Friedrich Nietzsche suffered terribly his whole life from week-long bouts of migraines and nausea. He endured isolation, mockery, tragedies, and insane suffering until his eventual madness and death. In many ways, he was dealt a terrible hand, but within that great suffering, he discovered profound truth. Nietzsche was a scholar of the classics, a student of the ancient Greeks, one of the first psychologists, but more than anything, he was a philosopher of the flames. It is fire that molds us, and Nietzsche bathed in it. In his days of clarity and relief, he wrote with unmatched exuberance. While hiking in the Alps, I would argue he birthed the philosophy more vital and robust than anything that came before. He was far ahead of his time, and though his keys couldn't save him, they might be able to save us. Nietzsche understood that the challenges and ordeals of life are infinite. They don't end. We face loneliness, fear, fatigue, heartbreak, tragedy, disease, depression, and inevitably death. Life can be so hard, cruel, and even random. What can we do about it in the absence of God?

religion. What can add meaning to the suffering? How can we live a good life and even thrive through challenges? These were some of the questions pondered and ones we will investigate today. You might feel stuck right now. You might be suffering or terrified of change or warring with addictions. You may be underwhelmed or overwhelmed or lost somewhere in the middle. Or you might just be okay. I've been all those places, and I don't care what you're up against or what all the healing gurus, spiritual advisers, or life advice people say. There's but one path forward to the good life: the heroic one. Healing is heroic. Breaking cycles is heroic. Growing is heroic. Overcoming yourself is heroic. Letting go, facing trauma, surrendering to change, conquering resistance, and saying yes to your strongest, most badass life - all of it is absolutely heroic. This is the thesis of my new book, The Psychology of Slaying Dragons, which launches today. Go get yourself a copy. Link in the description below. I've been

writing about heroism in the Warriors Way for over two years now, and I'm so excited to share my favorite chapter on self-overcoming. Let's do this thing! Living heroically into freedom and power is what celebrated, and it is the path that has changed my life forever. At a certain point, the energy of self-conquest and self-overcoming is the most important thing when it comes to transformation. I feel like many people in books out there are missing this critical step. They want to give you some new solution or shortcut or easy way, but these are all half-baked ideas or dead ends. You see, Enlightenment, flourishing success, self-actualization, whatever you want to call it, it takes heroism above all. The true threshold of growth and transformation is always marked by fear and resistance; hence, you need the heroic energy in order to prevail. It's why the hero has always been the center of our stories and culture itself since the dawning of time. The heroic impulse is what moves life forward and makes living beautiful. Unfortunately, heroism has

fallen from grace in modern times. This is something n saw in the late 1800 s and what we are currently suffering from. He saw Society moving downward toward what he called the last man, and what we covered in the previous videos. This is the man who no longer aspires or strives Beyond himself, who makes weakness a virtue, and is unable to overcome himself n's inside. Here was prophetic in many ways. We don't raise our sons and daughters to be heroic as was customed in ancient times. Rather, we indoctrinate them to be comfortable, safe, and security-oriented. In the absence of inspired aims and strong culture, most of my generation pursues pleasure. They are lost in decadence, social media nihilism, and mediocrity in general. We are lacking the heroic energy that is required to break through challenges and take our authentic Journeys, and hence most people are stuck and miserable. Fortunately, you and I have the opportunity to overcome this modern plight and write a new story if we

choose the heroic path. In this video, we will explore heroism according to N and how power and self-overcoming are at the core of his philosophy and life itself. So much of this video essay comes directly from my book, and I'm beyond stoked to launch it. I put about 30 hours into a video like this, but I put thousands of hours into that Beast of a project. So, if you want to support me and support my work and invigorate your path or that of someone close to you, I encourage you to get a copy today. Without further ado, let's dive into the video. What value shall we live for? What value shall we put at the top of the hierarchy? Should we pursue love, pleasure, happiness, wisdom, wealth, fame, family? Each of these presents a compelling path, but if we want to flourish in robust healthiness and well-being, N would argue that we should seek power. Now, power gets a bad rap today. Most people associate it with authoritarianism and control of others, but N's concept of power was more

personal than that you see without power you can do nothing. Change nothing. You're stuck and stagnant when you're powerless. You become a slave to your lower nature and to others when you're weak. Resistance, fear, and outside forces always win. Personal power is the absolute necessity for inner progress and outward flourishing of all kinds. We see power grow in the athlete who trains and gets faster, in the artist who practices until each note is effortless, in the addict who gives up the needle, in the teacher who improves her ability to communicate, in the father who builds patience. Power grows not through external control, but in transitioning to a higher level of mastery and capability. Overcoming resistance builds power, suffering well deepens power. Saying no to addiction exercises power, acting with integrity protects power. Being impeccable is power. Power is what the warrior hero cultivates through heroism. Power compounds on itself until you are free to roam the Earth, choose your own way, and express the true tune of your soul. To believe this growth and increase of power through self-overcoming is the purpose of life.

self-overcoming creates happiness and freedom. The path of weakness, however, creates stagnancy and restriction. When you live beneath yourself, your soul no longer sings with freedom and joy because there is no growth. In power without heroism and self-overcoming, the spirit becomes sick and sorrowful. That corruption prospers where internal strength is missing. Without self-overcoming, power diminishes. It gets co-opted by vices, addictions, and dragons. Without heroism, we become victims of life's tragedies and stagnation prevails. Weak people become spiteful and resentful of power because they fail to harness it inside themselves. In their bitterness toward life, they tear down what is beautiful and strong through veiled words and subversion. When victimhood is celebrated over heroism, weakness, meekness, and passivity become virtues, and resentment the norm. This is what we see today: a cult of weakness and corruption that permeates all of society. If we wish to reject the modern confusion and actualize our strongest and most liberated lives, we

must become powerful. True power is not given as a title, it is earned through self-overcoming and integrity in pursuit of worthy aims. And the increase of power is the truest source of joy and freedom. Here is Nietzsche's guide to cultivating Power. Number one: worthy aim quote henceforth they lived imprudently in brief pleasures, and they had hardly an aim beyond the day. Once they thought of becoming Heroes, now they are sensualists. The hero is to them an Affliction and a terror, but by my love and hope I entreat you do not reject the hero in your soul, keep holy your highest hope. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Step one on the heroic path is formulating a worthy Aim. Nietzsche believed that man must possess a goal, a highest hope, in order to inspire the lofty Deeds that increase power. The Quest for worthy ends is what adds meaning to our lives, expands our potential, and fortifies us through struggle and suffering. Just as Nietzsche said, he who has a strong enough why can bear almost anyhow. Without an aim, we run around

chasing vain desires, avoiding challenges, and being used as instruments in the hands of others. I dive way deeper into creating a worthy aim in my book, but in essence, your goal should cover these five bases. Number one, it is Meaningful and inspiring. Two, it enhances your well-being or the well-being of others. Three, it is in alignment with your nature. Four, it is self-chosen. Five, it demands growth. Why are you here? This is a question of deep importance, but the answer is only revealed through the overcoming of obstacles and adapting in pursuit of your goals. Aim is essential to life, but the destination is not the purpose. Life ever seeks to overcome itself in thought, and in that overcoming, life comes to know itself and fulfill its purpose. The spirit Delights in the expansion of power, but this increase requires the Conquering of resistance. Number two, overcoming resistance. The Will To Power can only express itself against resistance. A strong nature needs resistance, hence it seeks resistance. Once you have a goal, then you must set aside time every day for its completion.

this Pursuit will inevitably pose challenges that you will have to overcome. And the closer the goal is to your core, the more resistance and fear you will face. This constant combat and overcoming is what increases power and instills the manly Virtues Of self-discipline and courage. I know for me, writing a book was a horrendous undertaking. When I started, writing didn't come easy to me, and I couldn't focus for more than an hour. Honestly, every day was a hellish battle even to begin, but I endured, I adapted, I kept at it, and in time, I grew into something new. After 2 years of Labor, I developed a level of discipline, skill, and joy in the craft that I previously never dreamed of. And this is the story of every Creator. n guided me the whole way and encapsulated this journey perfectly in one of his poetic aphorisms quote: what is good? all that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man. What is bad? all that proceeds from weakness. What is

happiness. The feeling that power increases, that resistance is overcome. Consider your own life. What are your happiest days? I'd venture to guess that it is those days that you make progress, that you overcome a limitation and find freedom and accomplishment on the other side. Perhaps you break through creatively or deepen your work, your relationships, or your spiritual practice. That is the source of the truest joy, willing with your whole will, rising over fear and resistance, living at your edge, expressing power. Resistance is the worthy opponent, it is often your equal opposite. To overcome it will demand that you stretch your capacities of mind and body and will in order to prevail. It may be daunting, often overwhelming, but recognize your highest joy and power are on the other side of the highest resistance. The heroic contest with resistance is the way. Fight well, my friends. I have three large chapters in my book dedicated to conquering resistance, so you can dive deeper there. It just may change your life. Number three, live dangerously. Resistance is one mighty

dragon that opposes your highest power and flourishing fear is the other on the Quest for your highest ideal you must have the courage to face your downo as n called them your own self-destruction in a sense heartbreak loss letting go render suffering sacrifice these are terrifying and difficult yet essential to a full life it takes great heroism to descend to fall apart to face death but this allows life to change to seek a new formation to birth new life I will draw you we are risk averse danger averse and suffering averse by nature but facing Danger and darkness is the price for flourishing suffering is inevitable and though it sucks it's important to recognize that our spirit Delights in its challenge many of us get trapped in stagnation because we flee from fear and suffering we refuse the call and avoid our great downgoing we stay in shitty relationships environments and addictions because we don't want to let go I know I've been there most of you have too we refuse to call of our own heroic Saga out of fear

and complacency. We pacify ourselves with social media, Netflix, drugs, and petty desires and accomplishments. In our sanitized and secure lives, we seek leisure and material success while secretly avoiding our fears and calling this is the cultural Zeitgeist, if you will, and one that is very different from that of our ancestors who sought out challenge for challenge's sake. To the ancient Greeks, danger and fear were good things. Hell, fear was even a god they celebrated. It was comfort and security that were seen as true dangers. They prized honor and excellence through adversity above all. They tried to live up to the mighty myths of Thor, Heracles, and Odysseus. To make life as comfortable as possible. No wonder Nietzsche said, We have tamed the wolf into a dog, and man is the most domesticated animal of all. We more closely resemble a Shih Tzu than our wolf-like ancestors. And we wonder why we are miserable while swiping away on screens, eating frozen meals, and shunning our natural instincts. One of my favorite Nietzsche quotes

is for believe me the secret for harvesting from existence. The greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is to live Dangerously. The strong Spirit lives dangerously. Danger alone acquaints you with your strengths virtues and inner resources. Danger demands courage and courage invigorates you. Danger doesn't have to be life-threatening. But there are many things we instinctively deem dangerous which are only threatening to our egos. And by facing these dangers life opens up and we earn courage and freedom in the place of fear and restriction. There are many ways to live dangerously. I'm going to give you two quick ones right here. The first one is to study your fears. Which path do you fear the most? Maybe it's starting a family, writing a book, changing careers, building a business, doing X Y and Z in your work, expressing yourself online, exiting a relationship to pursue your dreams. Which one inspires the most anxiety and excitement? Whatever terrifies you and excites you is generally the direction you should go for it holds the greatest growth and potential.

success. Instead of asking what your purpose is, ask what the dragon of fear is guarding. I told my dad this a few months back, and he looked at his fears. He's like, you know what, I'm terrified of heights, but I love skiing and I want to be a ski guide. So what did he start doing? He started rock climbing. He started doing 100-foot faces, and you know, it's terrifying for him every time, but it makes him also feel alive. It expands his comfort zone and his horizons of possibility. The other way to live dangerously is daily acts of courage. For me, this looks like approaching people, and this sometimes can be so cringey, and other times it's beautiful. The crazy thing is most young men under the age of 30 or half of them have never approached a girl in their lives, and this blows my mind. Approaching people is the fastest way to practice courage, to live dangerously, to invigorate your life, and one hello can change your life forever. I know it's changed mine. All sudden you meet one of

the best friends you'll have for the rest of your life. Or you meet a lover. Or you meet a mentor. Or you meet someone. And the best way to do this is when you're standing in line to get a coffee. When you're standing in line at the store, say hello to the person in front of you, the person behind you. I know when I'm at the gym lately, I've been challenging people to one-arm hang contests. When I'm at the coffee shop, I often just give a compliment and strike up a conversation with a girl. Outside, I'll do these kinds of things every day. And though it's scary every time to live dangerously like that, it increases your testosterone. It makes you feel more confident, more alive. And living dangerously is about going toward what you fear, allowing yourself to fall apart if that is required, and then facing the resistance and limitations that hold you back. Heroism is about going all in on life and overcoming who you are to become what you might be. Power, love, and freedom are

what the spirit craves, but they are never handed to you. They must be earned every single day like gerus fa. Need to determine that the goal of life is not happiness, pleasure, truth, wisdom, meaning, or even peace. Those are the fruits that come to the victors. The highest will of life is self-overcoming, and that is the exclusive domain of the hero. In this age of mediocrity, stagnation, and degeneration, the hero calls to us all. Heroism is the central force that invigorates our personal lives and Collective Evolution. Aim Your Arrow High, conquer resistance, live dangerously, and ever expand your power and Horizons. That is the path of the warrior hero, that is how you become who you are meant to be. May the heroic Spirit be with you. My book is live on Amazon now, go get yourself a copy or gift it to someone close to you. Thanks for watching wisdom Warriors. I'm Christian, have a spirited kind of day. Peace.

THE LOST ART OF HEROISM - Nietzsche's Guide to Greatness

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