to do it. If I wanna eat healthy, I have a new meal plan. Great meal prep the night before or that Sunday for instance, for the week perhaps. And you now have a more likelihood that you're going to actually implement the habits of eating. Well, if you want to encourage friends every day and say, I'm going to reach out to three friends every day, it's going to be a new habit I do like I share in the book. Well, good. Then write down those three friends or put in your phone the night before or that morning when you get up and you will see those three friends. And it's a reminder to do that. So the habit before the habit works for any habit. And it's a key to removing resistance.
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B
Yeah. What, how about, like, how can you make it easier for yourself to take the action that's difficult to take?
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C
Yep, exactly.
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B
It's already, it's. It's difficult enough to change something about yourself. You know what I'm saying? So like, why not make, why not remove any obstacles to like that are, that are blocking your path, you know what I mean?
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C
And not only remove obstacles, but just. Yeah, make it easier for everything that you do and want to do. You know what's really cool about this? This is not Atomic Habits. I asked Chachi pt You know, what's the difference between this book and Atomic Habits? Like, tell me what's the difference? We loaded it in and said, tell us what the difference is. And it said this. Atomic Habits helps you build better habits. This book helps you build a better life. And I love that. This is not about the science of habits. That book has already been written and it's a great book. I don't want to teach that book. I want to teach you a bunch of habits that you can choose from that you will implement. And if you implement these habits, you're going to have a huge impact. I'm already doing the squat like a child habit. I researched it, I read about it, I started doing it where you squat real low like ass to grass.
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B
Yeah.
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C
And you do that each day. Man, when I started this, I couldn't get down past a chair. Now I'm going almost all the way to the ground at 55. Going all the way, all the way to the ground. Already feeling more flexibility, feeling stronger in my legs, feeling better, feeling, feeling younger and freer. One habit is already making me more healthy and stronger and fit.
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B
Yeah, yeah. So that sort of. Sort of like atomic habits has the frameworks, the science behind it. This is how to build habits. But this is more like a collection of habits to choose from to put into your routine that will have an impact if you choose the ones that are working for you.
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C
Exactly. And that's the key. Choose the ones you're going to do. Yes, do those. Because a habit is only a great habit if you're actually going to do it.
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B
That's right.
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C
So there are certain habits I know I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do a marathon. I'm not going to run a lot each day. That's just not something I'm going to do. So that's not going to be one of my habits. But can I. Can I drink more water? Yes, I will do that. Can I take a power nap each day, which is a great habit? Yes, I can do that. Can I pray on a daily basis? Yes. I actually put that in the book because there is the power of prayer. There's a science around prayer that is so helpful for you, that enhances your mindset, your health, your mental health and your growth. So I had to put that in my. The book Meditation is also very helpful, and I put that in the book. So there's a lot of great habits that will really transform your mind.
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B
You said you did a lot of research for, for this particular book. Was there, were there any habits that you have not personally tried or adopted in your life but that you point to, to say that, like, this is. There's actually a surprising volume of data behind this particular habit for, you know, positive purpose?
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C
Well, the funny thing is there were things I wasn't doing, but then in researching it and then realizing the benefits of it, I actually started doing it. Like I'm doing a dead hand every day. So I'm now hanging from a bar. Yeah, I'm hanging from a bar every day. I share the research. I had a great, great guy, Justin Rothenshofer. He's the Own IT guy. He's known as Own it. He is Brandon Lake's health coach. And Justin is an incredible guy and he gave me some really good research and ideas to put into the book. I went right to the source. Hey, Justin, you coach people on this. What should I put in that's not in the book? What should I start doing? And so the dead hang was something he highly recommended. Now, something I've done over the years that I researched that I found. Okay, now I Know why I love this so much? Why? I'm addicted to it? I take a walk after my meals. So breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I am a big walker after meals. I walk for like 10 minutes to 30 minutes after a meal. And the science and the research shows that when you're doing that, you're taking that sugar in your blood and you're bringing it into your muscles, and you're actually enhancing your health in the process, and you're reducing your blood sugar level, which is really healthy. So that enhances your metabolic process and every part of your health, including your brain. And so something like that is really key. So I've been doing that for a long time, and I recommend people do that. That is a really great habit. And lifting weights. You know, I started lifting weights again after years of not lifting. During COVID I started lifting, and it's. It's one of the best things I've ever done. But you do the research on it, and yeah, it is something that we should all be doing. We should all be lifting weights. And so many people don't. So, again, these are like little habits, and some are very common sense.
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B
Sure.
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C
And then my favorite ones are like, the mindset habits. Like, how do you have a more positive mindset? Because thinking is a habit and we don't realize that, like, the way you think is a habit. And if you can change the way you think and have. Have great mental habits, you're going to create a much more successful life through the habit of your thinking. So I loved. I was probably my favorite part. I mean, I love the health stuff. I love all that, but I love changing the way people think. Obviously, I'm known as that. As that kind of guy. So what habits have I helped the greatest performance performers on earth with? What mindsets have I helped them with? What? And I put all of those strategies in the book as well. So if you want to think differently, I truly believe you're. You're one habit and one thought away from elevating your mind and your life.
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B
How do you think about this in terms of, like, when you're doing too much, is there a too much. Can you be overloading your habit stack? Is there a point where you should be like, hey, maybe I should just be working instead of, like, doing more habits or adding more bullets to my daily routine?
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C
Right.
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B
Like, is there. Is there a. A point where it becomes too much?
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C
Of course. Totally. And that's why one of the habits is actually slow down and enjoy the ride. Like, that's one of the Habits slow down and enjoy life. If you're doing all these things and you're not having fun and it becomes an obligation, not something you love to do, then you're not going to live your best life. Loving it is actually one of the habits I want you to focus on loving it each day, loving your life, loving what you do, even loving the struggles that you might have. When you focus on love, fear dissipates. So bringing love to your life is really important. And that's why again, this book is not saying do all these habits and add them all to your life. If you add just one to your life, you're going to see an impact. Add two or three to your life. Great. And that's my goal. Like what little things will produce big results in your life. And you know, if you read 30 pages a day in a book, that over time is going to enhance your life in amazing ways. And you walk every day like I do. And you take that. Thank you. Walk every day. I've been doing it now for over 25 years. Over 25 years, right. Or longer. So by doing that every day, that has significantly changed my mindset and my life and the way I think on a daily basis. If you learn to master your morning, which is one of the habits, mastering your morning is going to determine the kind of day you're going to have that's going to change your life. If you're someone who's not getting enough sleep, you know you gotta get more sleep. And we talk about the science behind that and the benefits of doing that or just finding more stillness in your life is a habit. So again, a lot of these habits are common sense. You probably can find a bunch of them using ChatGPT. But the nice thing is this is a nice collection in a book that you could sit there and look at and read through, be inspired by, encouraged by. And I also share personal stories of these habits. Like one habit is on the relational side and career side and leadership side is to catch people doing things right. We were taught that years ago by Ken Blanchard. I gave him the credit for it, but put it in the book where when you catch people doing things right, they're going to do more things right. So often we're always criticizing or constructively criticizing, but we really have to do is more emphasis on what people are doing right. And the more you do that and praise them, they'll actually do it more often. And that's what you want to see. Encouragement is another thing, like encouraging yourself and encouraging others. I think My favorite mindset one, one of my favorites is the is to become your own greatest encourager. I call it become your own greatest encourager. We live in a world where so many people are beating themselves up all the time. And I want you to become your own greatest encourager. Because for years I beat myself up and I was losing the battle in my mind and also in my life was falling apart. Once I became my own greatest encourager, that's where everything changed. And yes, I want you to be encouraged by others and I want you to encourage others, but always become your own greatest encourager. And when you're doing that, you're going to defeat the negativity, the adversity and the failure along the way.
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B
Yeah. And really the. I think one of the best parts about building any habit is just the level of confidence that you gain from just being willing to do something that you weren't doing before for 30 days in a row, or 45 day or 60 days, whatever the number is. You know what I mean? It's just the volume of people that will never do anything every single day for any length of time is really, really high. So regardless of how tiny you think this activity might be, this action might be, regardless of how silly it might seem from an outsider's perspective, it doesn't matter what that thing is. If you do something like that, you tell yourself you're going to do something every single day, 30 days straight, and you actually do it. The feeling that you get at the end of that is so contagious that it provides this crazy amount of positive momentum and belief in yourself that you've, that you can go do it again and then you can pick another thing that you really want to implement and then add it to that one and then see how that goes. You know what I mean? But just the pure action of doing it, you know what I mean, is such a huge confidence builder and makes you feel more competent as a person, I think.
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C
Totally. And that's why we are giving people who get the book, we're giving them an action plan for free and we're giving them a positive habits developer PhD and you get your positive habits developer. That's a, it's an AI thing that we created where you put in your habits that you want to implement and we give you a 30 day plan for you to implement those habits. Because at the end of 30 days, you will feel so much more confident. You will be proud of yourself. You will know, okay, I did this. If I did this, I could also do this. It's amazing, Travis. Like, you're fit, you're healthy, so am I. But so many people don't even get up and take a walk each day. Like that one habit of just walking every single day will change your life. That one habit of eating healthy foods, whole foods from nature will change your life. Doing the little things that will make a big difference. So simple, and yet people are not doing it. And so, yeah, it's tiny habits, simple habits, and they're not hard. I don't think there's one habit in this book that is actually hard now. Lifting weights. I encourage you to get with a trainer if you have an worked out before, that's something smart to do. Any new thing you should do, don't do a dead hang if you have a bad shoulder. Right? You can't do that. But pretty much every simple habit is something we can do. And simple is powerful. We clear the clutter, we remove the clutter, we focus on what matters most, and then we do. We wind up taking action. And that allows great results. Like your life is the result of your habits. It really is. I can look at my life and say, I, I have what I have. I am what I am because of what I do every day. And stacking those good habits day in and day out to lead to the life that I have now I got crappy habits and I'm drinking all the time, and I'm. I'm being mean to my wife, and I'm not working out, and I'm sitting on the couch and I get bad and I get miserable. I'm gonna be miserable. I'm gonna have a miserable life. That's right.
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B
That's right.
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C
Bad habits create a bad life. Good habits create a good life. Great habits create a great life. What do you want?
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B
Yeah, that's. That's what I think. I'm glad you brought that up. I think that there's a lot of sort of a misconception that if you don't have, like, if you've never built good habits in your life, you just kind of look at it like, I don't have any habits. You. You think of that, that they just are. They don't exist. But it's like, it's sort of like the personal brand thing. It's like, well, regardless of if you're intentionally building a personal brand or not, you have one. And it's like if you're. Regardless of if you're intentionally building good habits or not, you have them. You know, it's just that if you haven't intentionally made them good, then they're probably by default going to not be good because you're just giving in to whatever you want to do. And most of the time, all we want to do is be comfortable and not push ourselves beyond our limits, you know, so if you're not intentionally creating good habits in your life, then the odds are you are just being overwhelmed, but with a significant portion of, of of bad habits rather than just like some sort of a neutral, you know, middle ground or something like that.
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C
Yeah, exactly. It's like just start taking action and let's just pick one thing that you're going to do and then you do that one thing, you'll feel good about it and then add another one and then another one after that. And the more you do, you'll gain more and more confidence over time and see great success in your life. And one, one habit is, you know, talk to yourself every day instead of listen to yourself. Don't listen to the negative thoughts. Don't listen to the negative voices. Instead, talk to yourself each day. And as you do that one act of just talking to yourself instead of listening to yourself will change your mind and what you're feeding your mind on a daily basis.
- [21:34]
B
John, I always appreciate the work you do in the world. I always love seeing you, spend some time with you, watching you speak, if I'm at an event or something like that. Thanks again for coming on the show once again to talk a little bit about another book that you have written, the Power of Positive Habits. If you're listening right now, go check out a copy of that book. John, where can people go to get more from you besides the book?
- [21:53]
C
Yeah, if you just go to powerofpositivehabits.com that's Power of Positive Habits. Oh, no. Powerofpositivehabitsbook.com powerofpositivehabitsbook.Com you go there, that's where you get your free action plan and your free positive habits developer as well. And I'm also doing free coaching sessions for those who get three books. So if you get three books, you can join me for our coaching session that I'm doing for all of those people. And we're going to go over your habits, what you're implementing, and we're going to talk about resistance, what can get in the way? What's holding you back? Because I want to see people succeed. I'm doing literally three coaching sessions for this whole group that gets three books and they'll get to participate in those three sessions. Over a month to get people to succeed. That's what I want. I want them to see people make improvements. So you can go there. You can find me on Instagram On Gordon11, LinkedIn, and every social media. I'm there. So just find me and just, you know, this is what I've been doing for the last, you know, since I started in 2001, doing this work, changing my life, and now it's a quest to help others get better. And this is just a culmination of. Of all the tips I shared over the years, and now I get to share them. And, Travis, real quick, people go, why 93? Why didn't you do 100? Why do you do 110? I mean, I probably could have done more, but I got the 93. And I was like, well, that's all I gotta say about that. You know, I think I'm done.
- [23:15]
B
I think I'm done because that was the exact number that I needed do. Yeah, exactly. Appreciate you again for coming on. Yes, sir. I know you're busy, guys, so I don't take your time for granted at all. Everybody else tuning in, Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems when you got some money in the bank. So let's solve that problem first here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you guys next time. Peace.