My Will to Power - How I Surpassed Faust
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Look, today is Friday, 14th of November 2025 when I write this. I’ve struggled over the last week with a few articles written as a draft, but nothing ready to publish yet. The reason? I just feel blah about whatever topic I choose to write about: religion, life improvement, life analysis, etc. Nothing fully grabbed me to publish. I decided just to write a quick update article as a stream of consciousness and express my current thoughts. No fucking bullshit, raw. Just how I like it!
ACCOMPLISHED BUT BORED
I feel almost, this dread of existence in modernity. I’m 42 years old. I’m happily married and a father of young daughter. I own a condo with my wife.. I have a fulfilling career as a supply chain engineer, a bachelor’s degree and Graduate School Certificate from Boston University in Business. I’m a US Army and Iraq War Veteran. I lift heavy weights, I’m fit, I walk several miles a week for cardio, most men don’t have a body like mine at my age and responsibilities in life. I’m a certified Competent Communicator from Toastmaster’s Public Speaking Club. I could go on and on, but I won’t.
The fact of the matter is that regardless of all of these accomplishments, I’m still not content. I don’t know if I’ll ever be content…probably not.
THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD OF MODERNITY
Before the Age of Reason, capitalism and mass production a person just hunted, gathered, and worked all day and night for their food, found a mate and had children for future generations. That was life in a nutshell, minus wars sometimes. Nowadays though, food is instant, coffee is instant, YouTube is instant, pleasure is instant. Striving day and night for basic human needs is no longer a thing for any one in modernity. So, the $1,000,000 question in the room that everyone is trying to figure is “ok, now what.” What are we all striving towards in life? What great goal or meaning is there to life? What if there isn’t any “meaning to life?” Spoiler…there’s not.
That’s where we come to the crux of this article. What is the point to life after you have accomplished all or practically all of your life’s goals? What is meaning in your life at that point? Now, the great German philosopher and poet Johann Goethe identified a solution to this, which is perpetually striving. That's primarily what his monumental book “Faust” was about. His main character, Dr. Faust, accomplished everything any man could have accomplished but he still wasn’t content. He made a deal with the Devil to strive and achieve the most powerful and sexual things in life. In the end though, Faust never achieved happiness or was content. He was always chasing after the next big thing.
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche also highlighted Will to Power (setting goals, overcoming the obstacles that arise, accomplish goals, acquire more power). In Nietzsche’s book “Will to Power,” he stated that there is no objective meaning in life, you determine your own meaning in life.
I use these two concepts from Goethe and Nietzsche to improve my life and find my own meaning, but sometimes I still feel empty. I still feel bored. This is where existential dread comes in. The dread of sheer boredom in life, because almost nothing feels like it satisfies long term. The main excitement that I feel in life right now is my wife and daughter, writing my newsletter on Substack, and getting stronger at the gym. However, sometimes, those activities become boring, mundane and need to be spiced up. I’m sure if I keep on going as is, I’ll live another half of my life mostly healthy and happy.
I suppose I just feel like a lot of other people do: empty, lacking meaning and bored. Maybe I’m just more self-aware or honest than others. This is probably what a lot of people feel, but don’t want to be vulnerable and share their thoughts and feelings.
Believe it or not though, by actually talking about myself, my thoughts and feelings in my articles from time to time, it does help me to clear my mind.
I guess the only real solutions are, like Goethe and Nietzsche said: strive for more power in life and find your own meaning in life. I’ll just keep doing that and recalibrate from time to time.
I’m going to lift some heavy weights now and continue striving.
And guess what…unlike Faust, I don’t need to make a deal with the fucking devil!
Bye, until next time.