Will to Joy: Nietzsche for Life

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In this episode of Becoming Übermensch, we plunge deeper into Nietzsche’s concept of will to power as the underlying principle of life, reinterpreting Maslow’s hierarchy of needs through this radical lens. We explore how all living organisms—plants, animals, and humans—express a form of power not through conscious intention, but through their very being itself. Human consciousness, Nietzsche argues, is simply the latest elaboration of a deeper, inexorable, evolved, physiological will.

This episode introduces a brand new Nietzschean model of human motivation:

1.Maintain Power – preserve the power you already have.

2.Accumulate Power – expand your capabilities, enhance your status, and amass resources.

3.Express Power – invest your power, revel in it, and discharge excess through creation, confrontation, and transformation.

From animal instincts to the most refined expressions of human culture; from dance, to drugs, to brute dominance, to philosophy itself, this show unpacks will to power as the hidden engine of everything we do. Provocative, and unsparing—we go beyond Maslow to uncover the real fundamental drivers of life.

Episode music choice: New Noise by Refused

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Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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What is power? Is it dominance over others, or something deeper—an intrinsic force woven into the very fabric of life itself? Nietzsche famously declared that “life as such is will to power.” But what does that really mean?

In this episode, we explore power beyond human ambition, tracing its organic expressions in nature, biology, and physiology. From the survival struggles of animals to the hedonic escalation that drives human motivation, power is not just about control—it’s about growth, transformation, and the relentless push of life itself.

This week, we dissect:

🔥 How power manifests beyond human psychology—in the very mechanics of life.

🔍 The instinctive drives behind survival, reproduction, and expansion.

🐅 Why competition, consumption, and even symbiosis are all expressions of power in a ruthless power economy.

⚡ What power actually is: Powerful to whom? Powerful, why?

We will also reveal one of Nietzsche’s most surprising claims that will unveil something crucial to understanding the nature of the driving force of life: the world as will to power and nothing else.

Join us as we break down the fundamental dynamic of existence itself!

Music: Rausch 5 by Gas

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If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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“What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power itself. What is happiness? The feeling that power increases—that resistance is overcome.”

Nietzsche’s Will to Power is perhaps his most compelling yet widely misunderstood idea. It’s not simply about dominating others; rather, it’s about our fundamental craving for overcoming challenges and experiencing growth. Power is complicated—we’re both drawn to it and suspicious of it. It excites and unsettles us, often at the same time.

Most online interpretations oversimplify will to power, portraying it only through extremes: ruthless conquerors, greedy capitalists, villains driven by domination. But these are mere fragments of the story. Nietzsche saw will to power not just as a psychological drive but as a foundational principle of life itself, underlying everything from human ambition to the evolutionary drive for survival. Understanding will to power, therefore, isn’t just philosophical curiosity—it’s a crucial step toward taking control of our own lives.

In today’s episode, we’ll start the great unraveling of this profound idea. We’ll take apart its psychological dynamics, unveil its subtle yet irrepressible influence on our goals and motivations, and reveal why our endless pursuit of success often feels like a Sisyphus pushing an ever-growing boulder up and ever steepening hill. 

Ready for the climb? Then put your shoulder to the boulder!

Music: Featherweight Kid by Crippling Alcoholism

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Music credit - story section: Very popular eastern woodwind instrument called Kaval played by great Serbian musician - Boris Todorovic (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=589884654).

Support the show

If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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Why do we always yearn for more? Why does happiness seem forever out of reach? In this episode of Becoming Übermensch, we dive into the inescapable cycle of desire, fulfilment, and renewed longing—tracing its roots from the  bleak resignation of the Buddha's and Schopenhauer to Nietzsche’s radical revaluation of suffering. 

Through the lens of Darwinian evolution, we uncover the hidden function of dissatisfaction: a relentless drive sculpted by natural selection, pushing us ever forward. Is our discontent a flaw, or is it the very engine of human greatness? Is it a curse, or it is the essential pre-condition for any kind of happiness whatsoever? 

Join us as we unravel the evolutionary logic behind our perpetual striving—and why rejecting desire may be the ultimate rejection of life itself.

Music: Familiar Feeling by Moloko

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Music credit for string/piano loop: Little pleasures 1N72 (loop) by Setuniman -- https://freesound.org/s/350572/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

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If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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What do we really want when we say we want happiness? In this episode of Becoming Übermensch, we continue our deep dive into Nietzsche’s conception of happiness—not as a passive state of pleasure, but as something dynamic, something earned through overcoming and self-overcoming.

We examine again the hidden structure beneath our desires discovering which expose them as mere proxies for deeper, more fundamental impulses. We explore Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs and uncover its limitations—challenging the idea that fulfilment is a linear ascent to transcendence. Nietzsche had his own vision of what lies at the root of all desire, and in this episode, we begin dissecting it.

We’ll also examine how resistance and struggle determines value, why success so often feels anticlimactic, and the inescapable cycle of wanting, striving, achieving, and adapting. Is true fulfilment possible, or are we doomed to perpetual longing?

Join us as we strip back the layers of human motivation, redefine what happiness really means, and prepare to go even deeper into the anatomy of desire in the episodes to come.

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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

Music choice: Soma Centre by The Ishmael Ensemble

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Support the show

If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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There are few western philosophers that have had such an impact on our contemporary culture as Friedrich Nietzsche. Why, then, is his thought so often dismissed? Why does his philosophy, which continues to provoke and inspire, still invite and hostility and derision? We delve into the widespread misunderstanding of Nietzsche’s work, the accusation of Nazism and misogyny, the dismissive sneers of his many critics, and the uncomfortable truths he forces us to confront. From his radical scepticism of morality to his challenge to conventional values, Nietzsche’s thought is both exhilarating and unsettling—so much so that even today, many prefer to wave it away rather than engage with it seriously.

This episode will unsettle easy assumptions and address some pervasive misconceptions - all part of our grand project to distil Nietzsche’s practical teachings for the aspiring individual.

Today’s music: Street Pulse Beat, by Special Interest

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Support the show

If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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Life itself forces us to posit values—this is Nietzsche’s insight, and it’s inescapable. Every desire, every choice, every “yes” and “no” reveals what we truly value. But have you ever questioned the structure of your desires? Have you peeled back the layers of rationalisation to uncover what lies at their core?

In this episode, we undertake a radical investigation into the bedrock of human motivation, exposing the forces that shape our wants, drive our actions, and dictate our sense of meaning. Only in this way can we understand what really drives us, equipping us with knowledge that will enable us to apply ourselves more effectively to achieving fulfilment in life.

Music: 14:31, by Global Communication

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Support the show

If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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“He who cannot obey himself will be commanded.” In this episode of Becoming Übermensch, we share two practical exercises that build strength, self-control, and embodied awareness, including a simple but potent practice from Nietzsche’s philosophy that will hone your self-control. 

Most self-improvement advice tells you to accept yourself. Nietzsche challenges you to become yourself. Subscribe and get on board for an extraordinary journey.

This week's track: If We Don’t Make It, by UNKLE, the Ronin Throwdown version

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Support the show

If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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What is happiness, and how is it achieved? 

In this episode, we begin our exploration of Nietzsche’s provocative ideas of happiness, desire, and self-overcoming. Is happiness simply getting what we want? Or is it something deeper—something tied to struggle, triumph, and the will to power? 

Exploring the limitations of desire, the Epicurean pursuit of contentment, and Nietzsche’s rejection of passive pleasure, we uncover a vision of happiness that demands more than comfort—it demands transformation. 

Tune in as we start to unfold Nietzsche’s philosophy and its radical implications for living a fulfilled life.

Music: The Arrival of the Birds by The Cinematic Orchestra and The London Metropolitan orchestra

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Support the show

If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

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Are you living a 10 out of 10 life? Or does that question strike you as crass, reductive, even absurd? And yet—indulge me—if you had to rate your life right now, what number would you choose? More importantly, what would it take to raise that number? Could you imagine a life so rich, so affirmable, so meaningful, that you would live it again, eternally?

Welcome to Becoming Übermensch, the podcast where Nietzsche’s philosophy is not merely studied but lived. Hosted by Jimmy—former senior professional in evidence-based behaviour change and longtime Nietzsche researcher—this is not your standard academic analysis or self-help regurgitation. This is philosophy for life.

Join us as we decode Nietzsche’s most potent ideas—eternal recurrence, will to power, Amor Fati—and apply them as tools for radical self-transformation. If you’ve ever felt stuck, restless, or like something more is possible—something higher, stronger, truer—this podcast is for you.

Music: Hand of God from the album Carnage by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

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Support the show

If you value Will to Joy (formerly Becoming Übermensch) and you want more, please ensure its continued existence by supporting the show 

If you are interested in delving deeper into this work and are hungry for greater challenges, I also now have a Patreon. Become a De Profundis Member and access exclusive episodes and exercises. Thank you so much for supporting this project.

Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks I recommend in series 1 of the Will to Joy podcast in the order I recommend them.  Each invokes some variety of Dionysian feeling for me. I hope they can do something similar for you:

👉 Follow and connect:

Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube | TikTok | Facebook