Review: The Hope Quotient by Ray Johnston
In early January 2017, Jamie and I had the privilege of visiting Saddleback Church for the first time with our new friend and comrade in the fight to end extreme poverty, Frank Kitonga. While we were attending, Dr. Rick Warren was not giving the message, but another pastor and good friend of his was—Ray Johnston, pastor of Bayside Church and founder of the Thrive Leadership Conference. His message was one of hope, encouragement, and the need to fan the flames of these in our lives. After the message, his book The Hope Quotient was being sold outside the church, and I thought it would be a great gift for Frank as well as an encouraging read for me and Jamie so I bought two copies.
Written in a practical and conversational tone, the book echoed much of the content of Johnston’s message at Saddleback. Each of us needs to do whatever we can to keep hopeful about our lives and futures. The book goes through several very tangible steps each one of us can take to keep our batteries charged, stay encouraged, and play to our strengths.
One of the best reminders for me in his book was the reminder for me to invest in my own growth. I really enjoy investing in the lives of others, but in order to be a better investor, and in order to ensure I have something to give, I need to invest in myself. In 2016, among many investments I made was one to pursue training and certification to become an executive coach. A second key investment was to take a legitimate vacation with Jamie and to take time away from work to celebrate and welcome Sylvia into our lives. All of us need to be mindful of the fact that we can get drained and when we are drained, we can easily become discouraged. When we become discouraged (which we all do), it is easy to be devastated by it. Hope is like fuel for overcoming that discouragement or like an antidote to the toxic and contagious nature of discouragement.
If you want to bring hope into your work, your marriage, and your life, I highly recommend reading The Hope Quotient by Ray Johnston and working to employ the ideas in his book so you are more likely to be sustained, supported, and strengthened with hope instead of being devastated by despair. May we each strive to ignite hope in our lives and the lives of those around us—we all need it, and a little hope can go a long way!