Dec 23, 2022
The Only Rule to Happiness You’ll Ever Need… According to Nietzsche
Yes, another article telling you how to be happy…
The most sought-after treasure is not the Holy Grail nor the Fountain of Youth nor luscious hair locks like Jason Momoa’s.
The most sought-after treasure is a little emotion called Happiness. Everyone is after it. There are tons of books on the subject as well as a crapload of articles that tell you how to achieve it. (Ahem…)
Everyone is looking for happiness, and judging by the amount of online advice, everyone knows how to achieve it.
I don’t. I am completely lost in this ever-growing mountain of guidance that swears to lead me straight to my best life and ends up just leaving me depressed because I can’t be as cool as everyone else.
However, one day, while casually and dejectedly reading “Twilight of the Idols,” I came across the simplest advice I’ve ever read.
Nietzsche, in his ever poetic way, writes:
“The formula of my happiness: A Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal.”
What a Goal Does for You
A goal is the arrow in your compass. When you have a goal in clear view you’ll know exactly which parts of your life deserve a Yes and which parts deserve a No.
The goal will be your little Jiminy Cricket always at your side telling you what’s good for you and what isn’t. In short, a goal defines the way in a straight line.
A goal saves you from misusing your very limited time here on Earth. A goal saves you from interactions with terrible people that keep increasing your blood pressure. A goal saves you from feeling lost. In short, a goal is your best friend.
Be the Protagonist of Your Life
The protagonist of a good story always wants something. That’s what makes them interesting. You keep reading or watching because you want to find out if he/she will get it.
Do you have the leading role in your own life? Or is someone else occupying that role which is your rightfully yours?
And this is where things get hard. Happiness is simple, but not easy.
The first step to happiness is deciding what you want, setting your goal.
The second step, and perhaps the last one, is chasing after it.
But we get lost in the first step. With the huge amount of options we now have at our disposal, it’s hard to know what you want. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want something one day, and something entirely different the next. And that’s on the good days. Most days I don’t even know what I want to eat, much less what I want out of life.
So I sit and read Nietzsche, hoping he will tell me what to do.
And he just did.
I gotta get off my ass and choose a goal.
I’m going to start small. I’m not going to define my life today, but I will choose a path. I will choose an action towards the first goal I can think of because:
“The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.”
And because I now know where my problem is, I can sleep soundly knowing that “A problem clearly stated is a problem half solved.”
I hope you’ll do the same…
