You Can, You Will: 8 Undeniable Qualities of a Winner (2014) by Joel Osteen
"There is a winner
in you. You were created to be successful, to accomplish your goals, to leave
your mark on this generation. You have greatness in you. The key is to get it
out," writes Joel Osteen, a beloved smiling pastor and also a
controversial preacher of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. I first encounter
with Joel Osteen while listening to his sermons through Podcast a few years
ago. I like it because his messages are very uplifting and encouraging. They
are great to listen to during my walking exercise. With his southern slang, I
can hear his sincerity, positivity and love for the people. Joel is very
consistent in his speaking and writing. Because I listened to Joel on YouTube
too for a couple of times, I can hear his intonations and imagine his movements
when I read this book. I enjoy reading it.
Long-Note: Let me share with
you what I think about Joel Osteen because there are people – both well-meaning
people and pure haters alike – warned about him and labelled him as preaching
the health and wealth gospel or simply known as the prosperity gospel. Is it
true? YES. As Christians, we all should be alert and guard ourselves against
false teachers and false teachings. I'm not in ignorance, I fully aware of it.
But I have this principle in my reading: Read widely and apply critical
thinking (I've read half a dozen of books on atheism, but I'm still a
Christ-follower today. I learned a great deal from those books). When I read
and listen to Joel Osteen, I'm not coming to him for Biblical teachings and the
Word expositions. I consider him as motivational speaker, period (the Lakewood
Church might call him ‘pastor' and ‘preacher' but I don't call him with these
titles). Not everyone can do it, I admit, but I'm very good with
compartmentalizing each book/author into categories. Joel Osteen, to me, is in
the same category as Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, Les Brown, etc. In
short: Joel Osteen is a good Christian motivational speaker but a bad gospel
preacher. His message is more like Napoleon Hill rather than like Andrew
Murray. If you're a Christian, I would like to suggest that you treat this book
as an inspirational or motivational or self-help book and I can assure you that
you can learn some valuable lessons from it.
Okay, about the book, You
Can You Will, Joel Osteen believes that we are all a winner. "Winning
is in your DNA," he writes, "and it's about to come out in a
greater way. You may have had some victories in the past, but you haven't seen
anything yet." To reach your potential and achieve new levels of
success in your life, he outlines Eight (8) Qualities that Every Winner Must Have, namely:
#1 Keep Your Vision in Front of You.
Dare to dream big dreams. This might trigger theological alert, fairly so, but
I share this quote anyway: "If you keep the vision in front of you and
don't get talked out of it, but just keep honouring God, being your best,
thanking Him that it's on the way, God will supersize whatever you're believing
for. He'll do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond." If you keep
your vision in front of you, you'll move forward.
#2 Run Your Race. Focus on your
unique course and goals. "The scripture talks about those who loved the
praise of people more than the praise of God. One of the tests we all have to
pass is when someone in our lives that we respect and look up to – a boss, a
friend, a colleague, a relative – wants us to go to one direction when we know
in our hearts that we should take another path." Be secure enough in
who you are that you don't live to please people says Osteen. Run your race.
#3 Expect Good Things.
Anticipate great opportunities. Read this motivational quote: "Our
expectations set the limits for our lives. If you expect little, you're going
to receive little. If you don't anticipate things to get better, then they
won't. But if you expect more favour, more good breaks, a promotion, and an
increase, then you will see new levels of favour and success."
#4 Have a Positive Mindset. Take
control of your thoughts and attitudes. "Daniel and Joseph were good
people, but they had bad circumstances," explains Osteen.
"Unfair things happened to them. They were mistreated and faced huge
obstacles. If you study their lives, you'll find one common denominator: They
were always positive. They had this attitude of faith… they started each day
with their minds going in the right direction, knowing that our God is well
able."
#5 Commit to Excellence. Do your
best and maintain high standards. "When you have a spirit of
excellence, you do your best whether anyone is watching or not. You go the
extra mile. You do more than you have to." I love the story when Joel
struggled to either pick up trash that flew about 15 feet away due to the wind
or left it there. He chooses to pick it up and little that he knows that there
were people watching the whole thing. "When you are excellent, your
life gives praise to God. That's one of the best witnesses you can have. Some
people will never go to church. They never listen to a sermon. They're not
reading the Bible. Instead, they're reading your life. They are watching how
you live… You're representing almighty God."
#6 Keep Growing. Be proactive,
be intentional, build on your gifts, and continually improve. This is powerful:
"Young people often get caught up in trying to be popular instead of
trying to be their best." Decide to grow in some way every day.
#7 Serve Others. This is one of
my favourite chapters! Invest yourself in others. "Jesus pulled out His
towel, bowed down and washed [the disciple's] feet one by one. He gave us His
example of service to others so we would know you're never too important to be
good to people. You're never too successful. You're never too high to bow down
low and serve another person." Love this phrase: You're never too
important to be good to people.
#8 Stay Passionate. Light the
fire within and approach life with enthusiasm. "If you want to stay
passionate, you have to stay productive. You have to have a reason to get out
of bed in the morning. When you're not producing, you're not growing. You may
retire from your job, but don't ever retire from life. Stay busy." The
word passionate is similar to the word enthusiasm which comes from the Greek
word ‘entheos.' ‘Theos' is a term for ‘God.' So, when you're enthusiastic, you
are full of God!
THINK BIG. START
SMALL. GO DEEP.
