Niklas Wenzel

Writing on 1) Systems, 2) Philosophies, and 3) Frameworks of Personal Growth to answer one question:

How Good Could Life Be?

Also: PhD in the making...

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Spent the past couple of weeks writing 39,981 words about:

- Ego Development
- Personal Development

And philosophies of how to be well in the world!

Now I summarized it into one...

...Integrative Framework of Personal Growth...

...to share it with the world...

And I'm not asking anything in return
- no like
- no follow
- no retweet

Just a link for you to click on:
https://t.co/Bw74aZzvmZ

Enjoy 🚀

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

@GuusvanRees That's awesome! Keep it going 🚀

[Guus van Rees Vellinga @GuusvanRees]

If you’re not in university, you gotta have at least ONE PhD friend.

Today’s episode with @ItsNiklasWenzel shows exactly why that is

Topics like changing your state, the power of stories and unconscious archetypes were discussed.

Filled with energy, excitement and wisdom - this one is must watch (or listen to)

Listen on Spotify: https://t.co/bgZqqd95RN

Watch on YouTube: https://t.co/iw8lqRJt8c

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

@GuusvanRees Was amazing! Thanks for the great chat 😊🔥

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

@GuusvanRees This was awesome! Thanks for the lovely dinner :)

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

If you want to improve your life…
…you have to embody science…

1. Make a hypothesis for what better would look like
2. Setup an experiment (make a plan for how to act)
3. Conduct the experiment
4. Evaluate the data

Did things get better?

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

If you’d pay attention…
…you’d notice that everything is constantly in flow.

Distinctions are arbitrary…
…and make us rigid.

Notice that this is true…
…and go with the flow.

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Your actions are the fundamental expression of who you are.

They are the product of a long line of decisions being made.

That decision making process is called…

…Perception

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Don’t try to regulate your emotions…

…try to integrate them instead.

Your desire to control them is what makes them problematic.

Your desire to learn from them…
…is what integrates them properly

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

I belief personal development is a moral imperative.

You start with yourself…
…so that you have enough left over…

…to share with the people around you.

Heroic Citizenship is the process of increasing this circle of positive influence.

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Perception = Action

They are not separate…
…but part of the same process.

How you attend to the world…
…is what goals you set in it.

What goals you set…
…shape how you interpret what is happening.

Your interpretation…
…determines your action.

It’s all one…

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

When you develop your Ego…
…you develop that entity that makes sense of your experience

It is the thing that makes sense of the world
- What it is made of
- Your place within it
- How to be well within it

Developing your ego…
…is therefore a service…
- to yourself
- humanity

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

The fact that you are a limited being in an unlimited world is the source of all meaning.

It creates the eternal unknown…

From which – eternally – new things, good and bad, can arise.

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

I feel the human ability to take perspectives is often under-appreciated.

We are able to:
- see the world through our eyes
- imagine how this is for others
- observe ourselves looking at the world
- observing ourselves observing our self looking at the world

Almost Magic!

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Your…
…mode influences…
…your goals, which determine…
…your incentives, which shape…
…your actions.

Work to become full conscious of this entire process.

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Over the last 10 weeks
I have started to write online

And I found the most pleasure in writing long-form
that allowed me to dive deeper into what I did not yet fully understand

So with this 10th week
I decided to integrate my writings into one framework

Here’s what I learned….

————————————

WHY TO INTEGRATE YOUR THOUGHTS

————————————

Basically what I did over the past couple of weeks was writing about the things that I have been thinking about most over the past half decade

- Philosophy
- Psychology
- The power of stories
- The proper attitudes
- Personal Development

and much more…

Each single piece of my writing helped me to get to a deeper place…

But integrating them really brought things to another level.

It really showed me the common threads in my thinking…
Things that I did not see before…

And it allowed me to get a deeper understanding of what I was writing about…

————————————

WHAT DOES INTEGRATION DO?

————————————

Something magical happens when you start to integrate your thoughts…

I use this word – magic – because it really feels like it…

But there are also other words that can be used to describe this:
- Aha
- Insight
- Heureca
- A lightbulb turning on…

You get the point…
When you don’t just write bit by bit…
…but start to integrate between your writings…

You see what it’s really all about…

————————————

AN EXAMPLE: ALEX HORMOZI

————————————

A great example for someone who does this integrative thinking really well is Alex Hormozi.

I admire him a lot for his ability to say very complex things…
…in very simple ways.

This is an ability that only few people have…
…and it doesn’t come easy…

For instance, Alex spent 2 years of writing 6h PER DAY on his latest book – $100m Leads.

And it shows…
$100m Leads (and his first book from the $100m series, $100m Offers) are both still bestsellers in their respective categories on amazon.

Both are rated at 5 stars with 3.8k votes on Leads and 20k votes on Offers.

If you want to learn how to think in an integrative fashion…
…I’d check out Alex’s work (even if you are not into business).

It will humble you…
…it will show you how simply you can express very complicated things…

And I guess that is what you want…
…to bring your thinking to the next level…

————————————

HOW TO DO THIS YOURSELF

————————————

So this is the question: How can you do this yourself?

Well…
…it all starts with actually wanting it.

If you want to master integrative thinking…
…you have to start by thinking about things that actually interest you.

Because if you don’t…
…you won’t get the aha moments that you are looking for.

These moments depend on your curiosity – your instinct to explore the unknown.
And if that’s not there…
…how can you dive deeper into the unknown?

But there is also a more technical side to it:
Integrative thinking is a repeating process.

You start out with your first idea…
…and you give it your best shot.

But then, instead of moving on…
…you come back to it…
…and you give it an even better shot.

With each time, you try to simplify things.
You take out all the fluff…
…all the pretentious language
…all the unnecessary complexity.

And what you end up is one piece of knowledge at it’s simplest form.

And then you repeat:
1. Again
2. and again
3. and again again

What you will end up with is a collection of – yet – unconnected ideas.
But you already did a bulk of the work…
…because you simplified the ideas to such a degree…
…that they have become part of your unconscious mind.

Despite being able to represent them simply…
…you are aware of their depth…

And this is what allows you to go all the way…
…to integrate them into one big idea…

By playing around with them…
…trying to map one onto the other…
…you can get to a greater framework…

This is what I did when I integrated the last 10 weeks of my writing into one framework:

If you want to see me put it together in action…
…check out “An Integrative Framework of Personal Growth”…
…on the Good Life Digest

https://t.co/Bw74aZzvmZ

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Prioritisation is a fundamental process of being human.

We are limited beings…
…in an infinite world.

The tension between these polar opposits is what gives life meaning.

Prioritising one thing over the other is to value something…
…no prioritisation…
…nothing to value.

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

Every Saturday Morning I send out a letter from 'The Good Life Digest'.

There I dive deeper into…

- Self-Development
- Psychology
- Spirituality

…to help you answer the question of 'How Good Could Life Be?'.

If you are interested, you can find it at: https://t.co/UzcKv2iY7B

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

When you integrate your thoughts…
…magical things can happen.

Usually
1. We encounter something new
2. Learn about it in detail
3. Store it in memory

But new knowledge is relatively isolated.

You need to use it…
…play with it…

…and integrate it with your other knowledge!

[Niklas Wenzel @ItsNiklasWenzel]

When you dive deeper into the concepts your own mind holds…
…you will get to know deeper parts of yourself.

You will see what your mind is obsessed with…
…and what you can do with this obsession.

Some obsessions you need to leave behind…
…others…
You can lean fully into!