Developing the 3 Selves
The holy trinity of personal development
The three parts of yourself to develop to be wholly integrated and most effective psychologically and spiritually:
1) The thinking self
2) The feeling self
3) The willing self
This philosophy draws from Rudolf Steiner’s work, a 20th-century philosopher and esotericist.
In this short article, we will explore what each aspect of yourself means, how to develop it, and how to avoid atrophy.
The Thinking Self
We develop the thinking self by training the mind.
We do not want to be ruled by the mind, but instead use the mind as a sword to cut through reality. The mind is the tool of business, negotiation, mathematics, literature, and strategy. We sharpen the sword through mental training:
Concentration meditation. Focused work. Deep study. Strategy. Judgement. Discernment. Critical thinking. This is how you develop the mind and keep the intellect sharp.
Conversely, the thinking self can atrophy without intentional study, dedicated focus, or excessive use of AI. Today, the majority of people’s thinking selves are becoming weaker because, at the snap of a finger, they can outsource their thinking to AI. This is a dangerous habit to build, as thinking ability will quietly and subtly degrade to the point of being unable to think through a complex problem, write an article, or make strategic, high-level decisions. Deep reading, deep work, and deep critical thinking strengthen the mind and should be staples of each day.
The Feeling Self
We develop the feeling self by developing the emotional and intuitive world.
The feeling self is how we connect with our emotional world and live, create, and express from the heart. Without the feeling self, we become internally mechanical, cold, and dry. With the feeling self, we can share our deepest emotional and spiritual essence with the world and infuse our creations with love and beauty.
Music. Art. Poetry. Song. Dance. Love. Laughter. Joy. Tears. These are the mechanisms of developing the feeling self.
The feeling self can atrophy through excessive work, thought, action, and masculine energy. Feeling is inherently feminine. Much of the western world has weak feeling worlds because we have been programmed from a young age to believe work, jobs, and money are more important than playing, singing, or dancing. This is why so many Western women who have been psyoped into highly masculine corporate jobs are internally broken, and so many men are completely out of touch with their emotional worlds.
The development of the feeling self is as vital to your psychological and spiritual health as exercise and sleep are to the physical body. No matter what the Western world, hustle culture, or academia has programmed you to believe, carving time to express, feel, and create is not a waste of time, but crucial for psychospiritual development.
The Willing Self
We develop the willing self through disciplined action.
The willing self is how we assert ourselves in the world. It is how we take massive action, go to our edge, and discover who we could be if we left nothing on the table.
Finishing a work block. Going to the edge in a workout. Waking up and going to sleep on time. Competing. Training. Asserting boundaries. Standing up for yourself. These will all develop the willing self.
The willing self atrophies through excessive consumption and convenience. Highly sedentary lifestyles also atrophy the willing self. You have to consciously choose to fast, to work out hard, to detox from social media, and to push yourself to your edge to keep your willing self strong.
Integrating all 3
Businessmen have developed thinking and willing selves, but tend to be underdeveloped in feeling.
Artists tend to be highly developed in the feeling self, but weaker in thinking and willing.
Athletes are masters of the willful self, but lacking thinking and feeling.
We all have natural proclivities and expressions, but everyone can also strengthen the aspects of themselves that are underdeveloped.
If you want to reflect on these three areas, rate yourself (as objectively as possible) in each area, and ask yourself the associated question.
Thinking self: 0-10
How can I uplevel my thinking self by 1-2 points?
Feeling self: 0-10
How can I uplevel my feeling self by 1-2 points?
Willing self: 0-10
How can I uplevel my willing self by 1-2 points?
Your highest expression is developed across all three areas.
Mind, body, spirit.
Thinking, feeling, willing.
This is the holy trinity of personal development.
Thanks for reading.
Let me know if you like the shorter, more focused articles, as I enjoyed writing it.
See you in the next article,
Jack
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would love a deep-dive into the thinking and willing selves!! this was so interesting to read and i’ve never seen anything like it before. really appreciated this writing.