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Why Won’t You Do What You Want You to Do?

You know what you want. You want to be fitter, healthier, stronger, more focused, more creative. You want to stop scrolling, quit drinking, wake up earlier, stop saying yes to people who don’t deserve it.

And yet—you don’t do it.

Why?

In this episode, we explore the tension between desire and action, reason and impulse, intention and failure. We delve into the fragmentary and conflicting human psyche to understand how self-control is acheived. Through the story of a colleague who couldn’t implement a simple behaviour change, we open up the deeper question of self-overcoming.

Drawing on Nietzsche’s drives-psychology and my two decades working in behaviour change services, I explore why it feels like we are at war with ourselves—and why, in Nietzsche’s view, that’s exactly what we are.

We’ll challenge the myth of willpower, examine Nietzsche's own theory of self-help, and ask what it means to bring a noble order to the chaos of the self.

This is the beginning of a two-part deep dive into Nietzsche, habit, conflict, and the science of personal transformation.

Music: Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls by Godspeed you! Black Emperor

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