NIETZSCHE: discomfort is the secret to happiness
Whether we buy something nice, travel somewhere beautiful, experience something fun, accomplish something difficult, or build a great relationship, the happiness we acquire from accomplishing our goals eventually seems to dissipate. We're all striving for happiness, but few of us ever really achieve and maintain it. The reason for this is obvious once you understand the ideas of the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
In his provocatively titled Antichrist, Nietzsche asked himself, "What is happiness?" His answer: "The feeling that power increases — that a resistance is overcome.” What could Nietzsche possibly mean by that quote? What does happiness have to do with power? The answer is more profound than you can imagine, and that’s the idea I’m going to explore in today's video, and I’m going to do it through a dialogue.
After weeks of climbing the mountain, the student finally reached the top, where he saw the sage's house. He came in search of answers, and the following conversation is a record of what he was told.
“Master, I have spent years searching for happiness, but I can’t find it. What am I doing wrong?”
“Searching for happiness is a mistake.”
“What? What do you mean? Isn’t that the most important thing in life?”
“Sure. But you will not find it by seeking it. Chasing happiness is like chasing the horizon: the more you move towards it, the further it recedes from you. You will never catch it by chasing it.”
“Then what do I do instead?”
“Chase power.”
“What? Power? But that sounds so... wrong.”
“It only sounds wrong because you think I am saying to pursue power over others. That’s not what I am saying.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“You see, fire has the power to burn, but it also has the power to heat and cook. The outcome depends on who wields it. Chasing power does not mean chase power over others. Power is what allows you to overcome obstacles in your way. Power is what allows you to overcome the resistance that stands in the way of your goals. So chasing power means making yourself physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, and productively stronger. How you wield that strength is up to you.”
“OK, but how will that make me happy?”
“Let me show you. What was the last big goal you had?”
“To come up this mountain and find you.”
“How did you feel as you were making your way up the mountain?”
“Well, coming up was very painful, but with every step I made getting closer to you, the more excited I got about receiving answers to my questions.”
“And how did you feel when you made it up to the very top of the mountain?”
“Well, I guess the best word is... happy.”
“Exactly. That’s what happiness is: the feeling of overcoming a resistance. With every step you took up the mountain and towards my home, you were overcoming the resistance of reaching me. Now what happened after you felt the happiness of reaching the top of the mountain?”
“I had a new goal. I wanted to ask you a question about happiness.”
“And how would you feel if I did not give you any answers?”
“I would feel very frustrated.”
“And how would you feel if I gave you an answer?”
“I would feel very happy.”
“Do you see what is happening? You set a goal, and that goal comes with a resistance. When you overcome that resistance, you feel happy. But when that resistance overcomes you, you feel frustrated. And once you overcome all of the resistances associated with one goal, you just set a new goal, which creates a new resistance for you to overcome. This cycle does not end. This cycle is called life. If you want happiness, chase power, because power is what allows you to overcome resistance, and the more resistances you can overcome, the happier you will be.”
“I think you’re right. But how do I increase my power?”
“Now that you scaled one mountain, do you think you will be able to do another more easily?”
“Yeah, I think I can probably even scale a bigger mountain in the future than the one I just did to get to your house.”
“So you are more powerful now than before, and you did it by challenging yourself. That is how you increase your power. Set goals that challenge you, physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, and productively each day. Start with small challenges, and when you overcome them, slightly increase the difficulty of the next challenge. Continual challenge will make you more powerful, and more power will make you happier.”
“In the Antichrist, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, 'What is happiness? - The feeling that power increases - that a resistance is overcome,’ and I explored the meaning of this quote through a dialogue. The reason people struggle to achieve and maintain happiness is because they believe it’s an everlasting state that you can achieve once and forever. Happiness is not some everlasting state that we reach once and for all, but rather, it’s a fleeting feeling. It’s the feeling that arises when we overcome the resistance that stands in the way of our goals, such as finishing a marathon, acing a test, or landing a job.
And so, if we want to be happy, Friedrich Nietzsche suggests that we chase strength and power, not happiness. When you have lots of strength and power, you can easily overcome the resistances that stand in the way of your goals, and overcoming resistance is what makes us happy. In other words, happiness is the natural byproduct of a powerful organism achieving its goals, and so nothing makes us more unhappy than weakness and an inability to accomplish our goals.
And the only way to increase your power is to physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, and productively challenge yourself a little each day, such that you will grow just a little stronger than before. Happiness does not lie in comfort, luxury, idleness, and laziness as most people subconsciously believe, but rather, human happiness lies in continual challenge, improvement, and growth.