What Nietzsche Meant by This

I came across this quote recently in a book by Victor Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning). It struck me immediately as the core question to every partnership mediation. Nietzsche is saying that if you know why you want something, you can figure how to make it happen.

Do you remember why you went into business with your partner? Do you still have any of those feelings? If things were better between you and your partner, would you want to continue working together?

Think about those questions. If you can express why you would like to stay in business with your partner, I can help you figure out how to make it work. It’s that simple. This is why I often can tell in advance if a situation can be resolved or if it’s better for the partnership to dissolve.

This thought process has many great applications. For example, if your business is struggling and you wonder if it’s time to quit, look for the ‘why’ and write it out. Why keep going? Why quit now? You’ll be surprised at how helpful getting clear about why to continue or stop is to finding answers to how you can make that happen.

It works in other ways as well and could help you break a destructive habit. Do you spend unwisely? Ask yourself why you want to spend on something extravagant. If that answer isn’t very satisfying, you’ll know. You’ll know when you are fooling yourself. When that happens, you’ll see that the ‘how’ to afford the expense will fall short when the ‘why’ is weak.

“If you can express why you would like to stay in business with your partner, I can help you figure out how to make it work. It’s that simple.​”