A 10.2 Percent Wake-Up Call: Why America’s Unemployed Must Choose Faith Instead of
Fear and Act Like a Shark Instead of a Goldfish
With unemployment at a 26-year high, you may be worried about your future. Author Jon Gordon
insists that you can defy the odds and find a fulfilling new way to make a living—but first you have to
make a few key decisions.
Hoboken, NJ (November 2009)—Well, the unemployment numbers are in. At 10.2 percent,
we‟ve entered double-digit territory. If you‟re a gainfully employed yet concerned economy watcher,
this news is bad enough. If you‟re one of the 15.7 million out of work, it‟s devastating. As the
numbers creep ever upward, it‟s all too easy to envision your future moving just as relentlessly in the
opposite direction. Obviously, more and more companies are laying people off and even closing their
doors, you can‟t help but think. So who’s going to hire me now?
“„Who‟s going to hire me?‟ sounds a lot like „Who‟s going to feed me?‟” notes Gordon,
author of the new book The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of
Change (Wiley, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-50360-7, $16.95). “And the answer is no one. No one is
going to „give you‟ a job. Now you have to take action and find one. It‟s a completely different
mindset from what we experienced the past eight years. During the economic boom, we became a
nation of goldfish—where everyone was feeding us. It was easy to be successful because everyone
was doing well. Now, with jobs scarcer and fewer people feeding us, we must change our mindset
and actions and become fearless sharks that find food.”
That‟s right. Gordon believes that even as America‟s old way of life breaks down, new
opportunities inevitably arise. And the “sharks” that fearlessly pursue those opportunities—whether
that means launching a new company, making a dramatic career change, creating a new innovation,
or simply coming up with a way to set yourself apart from the thousands of others in line for your
dream job—will thrive.
“Change happens to everyone, whether we welcome it or not,” says Gordon. “When the wave
of change hits—and it always has and always will!—you can choose to cower down and let it crush
you, or you can embrace the new circumstances, learn from them, and ride the wave to a more
positive future.”
That‟s the lesson Gordon shares in The Shark and the Goldfish. The illustrated fable tells the
story of a pampered goldfish named Gordy who accidentally gets swept into the ocean. (Don‟t worry:
The author knows real-life goldfish can‟t survive in saltwater!) He is mentored by Sammy the Shark,
who shows him how to proactively find food—and teaches him that the difference between a full
belly and an empty one depends solely upon your faith, beliefs, and actions. If you suspect Gordon
based the goldfish on himself, you‟re right. During the dot.com crash, he lost his job and was cast
into his own version of an unforgiving ocean. At that point—two months away from bankruptcy with
a wife and two kids counting on him—his journey of reinvention began. And it all started with an
internal “sea change.”
“I saw that what I was viewing as so terrible didn‟t have to be that way,” he adds. “It was
what I chose to make of it. So I made some decisions that changed everything and led me to do the
work I do now as a writer, consultant, and speaker. I often joke that I went from „fired‟ to „fired up.‟
My layoff led to my life‟s mission and purpose. What I thought was the worst thing to ever happen to
me was actually the best.”
In other words, if you think your best days are behind you, they are. And if you believe your
best days are ahead of you, they are. When you choose optimism over doom and gloom, think long
and hard about what you really want out of life, and choose faith instead of fear, you can reinvent
yourself as well.
Gordon isn‟t saying to ignore the 10.2 percent statistic and pretend that all is well. Quite the
opposite. He‟s saying that it should serve as a wake-up call that the old approaches—from running a
business to finding a job—aren‟t going to work anymore.
“Our nation teems with goldfish who are waiting to be fed,” concludes Gordon. “And now
that food is scarcer, fear and uncertainty are more plentiful. You don‟t have to live with them,
though. You can transform adversity into a wave of prosperity. All you need is a little faith, and a lot
of action.”
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A Shark School for Goldfish: Seven Ways You Can Thrive in a Sea of Change
By Jon Gordon, author of The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of
Change (Wiley, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-50360-7, $16.95).
Jettison your anger. Still fuming over your bad fortune? You‟ve been angry, sad, and upset long
enough. It‟s time to let it all go. Forgive the company. Forgive your employers. Release the
bitterness. Know that you can‟t create your future by focusing on the past. Gordon says after he was
laid off, he made a conscious decision to forgive his company for letting him go and for giving him
only two weeks worth of severance pay.
“I chose to thank them, not hate them,” he recalls. “Making the decision to let that bitterness go
helped me to think more clearly and have more energy to take positive action.”
Say to yourself, I have a dream. Then start working to achieve it. Having studied many
successful people, Gordon says he‟s found that they all can pinpoint the moment where they decided
what they truly wanted to achieve in life. It makes sense. If you know what you truly want out of
life, then you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. A job loss is a great opportunity to start
fresh and ask yourself what you truly, truly want.
“When I lost my job, I realized that though I was initially sad to lose it, I hadn‟t been truly happy,”
says Gordon. “So, I took a moment and asked myself what I truly wanted to do with my life. What
was I born to do? I asked. Why am I here? After a few days of thinking, the idea to open a franchise
restaurant, which would hopefully allow me time to write, popped in my head. And off I went
toward achieving my dream.”
Have a little faith and take a lot of action. What do faith and fear have in common? They believe
in a future that hasn‟t happened yet. And the main thing that separates them is hope, or a lack
thereof. Faith believes in a positive future, while fear believes in a negative future. Think about it.
The rest of your life hasn’t happened yet. Why not choose to believe that good things are coming
your way?
“Faith empowers you to take action, and it also gives you the strength you need to face the fears that
might otherwise sabotage your joy and success,” says Gordon. “I‟ll be the first to admit that starting
a new life isn‟t easy—for sharks or for goldfish. It‟s natural to feel fear of the unknown, of failure, of
not being good enough. Goldfish let this fear paralyze them, but sharks choose to swim ahead,
believing that the best is yet to come. Faith and belief in a positive future lead to powerful actions
today!”
Start each morning with the “three things” question. When you get up each morning, ask
yourself this one question: What are the three things I need to do today that will help me find the job
and create the success that I desire? Then, take action on those three things every day until you‟ve
achieved them. This is a great way to keep feeding your positive energy.
“You may not get there in two days, a week, or even a month,” he says. “But every day you‟ll be one
step closer to your goal. And, eventually, you will get there. Or maybe you‟ll find yourself
somewhere even better.”
Swim harder and farther every day. Only those who work hard are able to successfully ride the
waves of change. Those who exert the most focused effort toward creating a new career or landing a
great job are those who will find the opportunities. There‟s no substitute for hard work. Not talent,
not intelligence, and not privilege.
“Sure, a positive attitude is a must, but to really mean something, it‟s got to be accompanied by
focus and action,” Gordon points out. “Hard work has been, is, and always will be the key to
success. Now more than ever, you must be willing to work harder than everyone else. We lost sight
of this during the economic boom, but I believe this current economy is getting us back to the
fundamentals that truly matter. The harder you work, the luckier you become.”
Take a “glass 89.8 percent full” approach to the recession. The statistics can be hard to get out of
your head when you‟re searching for a job. But unlike the pundits on TV, who are all too pleased to
focus on the most negative numbers available, you can choose to focus on the flip side. Rather
than fixating on 10.2 percent unemployment, focus on 89.8 percent employment.
“Dwelling on the higher number will likely be better for maintaining a positive state of mind during
your job search,” says Gordon.
Choose to be humble and hungry. Be humble, advises Gordon. Know that you don‟t have all the
answers and can learn something from everyone. Know that there are always new ways to learn,
improve, and get better. Be open to advice. Be open to learning a new skill and trying a job you
haven‟t thought of before.
Also, be hungry: Seek out a mentor, take him to lunch, and model his success. Think of his life as a
blueprint you can follow. Continuously improve and seek out new ideas and new strategies.
“These are two very important H-words,” says Gordon. “By remaining humble and hungry after my
job loss, I was able to focus on and learn the things that made it possible for me to run a restaurant,
write, and speak. In short, being humble and hungry helped me achieve another great H-word:
happiness!”
It‟s true that the change we are experiencing is like nothing we‟ve experienced. After all, the cheese
hasn‟t just been moved. It‟s been swept away by an economic tidal wave. However, despite the
unemployment rate and economic conditions, you can still be successful. Whether it‟s starting your
own business or finding a new job, now is a time when those with a positive attitude, ability to focus,
and great work ethic will shine. Food is scarcer than it was, but there is still plenty of food for those
who are willing to work hard, stay positive, and find it.
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About the Author:
Jon Gordon is a consultant, keynote speaker, and the international bestselling author of The Shark
and the Goldfish, The Energy Bus, The No Complaining Rule, and Training Camp, all from Wiley.
He and his books have been featured on CNN and on NBC‟s Today show, as well as in Forbes, Fast
Company, O, The Oprah Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Jon‟s
principles have been put to the test by NFL football teams and Fortune 500 companies alike. He has
worked with such clients as the Atlanta Falcons, the PGA Tour, Northwestern Mutual, JPMorgan
Chase, and Publix Supermarkets. A graduate of Cornell University, he holds a master‟s degree in
teaching and works with numerous businesses, professional sports teams, schools, universities, and
nonprofit organizations. For more information, please visit: www.JonGordon.com.
About the Book:
The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change (Wiley, 2009, ISBN:
978-0-470-50360-7, $16.95) is available at bookstores nationwide, major online booksellers, or
direct from the publisher by calling 800-225-5945. In Canada, call 800-567-4797.