Colt McCoy - The Real Win: Pursuing Gods Plan for Authentic Success

Colt McCoy and Matt Carter have joined arms to lead men to win. Not just win in athletics or careers, but to win in life. The pages of this book are packed with inspirational words and practical guidance. I heartily recommend it.

M AX L UCADO , pastor and best-selling author

The Real Win: Pursuing Gods Plan for Authentic Success is a really good book. It is honest, transparent, convicting, challenging, and instructive. It makes plain what it really means to be the man! Colt McCoy and Matt Carter invite men to a higher and greater calling as they follow hard after the real mans man, Jesus of Nazareth.

D ANIEL L. A KIN , president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Men hate asking for directions a little more than they hate to read. It isnt that we cant read; its just that we need something that keeps our interest and gives us practical help. Welcome to that book. The Real Win will help you grow in your faith so that you can be the man God has called you to be.

D ARRIN P ATRICK , lead pastor of The Journey

A gut-wrenching, soul-piercing book that wrestles honestly with questions every man asks and emotions every man feels, whether he ever admits it or not. I will recommend this book to all the men in my church. You wont be able to put it down.

J. D. G REEAR , author of Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved and Gospel: Recovering the Power That Made Christianity Revolutionary

A wonderful and raw work that gets to the heart of all the areas in which men have historically struggled. This book is immensely valuable, not because it points men to success, but because it points men to Jesus and practically walks through how to win by seeking Him in every area of life.

N ATHAN L INO , senior pastor of Northeast Houston Baptist Church

I cant speak highly enough about the way this book addresses manhood in our culture. Biblically challenging and radically applicable, it honestly addresses the deepest longings and fears a man faces.

M ATT C HANDLER , author of The Explicit Gospel and Creature of the Word

This is not your typical formula for a book on success and manhood. By humbly and honestly walking through their failures, Matt Carter and Colt McCoy teach the difficult truths we face as men and leaders. I have great hope that through this book, more and more men will begin to see their struggles in marriage, career, and family as a way to point them to the ultimate picture of success: Jesus Christ.

B RAD L OMENICK , executive director and key visionary of Catalyst

As a young man fresh out of college, I know Im going to chase something with the rest of my life. The Real Win helps me lock in on exactly what that should be. This book identifies whats truly satisfying, whats worthy of being chased. Im in for the win.

C ORY C OTTON , cofounder of Dude Perfect and author of Go Big

We live in a world full of scoreboards. Matt and Colt have experienced both wins and losses, and Ive seen them both want God more than all of it. They are men who fight well, and they will lead you to fight well. This is worth it. In The Real Win, Matt and Colt will move you from a life of striving to one of fulfillment, living for the God who has already won the ultimate victory.

J ENNIE A LLEN , Bible teacher and author of Anything

T HE R EAL W IN
P UBLISHED BY M ULTNOMAH B OOKS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

Scripture quotations marked ( ESV ) are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NASB ) are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked ( NIV ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

Copyright 2013 by Colt McCoy and Matt Carter

Cover design by Mark Ford

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Quoted material on is from SIMPLY JESUS AND YOU: EXPERIENCE HIS PRESENCE AND HIS PURPOSE by Joseph M. Stowell, copyright 2006 by Dr. Joseph M. Stowell. Used by permission of WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Random House, Inc. for permission.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, New York, a Penguin Random House Company.

M ULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
McCoy, Colt.
The real win : a mans quest for authentic success / Colt McCoy and Matt Carter.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-1-60142-483-9
1. SuccessReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Title.
BV4598.3.M43 2013
248.842dc23

2013002167

v3.1_r3

Colt: To my wife, Rachel. Its a joy living life with you every day. May we continue to grow stronger in the Lord together each moment He allows.

Matt: For my wife, Jennifer, who has walked beside me on my journey to manhood. Your love for Jesus is inspiring. Your love for me is humbling.

I SAIAH 26:4, ESV

Guys, quick! Can you name who won last years

Super Bowl?

World Series?

NBA Finals?

Daytona 500?

PGA Tour Championship?

How did you do?

If youre like a lot of guys, youre probably surprised by how few of the winners you can recall, especially considering what a big deal those championships felt like to a lot of people at the time.

Inside each man is a desire to set goals and achieve them, to get ahead and finish strong. And God Himself put a desire within us to drive hard and live with excellence. But things can go terribly wrong as we pursue our goals, cant they?

So many men start out to achieve what they think is the real win, but at the end of their lives they feel a sense of defeat, even though they achieved everything they set out to win. They think theyre achieving what matters most in the long run, but it doesnt pan out the way they had hoped. Or they find that their goals disappoint them, or their accomplishments are quickly forgotten, or they achieve their goals but destroy their marriages and families in the process, or they never fulfill their destinies and end up frustrated, angry, hurt, and cynical. What then?