Jordan Wirsz is a 27-year old millionaire business mogul and philanthropist. He has appeared on FoxNews and NBC’s “The Big Idea.” and he has released CD’s, and books to help others live as he does. His most recent book “Become Incredible: More powerful than the will to win is the courage to begin” is published by Palari Publishing here in Richmond, Virginia.
The book is an interactive self help tool for transformation. Jordan Wirsz overcame poor fatherless childhood circumstances to become the popluar millionaire he is today. The story is impressive. It is no wonder many people are drawn to him and no wonder “How did you do it ?” is a question many people might have for him. Jordan lays out what he has seen are the major hinderances that hold people back from becoming incredible.
Jordan explains that negative thought habits and a lack of self understanding are th main things that hold people back. Through some interactive exercises and real life examples Jordan’s book is designed to help free the reader from their inaccurate self assessment that they perhaps didn’t even know they were living under.
Low self esteem is an issue for many people and one worth addressing but Jordan Wirsz see’s it as the root of most people’s life problems. This is where I had trouble with the book. Positive thinking as the core message of a book will continually prove ineffective with its universalist perspective that says “I don’t care if you are Jewish, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, or a Wiccan (or fill in the blank of any other spiritual discipline); I am convinced that whatever you believe in as your higher power or spirit finds a way to present you with real opportunities to grow in your time on this earth.”as Jason does.
That is a “nice” idea and if that were actually true, lots of wars would probably not have happened. But the problem is that it is not true. If you take a group of people with conflicting ambitions and differeing ideologies and tell them all that what they believe is true and they are capable of fullfilling all their desires they will eventually undercut one anothers ambitions trying to fulfill their own and end up fight with one another.
Personally, I am a follower of Jesus and to have a self help book acknowledge God but put the messianic figure, Jesus as an equal with Buddha or a wiccan god or goddess is asking me to believe something contrary to what the sacred text of my faith says to be true. The Bible at it’s core teaches the source of hope for anyone is Jesus’ victory of death on the cross. He is what the book of Colossians says “holds all things together.” In the gospels Jesus said of himself “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” One of the biggest issues that keeps people from coming to know Jesus is the prideful idea that they can make life work in their own strength.
I found Jason’s recommendation of NLP in the book to be quite alarming as well. If you are not familiar with it NLP stands for Neuro-linguistic programming. According to NLP’s web site, it is:
“a set of guiding principles, attitudes, and techniques about real-life behavior, and not a removed, scientific theorem. It allows you to change, adopt or eliminate behaviors, as you desire, and gives you the ability to choose your mental, emotional, and physical states of well-being.”
NLP is also tied to a Hawaiian religion called “Huna” with some of its messages being:
“We all have within us all we need for personal transformation at any moment.”
That’s an affirming message of hope. But it denies the need to recieve Jesus on the inside. Jesus dwelling in your heart is what true hope is. The message of the Huna faith diminishes the spirit and tries to resolve life issues in terms of mind and body. The spirit world is real and every person is made up of mind, body, and spirit. That is why the word of God is so important in daily life. The book of Hebrews says that “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
NLP is built on the idea that thoughts lead to actions. “If something goes wrong in your life the root cause is something in your thinking and consequently your actions.” That is the short explanation of the perspective. This is actually true of some mindsets. If you repeatedly tell yourself that “you are stupid” rather than recognize that from time to time you “do stupid things” then you will have trouble learning and suffer with a lack of self esteem needed to grow.
However, to tell a person who was sexually abused that their abuse is a product of their thoughts and actions is cruel and inaccurate. The message to that person who was abused possibly as a young boy or girl would be counter productive. When something wrong is done “to” someone rather than “by” that someone it changes the process of healing and personal growth tremendously. An abuse victim cannot 100% by the way they think prevent a future abuse from happening. They can take steps to keep themselves out of danger as Proverbs 22:3 suggests when it says “A prudent person forsees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” That precaution alone though will not save someone. This is because the abuse happened “to” them rather than it being something they did. When abuse, theft, natural disaster or other atrocities like slavery happens in a persons life it is not that persons fault and they have hope of healing in a relationship with Jesus Christ who came “to comfort the brokenhearted.” (Isaiah 61:1)
I do not recommend “Become Incredible” by Jason Wirsz. It is a book that shows a tremendous drive and effort by Jason who has done many amazing things at a young age. However, the book will lead people astray from true hope because it is not centerd around Jesus Christ as the source of hope and positive change.
I also do not recommend several past blog posts of mine from April 19th, March 29th and September 9th 2009. They contain this message as well that “positive thinking is the solution” rather than what I am continuing to discover more and more to be true. A relationship with Jesus is the source of true hope. I apologize for leading anyone astray by those posts which denied the power of a relationship with Jesus.
If you find yourself in a place of hopelessness right now, reach out to Jesus. If you do not know Him invite Him into your heart your life your circumstances. There is no perfect way to word it but an admission that you are broken and need help beyond what you yourself or any other person on earth can do is always an ingredient. You don’t have to get your act together in order to come to Him. A relationship with Jesus is what changes a person.
This post is based on a review copy.
Dandelion Ink 