Design For Living – Five Pillars Posted on September 15, 2026 by Dr. John Hawkins, Sr. What is “Design For Living?” It is a podcast, but there are many podcasts on the internet about many different subjects. Why would you want to watch us or read our written blogs? The only reason I take my valuable time to watch or listen to anything is because I think it has value to me. Value that I can then pass on to help others. I would suppose the same is true of you. Time is the most valuable commodity you can give to anyone. Once time is spent it is forever gone. With this goal in mind, adding value to the time you invest, is why I produce Design For Living. After helping people for over 50 years as a pastor, licensed mental health therapist, author and speaker I want to pay some things forward. In 1624, John Donne, poet and cleric said, “No man is an island.” We are all part of something bigger. None of us are self- made. Other people, and circumstances (both positive and negative), have impacted and influenced our lives. In helping people over all these years an overarching question continues to be asked by people, “How do I make life work?” It can be asked in various ways: How can I be happy? What is the meaning of life? Why? How do I handle this? What do I do now? I just don’t see how I can get through this? Things are great now but when will the other shoe drop? How can I ever forgive them or trust them again? How did I get here, where am I going, what will happen to me when I die? The detailed nitty gritty: How do I make this relationship work? How do I raise these kids? How do I ever blend this family? How do I get over this depression, anxiety, anger…etc? I am sure you can think of other real life questions and issues you face. Five Pillars of Life Design Worldview Design For Living, focuses on five pillars necessary to build a healthy, happy, successful life. Now you may ask, “Who thought up these five pillars?” That’s a fair question. This is not just another self-help podcast or blog of old recycled cliches of human wisdom. Nor does the material found here claim to be original or some secret never before discovered by anyone. A wise man once said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” Allow me to provide you a disclaimer of my worldview and the source of the advice I will share. I mentioned previously my background has been both a pastor and a mental help therapist. So here are the foundational truths for my five pillars. This is the source of my worldview and the advice I give to people. There is a God who is the Maker of heaven and earth. As the master designer he knows how everything he designed should work. He has revealed his design through creation, scripture, human conscience and our ability to discover the secrets of his design as we unlock the secrets of his creation for the good of mankind. There is no conflict between God’s design and true science (whether in the hard or soft sciences). Our goal is to align our thinking and behavior with God’s design. We approach problems humbly (is what I’m doing working for me, if not am I open to consider a different answer?), realizing we don’t know everything. God is wiser than us. You don’t have to be a person of faith to benefit from the knowledge we will share. Sometimes I will come from a more psychological or common sense position. Other times I will identify, for those who are people of faith, other faith resources they can consider. You just need to be open minded and consider anything that may benefit you. God promises to bless all those who align with and follow his design. The Five Pillars Identified Pillar 1: Relationships Life is about relationships, this is what makes us happy or sad in life. The bible is a book about relationships, not a rule book. It is about our relationship with God and with people. Most people have heard of the Ten Commandments. The first four are about our relationship with God. The last six are about our relationships with people. When people asked Jesus what was the greatest command, He said: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets – Matthew. 22.37 -40. In other words having good relationships with people flows from having a right relationship with God. A right relationship with God comes from making peace with God and living life by his design principles. So this pillar with deal with such subjects, as: How to communicate better without attacking and blaming. What healthy boundaries look like. How to rebuild trust once it has been broken. Why do people repeat unhealthy relationship patterns? Marriage communication principles. Parent/ adult child relationships. Forgiveness versus reconciliation These are just some of the topics that you could find helpful. You can also email us other topics in regard to this or other pillars you may have questions on. Pillar 2 – Mood and Emotional Health We are thinking, rational and emotional beings. Some people are more emotional than others but we all have emotions. Life would be pretty boring without them. The problem is our life can be very chaotic and troubling when we don’t know how to regulate, process, and handle our emotions. God doesn’t tell us to never get angry. Jesus got angry at times. He tells us to be angry but don’t sin. Some of our topics in this pillar would be: Understanding anxiety. Managing depression symptoms. How to emotionally regulate ourselves. How thoughts affect feelings. What to do when you feel overwhelmed and stressed out. The difference between sadness and depression. How to calm your nervous system. Pillar 3 – Self-image and Identity. Self-image is how I think and feel about myself. It is a foundation for establishing my self-identity. We are not born feeling positive or negative about ourselves. We come into the world pretty neutral. We all have genetic tendencies in regard to our personality but our attachment bases (the people who care for us) play a major role in shaping both our self-image and identity when we are younger. We have the capability to re-set both of these as we grow older. Self-image and identity play a huge role in many areas of our life. They can stay in our unconscious mind our entire life and influence many of our life decisions in either a positive or negative way. Some of our topics will include: Why your inner dialogue matters. How shame damages self-worth. Developing a healthier view of yourself. How past wounds shape identity. Replacing self-criticism with self-respect. How faith and mental health intersect in identity. Pillar 4 – Positive Thinking and Life Design Scripture has a lot to say about how we think. Jesus said, “From the heart the mouth speaks”. What we think continuously will eventually come out in our emotions and our behavior. You cannot consistently act in a way that is inconsistent with how you think. This is why we must guard our mind with what we allow to enter it. It is like that saying about computers, garbage in, garbage out. We will deal with such topics as: How to renew your thinking. Daily habits that shape your future. Goal setting with emotional wisdom. How to stop self- sabotage. Building resilience. Living with purpose after disappointment and failure. Principles for wise decision making. Pillar 5 – Faith, Wisdom, and Practical Living How do we learn how to live? We come into this world with no knowledge and no experience about it. We do come in with great curiosity, just watch any baby in their first two years of life. They get into things we don’t want them to get into because they are curious and want to learn about their world. So we learn by learning, trial and error and experiencing things for ourselves. Later others teach us both formally and informally. They can teach us good things or bad, wise things or foolish things. We learn from our successes and our failures. Hopefully we acquire common sense, have wise mentors and have a source of truth that is true. As I mentioned earlier, for us the source is God and scripture. However, we will also look at other wisdom sources and practical life experience. Some of these things you may be more comfortable with than others. But if what you’re doing in life isn’t working, consider trying something different and see if it helps you more. This pillar will deal with subjects such as: Wisdom for conflicts. Biblical principles for emotional health. How spiritual maturity affects emotional maturity and relationships. Hope during hard seasons of life. The difference between guilt, conviction, and shame. The subjects mentioned under each pillar are not exhaustive but are mentioned to give you a feel for the focus of the podcast. As I said before you can feel free to contact us with other questions or subjects you would like to explore. Design For Living is about giving you principles within these five life pillars that will help you make better decisions and live life more successfully. I look forward to having you join us as together we learn to navigate life according to His design.
