The economy has been bad for a while. People and businesses are struggling. Yet there are many people and businesses that are rising above that with a mentality of optimism. I’m one of them. You can be too Jon Gordon, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, The Energy Bus has a new book about the power of faith and positivity in one’s life and career, The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity. I’m delighted to have him as my guest today. Here’s what he has to say about what he learned from the companies in Silicon Valley.

The Bubble of Optimism
by Jon Gordon

There’s a bubble that surrounds Silicon Valley. It’s not the kind of the bubble that is about to burst and cause markets to crash and people to lose fortunes. Rather it’s a bubble of optimism that drives innovation, creates jobs and represents everything that is right and great about America.

While the rest of the country was going through the great recession the people who lead and work for the companies in Silicon Valley refused to participate in the recession. They were too busy trying to change the world.

While companies and businesses around the country were closing their doors and people were losing their jobs and homes, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google and thousands of other innovators and start-ups were changing the way we communicate, connect, learn, read, search, interact, live and work.

In Silicon Valley there is a bubble of optimism that is filled with a collective belief that anything is possible. If you have a great idea it gets funded. If you are willing to innovate and work hard the American Dream is very much alive and available to you. If you believe and you can execute and turn this belief into a reality, you can change the world.

The innovators of Silicon Valley are alchemists who turn ideas into gold. Where others see what is impossible, they see what is possible. While others see them as crazy, they see the future.

When a new idea or product fails they come up with a better idea and a better business. Failure is accepted as a part of innovation and growth. Ideas are tested and the best ones win. When old management techniques no longer work the innovators create new practices to make meetings productive (Jack Dorsey at Twitter and Square), engage employees (Duarte), and extract the genius and ideas inside each of their employees (Google).

Silicon Valley embodies the can-do spirit, creativity, drive and courage that made and will continue to make America the birthplace of ideas and innovations that change the world. But you don’t have to live in the valley to embrace their approach.

Amazon and Starbucks have created a bubble of optimism and innovation in Seattle. Zappos has found happiness in Las Vegas. GM and the big auto companies are powering forward with new ideas and making world class cars in Detroit. And thousands of technology start-ups located in cities and universities across the United States are dreaming of ways to change the world.

Every business, wherever they are located, can create a bubble of optimism that inspires them to think differently, act differently and lead differently. And you don’t have to be a technology company to surround your business with a bubble of optimism. Whether you are a traditional big company or a small business there is a new idea or a better way of doing something waiting for someone to implement it.

The question is, are you bold enough, optimistic enough and even crazy enough to do it !?If you are, you just might change the world!
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Check out Jon Gordon‘s new book, The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity.
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Take the 31 Days of Self-Love Challenge–a pledge to do something loving for yourself for the next 31 days–and get my book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways for free at http://howdoiloveme.com. Read my 31 Days of Self-Love Posts from 2012 HERE.

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