There are four areas of life that every man faces every day. And the way they are handled will bring either joy and success or pain and failure.
These four foundational pillars in every man’s life are:
- FAITH … The internal core of what aligns a man with his creator to become who he is designed to be, and live out his purpose.
- FAMILY … The central place of community that shapes a society.
- FITNESS … The physical, mental and spiritual strength that gives the stamina and perseverance it takes to fulfill a man’s potential.
- FINANCES … The currency that fuels the freedom to provide for those in a man’s care and contribute to the needs of others.
Any one of these areas can consume the majority of your time and attention. And to the degree that you have not learned to master them, you will inevitably experience a compounding effect of problems that create stress, chaos and unavoidable, hurtful consequences for you and those around you.
But learning to master these will give you freedom to live out your purpose and fulfill your role. Men are internally wired to be protectors, providers and leaders. But if these everyday areas of life are not under control, you cannot successfully live out your purpose and role in life.
Real men ask for help when they need it.
Most men don’t. We don’t like to be told how to do things. We like to figure things out on our own. We like our independence and have an image of ourselves as mavericks able to blaze our own trail. The only problem is that even if we know where we want to end up, we don’t always know how to get there. How many times while driving somewhere have you stubbornly refused directions because you thought you knew the way, but you ended up lost.
Without some basic instructions in these four key areas of life, you can easily get confused, off track, unproductive and ineffective. The decisions you make and the actions you take will cause outcomes that will either make or break you. Let’s face it, if we are willing to set our egos aside, show some transparent vulnerability and ask for help, we put ourselves in a position to learn, grow, succeed and lead.
A number of years ago, I finally came to the realization that I could use some help when it came to mastering things that I didn’t have expertise in. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to tackle these areas. It’s just that I didn’t have the experience to qualify me to know how to master these areas of life. But it’s not that complicated and doesn’t need to be intimidating.
To master is to learn the skills needed to become proficient in overcoming the fears and the challenges in these four key areas of life.
And what’s the point in mastering your faith, family, fitness and finances? Is it just for the sake of becoming a better you? Will it cause you to become even more self-absorbed, trying to reach the pinnacle of all you can be? Perhaps. But only if you are too short-sighted to see the bigger picture.
It’s not just about you, and you don’t want it that way anyhow. Nobody wants to be selfish and no one wants to be around someone who is. But if the outcome of mastering these areas can cause you to be better equipped to help others, then you can avoid self-centered motives.
So first things first. Do a quick evaluation of how things are going in each one of these areas.
For example, maybe you’re not really sure the whole faith thing is relevant. God is out there somewhere, and you’re slugging it out here on planet earth, so why think He would be involved in the details of your everyday life? Or you just don’t know enough about the whole subject and don’t want to take the time to learn.
