The Four Pillars of Strength
The Four Pillars of Strength can be identified as physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Strength is not only about how many weights you can lift at the gym to become physically stronger, its entails the mental determination you use to conquer your personal goals each day, too. Your personal character and integrity is a combination of all four pillars complimenting one another to sustain strength in all entities of your lifestyle.
Here’s how to achieve strength within each pillar:
PHYSICAL STRENGTH: The physical pillar is the ability to care for your body through exercise, sleep and nutrition. Your body requires attention on a daily basis in order to function at work, home or social gatherings. Its important to achieve exercise each day or every other day, even if its 30 minutes of walking home from the office. Exercise builds physical endurance while also keeping your body’s immune system healthy. As much as your body requires exercise, it also needs sleep and proper nutrition. Sleeping 7-9 hours a night keeps the body from becoming ill and sleep deprived. As for nutrition, your body needs a well balanced source of nutrients from all the food groups. This enables your body to stay healthy by preventing disease and illness, as well as, regulating your energy levels to function throughout the day.
MENTAL STRENGTH: The mental pillar is the ability to maintain focus on productivity, personal core values, thought process for decision making, continued education, self development all while maintaining integrity throughout life lessons. Generally, you function day to day on autopilot within your set belief system you developed throughout childhood and adolescent years. As an adult, you must challenge some of those beliefs and thoughts to create a new mindset as you learn more each day. Your mind is capable of functioning at a higher potential than you may perceive; however, when you limit yourself from going outside your comfort zone there is a lack self development. If you have the ability to acknowledge your fullest potential through everyday life challenges, then you will be able to gain knowledge and obtain self-growth, increasing your mental strength. Thus, its not about changing who you are, it’s about the transformation of yourself into a admirable commodity.
EMOTIONAL STRENGTH: The emotional pillar is the ability to assess self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. Self-awareness gives you the skills to recognize your own emotions, moods and drives, and how they effect the people you interact with throughout your lifestyle. If you are fully aware of yourself, then you are able to assess how your behavior and communication affects other individuals. Being able to self-regulate your emotions, gives you the strength to remain calm and rational in stressful situations by controlling your impulses or judgement. If you are capable of self-regulating, then you will likely create more management in your personal life. By managing your emotions, your motivation and focus intend to increase by accomplishing your personal goals and achievements.
Another component of emotional strength is empathy. Empathy gives you the ability to understand the emotional makeup of others and how to respond to their needs. This enables you to create integrity and trustworthiness within your relationships while maintaining openness to change for a deeper connection. When you are able to develop deeper connections with others, your social skills provide effectiveness and strength to having meaningful relationships.
SPIRITUAL STRENGTH: The spiritual pillar is the ability to finding a higher purpose in life. You have the capacity to maintain an inner drive and commitment to your personal values and merit by exhibiting them each day. You respect your own beliefs by remaining true to yourself and others. Not only do you respect you own beliefs, you are also capable of accepting other’s beliefs.
To find strength in all four pillars it comes down to you transforming yourself with your own strength. You can not buy strength or obtain it from another human, you can only gain it through your own personal achievements and self development.
