Heal Yourself, Heal Humanity. Dr. Seku Gathers Shows Us Where to Start
In 2007 Dr. Seku Gathers was working as an emergency room physician when life took a dark turn. While conducting a procedure, he contracted Hepatitis C, which resulted in him becoming gravely ill and having to go on short-term disability. In the ensuing years, he experienced a series of losses. His marriage fell apart. His “prestige of being a physician,” as he describes it, ended. His financial security plummeted. From a conventional standpoint, Dr. Gathers had nothing. But he started to look inward—and he began to see the opposite. “I realized that there's a wealth inside of here [pointing to his heart] that's beautiful and untapped,” he tells me over Zoom.
That was when Dr. Gathers found his truth. Rather than continuing to live “to fulfill the needs and desires of others,” he explains, he started to focus on himself and what he wanted. He studied film and theater. Launched an entirely new facet of his career. Started new businesses. And he healed.
In the decade since, Dr. Gathers has aimed—as a mindset coach, health strategist, and entrepreneur—to help people forge a bridge between their truth and their lives. He calls this The Truth Prescription: unlocking what is undeniably inside you, the good and the bad, to heal and build the life you want.
I spoke with Dr. Gathers this week about how we all can start to look within to heal. As his wisdom reveals, facing the truth is hard work. It also is the key to living a wildly authentic life and helping humanity.
On Healing Yourself and Humanity—with Dr. Seku Gathers
Know Your Passions Are Valid
Life consists of many rules put upon us, and those can often interfere with our true callings. “From the time we’re born till the time that we are adults, someone is telling us what to do and where to go,” says Dr. Gathers. “Your parents have certain rules. School has certain rules.” That’s why he says it’s critical to take the time to drill down and consider what you desire, not what your family, neighbor, or boss wants.
“We all have gifts and talents and passions and things that we're able to do that have nothing to do with how we've been programmed or about what our culture says we should be doing,” Dr. Gathers continues. “That’s what focusing on yourself, taking care of yourself, listening to yourself is really about: It’s about being in tune with those messages.”
Honor Your Creativity—No Matter Your Age, Career, or Place in Life
It was after he became a medical doctor and fell to his lowest point that Dr. Gathers started to respect his innate craving to be an artist. He looked within, said yes to this truth despite others' expectations, and went to study at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, ultimately going on to direct and write films and start a podcast. "I had my podcast in me for 10 years," he tells me. So don't wait: Get creative.
Lean into the Hard Work
Truth-seeking is difficult “because it's always uncomfortable,” says Dr. Gathers. “No self-development can happen without discomfort because you're breaking the paradigm that you've been comfortably used to all of these years.” When he came face-to-face with his proclivity to self-sabotages, Dr. Gathers had a breakthrough. That’s what the truth is about, he says: Pinpointing the things about ourselves that are true and being honest and frank about them. “It could be, I have a problem with anger. I have a problem with communicating. Or with being sarcastic. Whatever it is, you must be truthful and clear about it and then you can do something about it—if you want.”
Get Moving
Exercise is one of the most critical things we can do to heal. As Dr. Gathers tells me, “No one has ever come back from a workout and thought, I’m so upset that I did that. That was the worst thing ever.” Moving your body, even for a 10-minute walk, is empowering and clarifying.
Writing is also a freeing activity. Dr. Gathers suggests jotting down one-word adjectives about how you feel, to start. “You can simply write: Sad. Confused. Hurt. Write it down in a list and then just leave it.” The next day, come back to it and expand those words to sentences or short paragraphs.
Realize that Your Healing Helps Humanity’s Healing
“We’ve turned from human beings into human doings and that's the problem,” says. Dr. Gathers. “We’re almost robotic and we’ve become calcified in how we interact with each other and ourselves. There is a war going on right now. It’s about conflict and hate, as it’s always about conflict and hate. It’s not about love.” By being in tune with ourselves, loving ourselves, Dr. Gathers posits we help the world. “The more human beings we can be, the better off the planet will be.”
Founder of ConnectMD, Dr. Seku Gathers is a concierge physician, entrepreneur, author, teacher on Insight Timer, mindset coach, life strategist, and award-winning filmmaker. Having dedicated his life to the refinement of healing techniques to serve humanity, he provides a living example of how embracing inner truth unleashes one’s full potential, both professionally and personally. During his former career as a successful emergency room physician, sudden disease and divorce required him to reset and slow down. When old wounds from his troubled childhood surfaced, he developed a method of transforming trauma into truth and self-empowerment. His book Total Body Wellness: The Truth About Your Health shares this approach and explores the mind-body connection. To learn more visit thetruthprescription.com.
