FEATURED POST

The Foundational Pillars ■ Faith, Family, Future, Fitness 

“In life, there are four Foundational areas that I believe are necessary to maintain balance. These are faith, family, future, and fitness”.

NUMBER ONE IS YOUR FAITH. You must believe that you are not here by chance. You must believe that you were created by someone greater than you for a greater purpose. My faith is everything! My faith reminds me that I am a child of a higher being and He who created me did not make me by chance. My creator is supreme. Without this belief, nothing else matters. I have an abundant faith that my creator has a purpose for my life and I was created to serve. I have faith that our time on this planet Earth, although brief in the big picture of eternal life, plays a vital role.

It is our responsibility to do something that’s worth something. We must aspire to be someone who has credibility, someone with passion and purpose, someone who will play his or her role in helping humanity. My faith is strong because I am proof that there is a creator that has full control of our lives. My creator has saved me countless times from self-destruction and has picked me up from the lowest points of life when I felt there was no end in sight.

Despite my transgressions, my creator has allowed me to be a physician and has blessed me with a platform of influence to help and heal people mentally, physically, and spiritually. My faith, through the concept of reciprocity, teaches me right from wrong and to treat others with kindness, respect, and love.

NUMBER TWO IS YOUR FAMILY. To understand the Foundational Pillar of family you don’t have to be married or have kids. We all come from someone and we all are a part of a family, biological or not. Life without a focus on family can be hard. We need a person or persons in our lives during our daily grind to be there for support, love, laughter, and comfort. Family reminds you to work hard each day, holds you accountable, and challenges you to be the best version of yourself every day.

Family reminds you to have a limitless career and no boundaries. Family reminds you to be a good role model and to aspire to success and humility.

When I succeed, I give my wife and kids the comfort, provision, and protection they deserve. When I succeed, I give my kids a role model and guide to help them be prepared for all of life’s many challenges and victories. When I succeed, I give my parents the satisfaction of knowing they made the right choice to emigrate to the United States, despite the many weary nights and grindingly difficult days. Having a focus on family reminds me that if I were to fail, I not only would fail myself, but also my family. It is this focus on family that makes failing not an option.

NUMBER THREE IS YOUR FUTURE. The Foundational Pillar of future defines our careers. What we do for a living. My future gets me up early and it is why I study hard. It is because of my focus on my future that I went to school with a purpose of earning good grades and doing well academically. My future motivated me to join various organizations and become involved in community-wide activities. My future pushed me to strengthen my résumé, apply to the best colleges and pursue the best scholarships.

Focusing on my future inspired me to study when everyone else was partying. Your future is your source. Your future is your resource. Your future dictates how you provide for yourself and your family. Keeping your future in proper balance is essential. Most of our days will in some way involve our future. Choose this pillar in life well. Take the time to envision yourself five, ten, or fifteen years out and what it is you want to be doing.

Sculpt your future every day. Analyze your future and adapt your future as you evolve. Never be scared to pivot your future. No matter what, stay true to yourself and your life goals and make every attempt to align your goals, purposes, and passions with your future. 

THE LAST Foundational Pillar IS FITNESS. This should drive your everyday script in life. Not just physical fitness but also mental fitness. Unfortunately, this is an area that many of us take for granted. We all tend to focus on everything else—our jobs, our finances, our relationships. We forget to make our own self a priority.

As I have grown older and matured, a huge life lesson I am learning is simply this: if you do not feel good, you’re not going to do well. Simple as that. If you do not feel good, you will not do well. On the contrary, if you feel good, you will do well and most of the time you will do your best. As I have shared with my kids, in life there is no room for shortcuts or sloppiness. When you become sloppy, do sloppy work, and take shortcuts, you will not reach your goals. This also applies to your body and your mind.

When you focus on your physical fitness you become deliberate about what you eat, how much you eat, when you exercise, and how much you exercise. Physical fitness also requires getting the proper amount of sleep so that you have bounding energy to go that extra mile when your body says no!

Mental fitness means disciplining your life to protect every aspect of your mind and mental being. You will fail when your mind is not fit. You will fall short when there is a mental breakdown. Guard and protect your mind. Keep it fit today and maintain the fitness of your mind to endure for tomorrow. 

DMA