Life Is More Fun When You Are Winning

Unfortunately, many of us are just drifting through life while often facing defeat at every turn. We long to improve our relationships, our health, and our finances, but for many of us it seems as though we are just getting by in life.  The good news is that God does not want us just to survive so that we can enjoy eternity. God wants for us the same thing that we all want for ourselves - to win in life. He wants for us to win in our relationships, our health, and our finances.

With this post, I wanted to share a complimentary excerpt of my new book, Winning: The Guide to a Life of Peace and Purpose. This book was written to help you do just that, Win in Life!

I hope you enjoy and that it spurs you to the next steps of winning in every area of your life!

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WINNING: The Guide to a Life of Peace and Purpose

Introduction

God doesn’t want us to just survive this life so that we can enjoy eternity. He also wants for us the same thing that we all want for ourselves: to win in this life (Mark 10:29–30). I spent most of my early years playing sports, including playing football on a Division I team. Whether it was football, basketball, or my favorite card games, my objective was to win. Winning made sports more fun. Who doesn’t like winning? For me, there was no sense in playing any sport unless I was aiming to win, and more times than not, I won.

 

Although my official playing days ended in the eighties when I played my last college football game, I found that the same rules that apply to sports apply to life. Life is more fun when you win.

 

But unlike with sports, many people don’t know how to win when it comes to life. There is no huge scoreboard letting you know where you stand. There is no coach patrolling the sideline and calling the plays. Many of us are just going through life being defeated. Often times we do not even realize that we are in competition.

 

In recent years, several high-profile National Football League players have had legal troubles with domestic violence. These great athletes who manage to perform with a high level of discipline on the field have not translated that same discipline off the field.

 

Perhaps it is because on the field, they understand the rules of the game, keep score, and have the benefit of good coaches, while off the field, they are left with navigating through life on their own.

 

I have learned that life is a competition and requires all the same components involved in winning any good sporting event. It’s not just talent that determines who wins. It also requires a good game plan, a strong desire to win, good coaches, and a commitment to execution.

 

These things have helped me to win in life. By winning in life, I mean winning in my spiritual life, in relationships, in my health, and in my financial life. I learned that ultimately winning in life also includes living a life of significance with a purpose that is much bigger than me.

 

I decided to write this book in order to help coach readers through a winning life and to provide a tool for those who want to coach others. It is written as my personal letter to you, the reader. In this book, I discuss the keys that will help you move from just surviving life to living a life of success and, even better, a life of significance.

 

The book starts with a self-assessment so that you can determine where you currently are on your journey to winning in five key areas of life. The rest of the book is dedicated to explaining in more detail what it means to win in each of these five areas. (Click here to get a printable version of the self-assessment.)

 

This book can be used by individuals or by small groups. At the end of each section, there is a list of questions to help guide discussions.

 

Whether you are reading it as an individual or as part of a group, my hope is that this book will help guide you to a life of joy, peace, and significance and help you to guide others there as well.

Chapter 1

The Peace Fountain

One of the most peaceful sounds is water flowing through a fountain. We have all marveled at the beauty of water fountains. We put them in our offices, our homes, and our gardens. I love watching the multilevel water fountains. It is so peaceful and calming. It is also a good picture of the winning life God wants for us.

“The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” (Psalm 29:11).

Just like the multilevel water fountain, there are multiple areas in our lives in which God wants us to experience peace. As we experience this peace, we win in this area of our life. I call these the five tiers of peace:

1. Peace with God

2. Peace in relationships

3. Peace in health

4. Peace in finances

5. Peace in purpose

These five tiers are in order of priority. Think of the five tiers as a multilevel water fountain, like the one illustrated here.