One Truth: Elevate Your Mind, Unlock Your Power, Heal Your Soul

Title: One Truth: Elevate Your Mind, Unlock Your Power, Heal Your Soul

Author: Jon Gordon

Copyright: 2023

Best-selling author Jon Gordon has written another easily-accessible and thought-provoking book entitled One Truth: Elevate Your Mind, Unlock Your Power, Heal Your Soul. Here is one of his many empowering proclamations: You are a hero with a purpose and a destiny and you have an enemy whose goal is to keep you from the path, purpose, and power you are meant to experience. Your enemy plans, schemes, and lies to separate you, whereas God always wants to unite you back to Him. Your enemy’s tools of choice are arrows of negative thoughts and lies that constantly target you to disorient, distract, discourage, deceive, and divide you.

This book provides the leader with both a construct and a vocabulary about how to think about the power and centrality of the mind. Check out these Book Notes to get a closer look.

Chuck Olson
Founder | Lead With Your Life

Book Description:
The One Truth, by 14x best-selling author and thought leader Jon Gordon, guides you on a path to discover revolutionary insights, ancient truths and practical strategies to elevate your mind, unlock your power and live life to the fullest.

The One Truth is that our state of mind, the thoughts we think, the words we say, the life we live, the power we have and everything we experience is ultimately influenced by oneness and separateness.

As you learn about the unseen forces that lower your state of mind, separate and weaken you and the hidden power that elevates your mind, unites and strengthens you, you’ll see life through a new lens, think with more clarity, confidence and act at higher level.

Once you know the One Truth, you’ll see how it impacts leadership, teamwork, mindset, performance, relationships, addictions, social media, anxiety, mental health, healing and ultimately determines what you create and experience.

Book Quotes:
In the pages that follow I’m going to share with you the key to mental toughness, high performance, mental health, and living with power and peace. LOCATION: 315

The answer is that it’s not the circumstance, environment, pandemic, test, project, or event that makes you feel a certain way. It looks like it is but it’s not. A closer look reveals it’s always your state of mind. If your state of mind is low when the circumstance happens, it affects you a certain way. If your state of mind is high when that circumstance happens, you are able to rise above it, overcome it, and move forward. LOCATION: 346

A low state of mind is characterized by a lot of thought, a lot of clutter, fear, anxiety, worry, insecurity, and/or doubt. A high state of mind consists of a lot of clarity, focus, belief, and confidence. LOCATION: 355

Realize that being in a low state of mind is normal. It’s part of being human. Nothing is wrong and nothing is broken. You are just experiencing the natural ebb and flow of thought. LOCATION: 412

When you understand the Five D’s that sabotage you and your mindset, the answer about how to elevate your state of mind will be even clearer and will make more sense. LOCATION: 432

There is a battle going on in your mind, and your opponent’s weapon of choice is not sticks, stones, bombs or guns but thoughts – thoughts that question your value, purpose, capabilities, goals, future, and worth. These thoughts will often give you doubt; they will weaken you, belittle you, shame you, terrify you, and sabotage you if you let them. They might tell you that you are not good enough, smart enough, attractive enough, powerful enough, or successful enough. They will sometimes tell you the future is hopeless and you should give up. LOCATION: 438

For years I lost the battle of my mind because I had no idea I was in a battle. If your enemy knows you’re in a battle and you don’t know it, you will surely lose. But once you realize you’re in a battle and understand how it’s being waged, you can create a game plan and strategy to win it. This is what I did in my own life. My mission is to help you win the battle as well. LOCATION: 448

Negative thoughts come from a spiritual place that invades your mind/soul, just like nightmares. LOCATION: 463

The first D is doubt. This is where negative thoughts begin to break you down. It starts with a thought. “Can you really do this?” “You might fail.” “Can you trust God?” LOCATION: 472

The second D is distortion, which is what happens when the truth is altered. In essence, there is a truth of who you are and the power you possess. Then you have these negative thoughts, which are lies that tell you things about yourself and your future that just aren’t true. These lies wreak havoc on you as they accuse you, weaken you, belittle you, doubt you, and do all things I mentioned earlier. LOCATION: 479

The third D is discouragement. This happens when the doubt and distortion (negative thoughts) overpower your mind, seep into your soul, and cause pessimism, apathy, and hopelessness, We don’t give up because life is hard. We give up because we get discouraged. We believe the doubt and distortion that we can’t win, won’t win, and don’t deserve to win. We feel defeated, so we stop fighting for what is worthy, noble, and good. LOCATION: 485

After all, if you don’t know how thoughts work, the discouragement can become so heavy and feel so insurmountable that you don’t want to keep going. That’s why you and everyone you know needs to understand how doubt and distortion can lead to discouragement, which can lead to despair. Despair could be an additional D, but since it doesn’t happen to everyone I don’t include it as one of the main Five D’s, although it’s important to mention. LOCATION: 498

Distraction is the fourth D. A distraction is anything that keeps you from what matters most. There’s a great saying: “If the devil won’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy and get you focused on all the things that don’t matter, instead of what does matter.” LOCATION: 504

The fifth D is division, which is what happens when you experience doubt, believe the distortions, get discouraged, and find yourself distracted. You feel divided. LOCATION: 514

If you let the Five D’s beat you, they can lead to a sixth D. Defeat of a team. Divorce in a marriage. And Demise of your life. We see this happen way too often. LOCATION: 522

You can speak truth to the lies in order to neutralize the negativity and energize and encourage yourself as you run the race of life. You can talk to yourself instead of listening to the lies that pop into your head. LOCATION: 567

I’m convinced abundance flows into your life when gratitude flows out of your heart. When you feel connected to and thankful for everything, you tap into the greater power that gives you everything you need. Where stress and entitlement cut off the flow of positive energy into your life, gratitude for things big and small connects you to it all. LOCATION: 580

The fifth D is divide and fear is the force that divides us, then what unites us? It is love. Love is the most powerful force in the universe, and more powerful than fear. Love casts out fear. So anytime you start to feel fearful and anxious and divided, if you respond with love, the fear will dissipate, and you will feel united. For this reason, love is the greatest mental toughness strategy and performance technique I share with high performers. LOCATION: 621

To be the best in the world at something or to simply be your best, love must be the driving force. When famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti was asked about his incredible discipline for his craft, he said that everyone thinks it’s discipline, but it’s devotion. He was so devoted to his craft that it drove his discipline. If you are not devoted and you don’t love what you’re doing, then discipline is hard. But if you are devoted and love it, then you have a higher state of mind and discipline is much easier. LOCATION: 643

The more clarity you have, the more confident you feel. Then your confidence leads to courage. The more confident you are the more you are willing to go for it and be courageous. Love creates connection, which leads to clarity, which breeds confidence, which generates courage. LOCATION: 652

It’s not the circumstance; it’s always your state of mind, and the circumstance has no actual power over you. Your love is more powerful than your fear. LOCATION: 699

When I taught you about low and high states of mind, I explained how fear divides and negative thoughts separate you, and how love and positivity connect and unite you. LOCATION: 749

The more we move from oneness to separateness, we move from love to fear, from high state to low state, and from positive to negative. LOCATION: 763

Addicts are seeking love and the feeling of oneness, but fill the gap between oneness and separateness with cheap substitutes that don’t fulfill what their soul really longs for. They seek more and more and wind up feeling worse and worse. The search leads to more suffering, the gap between oneness and separateness gets wider, and they go further along the downward spiral. LOCATION: 795

Like the soul, the brain heals through connection, and this connection leads to restoration. LOCATION: 826

The latest research in relational psychology shows that we heal in connection. The research demonstrates the truth that we were never meant to be alone and separate. We are wired at the spiritual, soul, biological, and cellular level to become one, and when we do we experience greater power, connection, commitment, and healing. LOCATION: 845

I’ve worked with NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college teams that have won championships and whenever they win they talk about the love they have for each other, the sacrifices they make for each other, the selflessness and the commitment. Of course, you have to have a level of talent, great coaching, a strong culture, and alignment at all levels of the organization, but the most important factor of all is oneness. LOCATION: 866

One of my favorite exercises is the Triple H: Hero, Hardship, Highlight. While the team sits together, each person stands up one at a time and shares who their hero is, a hardship they faced that made them who they are today, and a highlight in their life they are proud of. As each person does this, especially the hardship story, you can feel the change in energy in the room. LOCATION: 873

Change management that understands the One Truth and how uncertainty and fear can lead to greater separation and takes steps to create unity and trust will be more successful. LOCATION: 911

Narcissism, ego, unworthiness, perfectionism, and fame are all the result of feeling separate, which leads to a hole that you try to fill with things that will never fill it. LOCATION: 962

Integrity is the number‐one way to build trust and create success. The word “integrity” comes from the word integer, which means whole or complete. A leader with integrity is whole and complete. There’s no gap between what they say and do. There’s no separation between their character, values, principles, and actions. LOCATION: 1024

Our energetic bodies turn to dust when we die, but our spirit and soul are meant to be connected to something greater than ourselves. Just as a fish is meant to live in water, and a tree is meant to be connected to the earth and soil in order to thrive, we are meant to live connected to our Creator. Because we were made for connection, we don’t feel quite right when are not connected. We feel empty at times, longing for something more: searching for love and purpose, wanting to feel like we matter and are part of something greater than ourselves. So often our soul feels splintered and we know there is something missing that will fill the hole in our soul and will make us feel whole. Too often this connection feels elusive and the search feels like an imaginary quest that is a waste of time. But if we have a desire for connection, then clearly there is something we are meant to connect to. After all, if you have a desire to connect but there was nothing to connect to, then it would be futile and pointless, like trying to connect with someone who doesn’t like you or want to talk to you – a big waste of time. LOCATION: 1087

But that is not the case with God. God created you for connection. God wants to connect with you and put your desire for connection in your heart because you are meant to connect with the Creator of the universe. It’s not futile. It’s essential for your health and wholeness. LOCATION: 1096

This battle is waged between the unseen forces that try to weaken and separate us and the power that wants to strengthen and unite us. Once you understand that everything in life is about oneness and separateness, then the power that is good and the forces that are evil make even more sense. Evil seeks to divide. Good unites. Once you understand good and evil, the power that heals what the forces break becomes almost undeniable. Once you understand that healing is the answer to our separation, then the ultimate solution to our ultimate separation will be obvious. In Book III I’m also going to explain how you can tap into this power and the tools you can use to avoid separation and heal your mind, body, and soul from the separation you’ve experienced. LOCATION: 1114

Once you understand that the brain is an antenna and everything in life comes down to oneness and separateness, then understanding the existence and battle of good and evil is essential, worthwhile, and even logical. Please stay with me as I explain the bigger story you and I are living in. You see, evil seeks to divide and good unites. You are not just living a life, you are living a story, and you are part of the epic battle between good and evil. In fact, the story plays out within you, leading to oneness or separateness. The forces that divide you and the power that unites you are at war, and your mind, body, and soul are the battleground where it all takes place. LOCATION: 1189

You are a hero with a purpose and a destiny and you have an enemy whose goal is to keep you from the path, purpose, and power you are meant to experience. Your enemy plans, schemes, and lies to separate you, whereas God always wants to unite you back to Him. Your enemy’s tools of choice are arrows of negative thoughts and lies that constantly target you to disorient, distract, discourage, deceive, and divide you. LOCATION: 1231

The same thing happens to us every day. This battle is still going on. We have an enemy that is constantly lying to us, causing us to forget the truth of oneness and to believe the lie that leads to further separation. The enemy will always attack you in the place of your identity and cause you to go from knowing to searching. Instead of letting you know that you are meant to be one with God and are a child of God, the enemy will lie to you and constantly try to make you believe you aren’t, which leads to separation and searching and eventually to suffering. LOCATION: 1244

The more you study the truth and apply it, the easier it will be to recognize the lies. And the truth is that God’s truth will always speak life, hope, joy, and encouragement to you. God will always call you to more. The more you tune into Him, the simpler it will be for you to discern truth from the lies, and when you spot the lies it’s easier to ignore them. LOCATION: 1296

The truth is you’ll never be able to win a spiritual battle with manmade solutions. And as we look at biblical teachings, it will blow your mind to see that the solutions we need to heal our mind and soul and bring us back to oneness are there waiting for us. LOCATION: 1327

Now look around and see all the people grappling with anxiety, stress, depression, fear, countless negative thought patterns, and other mental struggles. What do they need? What do you need most? A renewing of your mind, and when you do you’ll be transformed. Isn’t that a beautiful and wonderful image? Renew your mind and be transformed. Negative thinking will be replaced by positive thinking. Lies replaced by truth. Oneness instead of separation. The truth is in front of us. The tools are available to us, but we must make the choice to use them. LOCATION: 1350

Temptation is the result of believing the lie, looking outside instead of inside, and being tempted to choose the imitation instead of the real thing. Temptation causes you to look away from oneness toward separateness and makes you want to choose what will further separate and divide you instead of bringing you closer to God. Temptation starts in the mind and leads you toward the sin that further separates you. Temptation is why so many who know the truth act on the lies. The enemy is so good and subversive at distorting, corrupting, and deceiving us that he convinces good people to do bad things. Yet we know temptation and sin never deliver what they promise because they are based on a lie that causes you to choose fake instead of real. In the Garden, the story said the fruit was appealing to Eve. She was tempted by it. She was told she would be like God if she ate the fruit. The lie told her she would become more if she acted on the lie, but in turning away from God and not trusting in what He said and choosing to sin, she became far less. LOCATION: 1386

Shame makes you want to hide. Hiding requires you to isolate and separate yourself from God and others. In isolation and separation, the wound gets worse and becomes infected. LOCATION: 1420

Every day is a choice to decide between living from our wound and separation or from our healing and oneness. We can choose the fake Band‐Aids that cover up the wound but don’t heal it, or we can choose the real love and healing that God has given us. LOCATION: 1456

Challenges often reveal the cracks in your identity, character, and confidence. They expose the wounds you carry and holes in your soul. During these times, you can allow the revelation of these cracks to break you or cause you to seek ways to break through. LOCATION: 1512

Note: should you wish to find any quote in its original context, the Kindle “location” is provided after each entry.