The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy

The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy

• Genre: Part fiction; part nonfiction self-improvement
• Originally Published: 2007
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: 34 chapters plus resources; approx. 175 pages; approx. 2 hours, 40 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: Readers follow the story of George, a down-on-his-luck career man; his workplace team’s productivity is down, his job is in jeopardy, and his wife may want to end their marriage. With some advice from an energetic bus driver, however, George learns how to revive his team’s goals and reestablish emotional connection with his wife, all through the power of positive thinking.

Jon Gordon, Author

• Bio: Born in 1971; successful motivational speaker, writer, and entrepreneur; attended Cornell University for undergraduate studies; holds a master’s degree in teaching from Emory University; 17 published self-help books on positive thinking and success strategies
• Other Works: The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work (2008); The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Life and Work (2011); The Energy Bus for Kids: A Story About Staying Positive and Overcoming Challenges (2012); The Energy Bus Field Guide (2017)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Power of Positive Energy
• The Power of Love
• The Power of Purpose

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the social contexts regarding unhappiness and habitual thinking that incite George’s conflict.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Power of Positive Energy, The Power of Love, and The Power of Purpose.
• Plan and design a skit to convey the use of the “10 Rules for the Ride of Your Life” using details from the book.
• Analyze and evaluate the author’s purpose and techniques to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding the influence of purpose, the importance of love, and other topics.