Attitude is one of the most important things in life. Sadly, many Christians go through life feeling defeated instead of victorious. But it doesn’t have to be that way. My good friend David Welday recently released a book called The A-Factor: 52 Keys to a Winning Attitude, and in it, he reveals the secrets to having a good attitude despite the trials you go through.
I invited him onto my “Strang Report” podcast to discuss his secrets to cultivating a winning attitude. (Click here or click on the podcast icon in this article to listen to that episode.) Welday says too many of us focus on the circumstances around us that we can’t change. Instead, our energy and time would be better spent focusing on how we respond to those circumstances.
“Your attitude can make a world of difference,” Welday says. “… The Bible makes it very clear that in this world, you’ll have tribulation. So all of us get thrown curveballs. My goal is to give people some tools, some insights that they can pull out of their tool bag to remember to say, ‘Oh yeah, I can work on that.'”
One of the attitudes that trips people up is offense. Welday says offense is a choice. We can choose to be offended or not at the things people say or do to us. We may not be able to control others’ behavior, but we can certainly control our own response to it.
“Christian or not Christian, all of us wrestle with how we think about things, how we respond to things. And that’s really what this book is about. It’s a lot of practical, simple, two- or three-page insights on things such as choosing not to be offended.
“People spend so much time getting wrapped around the axle. And sometimes it’s not even that they’re offended; they just pick up somebody else’s offense. So what can you do? Instead of having a thin skin and a thick heart, what can you do to have a thick skin and a thin heart? We get it backward.”
Welday’s book comes with some pretty impressive endorsements, including from Christian author Laurie Beth Jones, Convoy of Hope CEO Hal Donaldson and Dr. Rich Blue. The book’s format makes it easy to read, offering a chapter per week.
Welday encourages believers that they don’t have to be skilled or talented to have a good attitude. It’s something anyone can learn.
“You don’t have to have any specific skill set to have a good attitude,” he says. “If I want to play baseball or golf, I have to have certain physical skill sets to do that. If I want to be good at math, I have to have certain mental skill sets to do that. But everyone can be good at having the right attitude and the right approach to facing situations—good, bad or indifferent.”
I hope you pick up Welday’s book and learn some of these valuable tools he offers. All Christians can benefit from learning to control their attitude and submit their emotions to the Holy Spirit. You can buy his book on Amazon or sign up for his newsletter at ahigherlife.com.
To learn more about Welday’s book and how you can manage your attitude, listen to my podcast with him! {eoa}
Stephen Strang 
