Introduction ix

Matt and Bubba 1

The Benefits of Being Positive 5

Simple as a Smile 9

Feed with Laughter 13

Take a Thank-You Walk 17

Build Your Gratitude Muscle 19

A Day of Gratitude 23

Tell Yourself Positive Stories 27

Get to instead of Have to 33

Blessed instead of Stressed 35

Turn Complaints into Solutions 39

Fear or Faith 43

Challenges or Opportunities 47

An Opportunity 49

The Positive Dog Grows 53

Positive Energy is Contagious 57

Positive Boomerang 59

Feeding Others 63

Love 65

Encouragement 67

No Ordinary Day 71

Negativity Serves a Purpose 73

What Would Bubba Do? 77

A Special Day 81

Two Positive Dogs are Better than One 83

Feed the Positive Dog: Action Plan 87

The Positive Pledge 97

Resources 99

Feed Your Team with Positivity 101

About the Illustrator 103

Discover the benefits of being positive

Being positive doesn't just make you better. It makes everyone around you better. The principles and strategies in this book have inspired countless people in business, education, health care, and professional sports to be more positive and become a positive influence on others. When you feed the positive dog inside you and feed your team with positivity, everyone benefits!

Discover the benefits of being positive. We all have two dogs inside of us. One dog is positive, happy, optimistic, and hopeful. The other dog is negative, mad, sad, pessimistic, and fearful. These two dogs often fight inside us, but guess who wins the fight? The one you feed the most. So begins the story about a negative mutt named Matt and a big dog named Bubba who teaches him how to feed himself with positivity each day...and in the process, Matt transforms his own life and the shelter they call home.

The Positive Dog is an inspiring, heartwarming story that not only reveals the strategies and benefits of being positive but also an essential truth for humans: being positive doesn't just make you better. It makes everyone around you better.

Jon Gordon has shared the simple, powerful strategies found in this book with Fortune 500 companies, professional sports teams, college athletes, school districts, and nonprofits, and the proof is in the countless success stories shared by Jon's clients. The strategies in this book have grown sales, motivated sales people, improved team performance, developed positive kids, enhanced careers, inspired promotions, improved marriages, and lead to greater individual and team success.

For anyone looking to overcome negativity and challenges to become more positive, The Positive Dog provides the inspiration and action plan to feed yourself and your team with positivity. When you feed the positive dog and feed others, everyone benefits!