Übermensch: Becoming Your Greatest Self
Been reading Nietzsche through two months of solo traveling and self reflection across Korea, China, and Indonesia. A lot of what he writes goes over my head. He is dense, and the mental discipline required to follow his thinking is something I have let slip recently, falling out of my routine, drinking more than I should, being impulsive, and losing the thread of the better version of myself I am usually chasing.
But here is what I did take from it. The Übermensch, which translates roughly to overman or superman, is Nietzsche's idea of what a fully evolved human being could become. Someone who creates their own values, lives with authenticity, and embraces life completely, including the uncertainty, the chaos, and the suffering that comes with being alive.
Nietzsche introduced the Übermensch in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which is considered his most powerful work. It is written in poetic prose and follows Zarathustra descending from the mountains to bring wisdom to people who are not ready for it. In the book, Nietzsche declares that God is dead and that humanity must now give birth to the Übermensch. What I got from that is simple. Without religion or the promise of meaning handed down from something above us, we each have to become the source of what is good in our own lives.
Most people never do this because they never choose to. Their values are inherited, passed down through culture, tradition, and religion, and they spend their lives living according to a script they did not write. Nietzsche called the result the last man, someone who chases comfort, safety, and shallow pleasures, avoids risk, avoids greatness, and avoids truth. I recognize myself in that description when I am out of my routine and not pursuing anything worth pursuing.
The Übermensch is the opposite. It means taking risks, reaching for greatness, seeking truth, not imitating others, working through your past, pushing through fear and laziness, and continuously reinventing yourself. Nietzsche saw this as the greatest task any person could take on. I think he was right.
So How Do You Become an Übermensch?
To become an Übermensch we need to step back and see life as it is. Dan Koe made a good video that can help with this, and pairing it with deep journaling and introspection will take you further.
Then let's move toward creating our own values, deciding how we want to live while pursuing higher meaning, even if that means walking alone and struggling in the process. The point is to master ourselves without comparing ourselves to others and to strive for excellence on our own terms.
Nietzsche said that becoming an Übermensch is not about being perfect. It is about moving in the direction of your fully realized self. Someone who lives purposefully, loves life deeply, and acts with creative power. Reject mediocrity and replace it with something worth building.
A few questions worth sitting with as I end this post:
- What values do you actually want to own in your life?
- Do you affirm the life you are living, or do you wish it were different?
- Where are you seeking comfort instead of striving toward your potential?
Those are the ones worth returning to.