“The purpose of life, as far as I can tell… is to find a mode of being that’s so meaningful that the fact that life is suffering is no longer relevant.”
“It is my firm belief that the best way to fix the world - a handyman’s dream, if ever there was one - is to fix yourself.”
“If you fulfil your obligations everyday you don't need to worry about the future.”
Whoever knows me, knows I am a huge fan of Jordan Peterson. Whenever I get into debates or discussions on the meaning/purpose of life, theology, psychology, philosophy, well-being or just giving out general advice (when I am asked for it), I often find myself referencing something Jordan Peterson has previously said or written due to the profound truth he appears to speak.
There is something in the way, that in every answer he gives, he has clearly deconstructed the topic down to its very core, thought about it intensely, and built an answer from a deep understanding of some of the most complex pillars of past and current knowledge. Every answer he gives comes from reference to current academic literature, depth psychology, philosophy, history, theology, and personal experience which appears to allow him to provide the best and most articulate explanation possible.
Due to this process, it is incredible how every question he is asked, he pauses to take a moment to construct his thoughts. It is clear, that this time is used to take a lot of care to break down very abstract, and often complex, question/concept/topic, and to formulate an answer from the information he has gained through his years, by compressing the information into a precise, concise and perfectly articulated answer. Because of the care he takes and the explanation he gives, it often feels as if he has provided the perfect formulation of words that scratch at the universal truth of life that we all feel in our souls but weren't able to put into word ourselves.
I first discovered Jordan Peterson around 4-5 years ago by watching one of his many brilliant interviews on the Joe Rogan podcast, and watching his infamous Cathay Newman and GQ interviews. This obviously threw him into the international limelight as a figurehead of controversy where people were trying to vilify him as a representation of all that they hate in the modern world. However, it is clear that in reading his work and watching interviews where he is not being gaslighted and forced to defend himself from false accusations and twisted narratives, he is a very charismatic, empathetic, honest and sincere man with only the best intentions at heart.
However, it was not these viral interviews that had the biggest impact on me. It was his book 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote To Chaos and his interviews with Joe Rogan that really got me encapsulated in his work. It even made me begin to strongly consider going back to university and studying a master's degree in clinical psychology.
However, the video of his that truly hit home the most was one of his university lectures (which he would post to youtube before the fame) where he explains the difference between life being a tragedy where we should take up responsibility for our lives and our suffering so as to not make our lives literal hell. He continues this point by saying “It is necessary to be strong in the face of death, because death is intrinsic to life. It is for this reason that I tell my students: aim to be the person at your father's funeral that everyone, in their grief and misery, can rely on. There's a worthy and noble ambition: strength in the face of adversity.” Now for good or bad, I had done exactly that at both during the night of my Dad’s death, and also at his funeral.
At both of these events many people were in tears, anxious to speak, and obviously grieving and I clearly remember helping so many of these people cope in those days. That's why, when I heard him describing exactly what I went through, what I had lived, and exactly how I had unconsciously acted, gave me a deeper understanding of who I was and furthered my wish to do my best to help others going through their own suffering in life.
Influence On Powering Thoughts
“When you have something to say, silence is a lie.”
All his books are brilliantly written and have strongly influenced the way in which I write. In all of his chapters, he pulls from one, or sometimes a variety, of the sources I mentioned earlier, his personal life, depth psychology, history, his clinical practice, and lastly theological and mythological teachings and ideas. He uses each of these sources to articulate as best he can, to take the reader on a journey to a conclusion which always appears to be deeply contemplated and valid.
I have enjoyed his work so much that I have all three of his books in every format (Audio, Paperback, Hardcover, and Kindle!). His most recent book “Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life” was the first and only book that I had ever preordered, and I was even lucky enough to find a first edition, autographed, hardcover copy in Bath. Due to the value I have taken from these books, I have even given away multiple copies to people that I believe would enjoy his work, or if it would help/benefit them from reading it.
It was reading the Coda in the "12 Rules For Life" that inspired me to create Powering Thoughts. He describes how the world is a dark place and we all have something of value to say, and by remaining silent we don't allow our light to shine that can help be a beacon of inspiration and hope for others. To remain silent is a lie and fundamentally leaves the world a darker place and ultimately causes our unborn self to die as we never gave ourselves the chance to become the person we could become.
Furthermore, his writing style and his ultimate aim and message of the betterment of the self, defining meaning, and bearing the weight of responsibility, have all influenced the way I write. It has showed me how to apply creative metaphors, personal experience and depth psychology in making a conclusive point that people can understand and both empathise with, and internally picture due to the creative journey the chosen words provide.
His work and his videos, therefore, helped me through many tough times when I, personally, felt lost and void of meaning and direction. In addition, his provision of knowledge of how to map out the world that I was facing, both inside and out, made me to decide to help others to get through the same issues that he had helped me to overcome.
Through his influence, I began to identify and research the ways in which people suffer the most in the modern world, and how so many people seriously need help bearing their load, defining a meaningful pursuit, identifying an authentic sense of self, or simply just understanding the need to face adversity in order to grow as an individual. This led me to creating this website to try and reach more people.
This begins to explain the reason why I wanted to thank him for the positive influence he had on me after losing my dad at 17. How his writing has inspired me to use my experiences and interests to build this website to help people who may be going through a similar journey today, because I believe, both death and a lack of purpose, are two inevitable existential events that we all face.
The Meet & Greet
“Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.”
A year ago I set myself a goal to meet Jordan Peterson within the next 12 months and, luckily enough, several months after doing so, I saw the tour dates, literally minutes after they were released on his Instagram account. I quickly followed the link but couldn't understand why I couldn't buy any of the locked VIP Meet & Greet tickets and so I just went ahead and booked the ordinary seats that were available.
Following this, my brother luckily looked at Jordan Petersons' Instagram story and saw that the code to unlock the VIP seats was there. I instantly went back onto Ticketmaster and paid for two more Meet & Greet tickets and sold the other two I had brought. As you can probably imagine I was overcome with so much excitement, I couldn't stop saying “I am actually going to meet Jordan Peterson, this is completely insane”.
In the time leading up to the event, I wanted to write something to give him that said a massive thank you for his influence on my life, but I just couldn't ever find a way to condense it down into something I was happy with. Knowing that I would have just 3 minutes to speak to him, I prepared something on the day of the talk that came straight from the heart. I also wrote several questions that I have been working through over the past few years, and one that became huge during my travels to, and experience in, Australia. My plan was to say my thank you and pick one of the three questions that just felt right in that moment.
My Drafted Conversation (Taken from the notes in my phone):
“There is so much I want to say thank you for, and to ask you, that I have no idea where to start!
Firstly I must say thank you, for everything you’ve done and everything you are doing, and I hope you and all your family are recovering from the health troubles you’ve all faced over the past couple of years.
You truly are an incredible man and all the battles and conflict you have gone through in the pursuit of sharing your truth in hopes of empowering others, is truly incredible and so inspiring.
In my own case, I lost my dad to MND at 17 years old and, as you can imagine, I have been obsessed with identifying and defining meaning and purpose ever since.
For that reason you and all three of your books, lectures, and podcasts have all been such a huge influence on me and everything I want to go on to be and do.
At most, I have identified that I want to help people identify their own path towards finding an authentic sense of meaning/purpose in life. To do this, I even started a website and blog in the lockdowns to document my thoughts and research, and I have managed to help a couple of hundred people. One day I hope to interview you on my own podcast.
Thank you so much for everything you do and everything you have done, not only for me, but for everyone else as well, it is truly incredible.
If you don't mind, I have three massive questions I have been working on. Would you mind if I asked you one?
1. When you are presented with two equal choices, both with equal sacrifices, and you have laid out all the evidence and you are left presented with choosing between your head and heart, how do you avoid choice paralysis (burdens ass) and not be left living in regret?
(In my case I was trying decide between moving to Australia and starting my own business, or to accept my place at Bournemouth University studying a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology).
2. I absolutely loved the 6th chapter in your latest book and felt that the first half touched on something that is going to become vitally important in the coming decades... Do you think that with more people rejecting religious beliefs, and subsequently subscribing to narcism, we should begin to look back at existentialism as a way to help us identify authentic meaning in our lives that we should all pursue?
Furthermore, with knowing so much about eastern and western philosophy and religions, depth psychology and everything else… how were you able to assign Christianity as your foundational truth and reject the others when the east and other philosophical beliefs have produced equally functioning societies?
3. Do you think that we should start adding regulation to our use of technology due to the perception of self being distorted by social media, which may ultimately cause huge future mental health implications if we don't start re-educating ourselves, and the youth, on authentically identifying a personal sense of self and meaning, absent of social media and social ideals, and more so on our own authentic values/beliefs?”
The Event:
OVO Wembley Area -16/09/2022
I was emailed the night before and was informed that we were not allowed to take any objects to be autographed, and that we must arrive between 6.15-6.30pm. If we arrived outside of this time, then our meet and greet would be voided.
Obviously this meant I arrived promptly at 6pm, where I was directed to queue up at a side entrance, rather than the main entrance at the front of the building.
This was my first VIP experience, but being a VIP didn't mean being able to go backstage or anything like that, it simply meant that, after passing through security and receiving a VIP card and wristband, it allowed for earlier entry to the venue also making us the first to access all the food and beverage options.
The seats I had were honestly incredible, they were 7 rows back positioned directly in line with centre stage. On both the left and right there were projector screens with a QR Code that allowed the audience to scan and ask the questions that would be answered that evening. I scanned the QR code the moment I sat and entered the three questions I had condensed into the 200 character limit.
The questions that were chosen were based on a poll/up-vote system allowing the most popular questions to reach the top for Tammy Peterson (Jordan's wife) to ask Jordan. I was honestly very disappointed with most of the questions that were voted most popular. It was just annoying seeing that people were asking questions that he has covered so many times across his books and videos. In my head, we all had a once in a lifetime opportunity to ask one of the greatest, modern thinkers and academics of our time who knows so much about all the world religions, depth psychology, philosophy and theology, some of the most difficult questions that plague us all. To me, it was pointless to come to such an event to ask questions like "in order to not lie should I tell my children Santa doesn't exist".
With so many of these types of questions, it immediately felt that so many people were there, not because they were fans or admirers of his work, but because they just think its cool to say they are at a Jordan Peterson talk because he is polarising figure and in some circles can be seen as controversial. However, as grumpy as I sound, I didn't let it ruin my evening as I reminded myself that I was lucky enough to still get 3 precious minutes with him one-to-one where I could ask at least one of my questions.
Additionally, even with the many insignificant questions that were asked, Tammy Peterson still the chose good questions to ask Jordan, making the evening absolutely brilliant. Watching Jordan Peterson think and answer questions such as "How can we aspire for more but still be grateful for what we have" so profoundly, was honestly everything I hoped it would be.
At the end of the show Jordan Peterson left the stage and those with wristbands were instructed to stay sat until everyone else had left the venue. This is when we were informed of the disappointing news. Jordan’s Tour manager told us that we wouldn't be able to do the full meet and greet (even though the VIP tickets were was sold as 3 minute one-to-one each). He said there are more than 150 of us so there was not enough time for everyone to thank him and tell him their life story. He said to please come up and say hi, take a photo, and if we get through that quickly we would do a VIP Q&A for Daily Wire. He asked that we please do not try and monopolise the time with him as the longer it took, the shorter the Q&A would be as the venue had a curfew/time that it must be contractually shut by.
With the show finishing around 9.45pm, we all queued up and Jordan didn't come out until around 10.15pm. I was at the position of approximately the end of the first third of people who had queued.
The Meeting:
When I was up on the stage it started to hit me that I was about to meet Jordan Peterson, and that is when I began to get somewhat star struck. I knew that in the small amount of time I would have I must do my absolute best to say thank you for everything alongside a very condensed version of what I had written and wanted to say. This is what happened:
“Hi Jordan, (shook his hand) can I please give you this, (my business card) it’s something I created to write to help others because of how much you have inspired me.”
He said, "Of course", and looked at it intently. I believe he put it in his pocket.
He looked back at me and said, “Is it Michael?”. I said, “yes”, and we continued to take a photo together.
After the photo was taken, I shook his hand again and said, “Thank you for everything that you do, you are honestly incredible and you have personally helped me so much. Thank you.”
The photos, and the meet and greet, ended around 11pm leaving us to think that they would usher us straight out. However, we were still able to have the Q&A session and got three questions answered in very profound depth. I did raise my hand to try and get my question asked, but unfortunately, I was unsuccessful.
Share Your Story:
“If you don't say what you think then you kill your unborn self”
Obviously, I never got to say anything near what I had hoped, and I never got to ask Jordan Peterson any of my biggest questions. I would absolutely love it if, one day, I could build this platform up enough to have my own podcast with him, where I could thank him properly, and ask him these same three questions. As incredible as that would be, I do not view this as a necessity, as it is clear to me that I was not supposed to ask him those questions that day, or even at all, as it is up to me to answer them myself. They may take me a week, a year, or even a lifetime, but they are questions on topics which absolutely fascinate me, and I hope that, on my journey to answering them, I can help others along the way like Jordan Peterson has helped me along mine.
This post is a little different to my previous two with it being somewhat the thank you that I never got to fully express, alongside an opportunity to share information about someone who has greatly influenced me, who I truly believe can also help you, wherever you may currently find yourself in life.
Before I end this post, I feel that it is important to challenge anyone who has read this far that wherever you currently find yourself in life, if you are doing well, or even if you are currently facing adversity, or have just overcome it, then I would challenge you to do the same as Jordan Peterson inspired me to do. Share your story. I guarantee there is someone out there who you don't know, or someone you already know very well, who could seriously use the valuable information you have to share.
Take this as your opportunity to start sharing your unique light in a world that without it would be an awful lot darker. Take your first step today. Start writing. Start a podcast. Start a YouTube channel. Start your own business. Just start opening yourself up to the world and the people around you. Say what it is you have to say, because people need to hear what you have to give.
So be proud to shine brightly and watch yourself become the person you knew you could be.
Find Out More About Jordan Peterson:
“You should be afraid of taking risks and pursuing something meaningful, but you should be more afraid of staying where you are if it’s making you miserable.”
If you did not know anything about Jordan Peterson, and this post made you interested in finding out more, then I would strongly suggest that you read his book "12 Rules For Life", or watch any of the videos listed below.
Approach the following content like RULE 9: "Assume the person you are listening to might know something you don’t" and use the information to form your own opinion and create your own truth.
Enjoy...
Written By
Michael Stevenson
Books:
12 Rules For Life: An Antidote To Chaos
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life
Maps Of Meaning: The Architecture Of Belief
Videos:
"Jordan B. Peterson on 12 Rules for Life”
Summary Talk/Video:
"Joe Rogan Experience #1070 - Jordan Peterson"
Joe Rogan Experience #1139 - Jordan Peterson
Joe Rogan Experience #1208 - Jordan Peterson
“Jordan Peterson: How To Become The Person You’ve Always Wanted To Be”
Diary Of A CEO Podcast/Interview | E113:
“If you Hate Jordan Peterson Watch This Video”:
Viral Interviews:
“Jordan Peterson debate on the gender pay gap, campus protests and postmodernism”
Cathy Newman Channel 4 Interview:
“Jordan Peterson: “There was plenty of motivation to take me out. It just didn't work"
British GQ Interview:
I am sure you’ll get to talk to the man one day. Really want to know his answers to those questions!