Thus Spake the Midlife Engineer: From Kona to Mexico – My Nietzschean Midlife Career Change and the Birth of Sovereignty

Prologue

When I had grown fat and green by the corporate lake, I noticed that this life no longer answered my questions. Amid all the noise, the silence was shattering. So I went up into the mountains of endurance. There I enjoyed my spirit and my solitude for many years and did not weary of it.

Until one morning I arose with the dawn and spoke unto the sun: “Great Star! What would your happiness be, had you not those for whom you shine?”

And in 2018 the sun answered me on the lava fields of Kona.

For ten years I had chased that single goal: to compete in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii – the apparent peak of human achievement. Then came that humble yet electrifying female voice over the loudspeaker: “Ingo Schulmeyer – You Are an Ironman.”

That was the moment I actually murdered my last god.

In that very instant, I realized that chasing goals – professional or personal – ultimately does not lead to fulfillment. Emptiness flooded my heart and soul. I understood that the values I had carried for decades no longer served me. The time had come to move on and finally become who I really am. Not just a career change, a midlife reinvention.

So I had to descend into the depths. Like the sun in the evening that sinks behind the sea to give light to another world – that exuberant star – the cup of abundance was emptying, and I was becoming man again.

Thus began Ingo’s downgoing.

Part I: The Three Metamorphoses of the Midlife Spirit

In his masterpiece Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche describes the three metamorphoses through which the human spirit must pass. Not everyone completes them. Many remain stuck as camels or lions and never understand that they must press forward to become who they truly are.

Even though the book is now over 140 years old, it has never felt more urgent.

“Three metamorphoses of the spirit do I designate to you:
how the spirit becometh a camel, the camel a lion and the lion at last a child.”

F. Nietzsche – Thus Spake Zarathustra

By becoming the lion we win the freedom to say a sacred “No” even to our duties – to transform the “Thou shalt” into an “I will”. Yet that is not enough. To create a new world we need the innocence, the forgetfulness, the creative playfulness of the child. A holy “Yes” is required for a new beginning.

The Years of the Camel

Camels we are when we grow up, when we start our careers. We load heavy burdens onto our backs because heaviness is mistaken for strength. The most ambitious among us voluntarily carry the heaviest loads: titles, bonuses, golden handcuffs, “Senior Principal Whatever”.

For twenty years I lived that life, growing stronger with every new burden. That is the camel phase – what society demands and what our education system drills into us. Be a good camel and you will be rewarded with happiness and fulfillment. Or so they say.

The Awakening of the Lion

To become the lion we must leave comfort behind. It sounds like a cheap personal-development slogan, but it is a long, brutal process of self-overcoming.

Corporate life is the embodiment of slave morality: dependency, obedience, security-seeking. Job titles create learned helplessness and enforce conformity over authenticity. Resentment toward change, addiction to external validation, and the idolization of humility over ambition – these are the slave values our corporations and society still celebrate.

The lion begins as a tiny voice. Feed it, give it space, and it will roar. I fed mine through endurance sport: ski touring, multi-day bikepacking races, long-distance triathlon. That was my “No” to comfort, my rebellion against slave morality through voluntary suffering.

I completed the transformation in 2018 on the Queen K Highway in Kona.

Waiting for the Child That Never Came

That was also the moment I realized that chasing finish lines and living by other people’s standards no longer served me. I had murdered the old god, but I did not yet know, how to become the child who creates his own world. I was left with a cavernous emptiness.

Part 2: How I became the Ugliest Man

After Kona I fell into nihilism. I had slain the great god of the finish line – and now nothing tasted of anything.

In Zarathustra, the ugliest man is the one who killed God out of shame and unbearable pity. He cannot move forward. That was me. I still wore the corporate mask, still measured myself by KPIs and LinkedIn applause.

An Ironman finish in Kona is the ultimate dream of every endurance athlete. So where do you go from there?

Motivation became scarce. I did not yet understand that the final metamorphosis – from roaring lion to creative child – was still ahead of me. I had unintentionally killed not only the old god, but the new one I was supposed to birth.

And yet this emptiness became the starting point. It forced the search for new meaning. Most men I know are in exactly this place: the old values no longer work, but they have no idea what comes next.

This is not laziness, not depression, not a “midlife crisis”. It is Nietzschean nihilism after the great murder – and it is your wake-up call.

You now have two paths:

1. Become the Last Man: accept mediocrity, enjoy small pleasures, stop asking big questions, and slowly fade away.
2. Become the Übermensch (Overman): carve a new sun from the vacuum, hammer a new table of values, say the great “Yes”, and create adventures greater than anything before.

That phase lasted almost two years for me – procrastination, half-hearted training, pretending the fire still burned.

Part III: The Last Man Tempts Me

“You’ve already achieved more than 99 % of humanity. You’re not the youngest anymore.” The voice of the Last Man grew louder in my head. “Don’t you think you’re too old for this stuff? Your life is actually pretty good.”

And the voice was not entirely wrong. The couch was softer than any 5 a.m. interval session. My salary bought comfort and occasional joy – small pleasures invented so I would never again have to risk big pain.

Have you ever caught yourself starting a sentence with “When I was younger…”? That is the Last Man moving in.

What was I actually proud of? My past achievements? How do you call that which you are proud of – the culture that distinguishes you from the goat-herds? This is your chance to fix your goal and to plant the seed of your highest hope. Your soil is still rich enough. But one day this soil will be poor and exhausted. Don’t let that happen.

Zarathustra is speaking directly to you:

“You must still have chaos in you to give birth to a dancing star. I tell you: you still have chaos in you.”

The Last Man does not understand these words. He has left the regions where it is hard to live in exchange for the warmth of a fire, a soft bed, and a neighbor to rub against. And the Last Man blinks and answers: “We have discovered happiness.”

Don’t be the Last Man!

Check out our YT Channel to learn more about personal sovereignty, Nietsche midlife philosophy, economic liberation and how to find your Übermensch

The Great Noon

Then came the external hammer that finally shattered the cave: 2020–2021 – the pandemic. The world stood still. Offices emptied. Zoom squares replaced real faces. And in that global pause the lie of our modern lives became blindingly clear.

My wife and I looked at each other and saw the same truth at the exact same moment: We had traded decades of our finite lives for titles, for golden handcuffs, for a future that would never arrive. We had measured ourselves against false moral standards and called it success.

The pain of staying in that lie suddenly became greater than the fear of leaping into the unknown.

One of the few gifts of the pandemic was this merciless clarity. Something was not right. We had traded our lives for comfort.

We looked at our two small children and understood: If we teach them that a “good life” means a safe job, a company pension, and a house full of stuff we never use – we have failed them completely.

Part 4: The Second Murder of God: Killing Corporate Life and Fleeing to Mexico

The second murder of God was handing in my resignation letter. That was my final “No” to slave morality. Almost 20 years as a manager and engineer in the semiconductor industry. I ended this chapter with the blink of an eye. We sold the house, the cars, most possessions. You don’t need much to start a new life.

We went all in and decided on a complete restart in Mexico. Everything went quickly. We had 3 months from our decision to boarding the plane.

There are always two options when you go through a life transformation. You can play it safe, start with a side hustle, try to build your new life on weekends and in the evenings. That gives you security. Eventually. The problem with that is that it requires tremendous discipline and eventually you will never make the change that you wanted. Because the temptation of comfort is too big.

Or you go all in. No safety nets. Burning down all your ships behind you. Sounds scary? Yes, it is, but only from the point of view of the Last Man. Once you become the child and jump back into chaos, everything looks different. In my corporate life, I was for many years afraid of this decision. But once it was made, once we stood at the airport with 2 kids, 2 dogs and a few suitcases, there was no fear anymore. Just a very pleasant lightness.

I didn’t know how we would make it. But one thing I was sure about: we will make it and it will be exciting.

Embracing Chaos on Our Roadtrip

We didn’t really have a plan when we arrived in Mexico. We wanted to travel and see what happens and where destiny guides us. To stay on the road as long as we enjoyed it. Experience nature and culture. Every day was different. As it is meant to be. New smells, new landscapes, new adventures.

To understand whether you are on the right track or not, Nietzsche introduced the idea of eternal recurrence. If your life would repeat over and over again, would you live it exactly in the same way as you’re doing it right now? Or would you do something different?

On our roadtrip through Mexico the answer was clear: “Yes, we would repeat this madness forever.” We slowed down and accepted life as it was. Beautiful, chaotic, unpredictable, exciting, rich, unique.

Part 5: Hammering the New Table of Values

When you leave your old life, your job, your social ecosystem, you suddenly become free. But that is not by default an asset. For many people this newly gained freedom can be scary. Suddenly you have everything in your own hands. But freedom always comes with responsibility.

Even more so if you have a family. Once you don’t follow the beaten path anymore, you have to create your own. Therefore it is important to understand who you are, where you are coming from and where you intend to go. Becoming who you are requires creating your own set of values.

Leaving my corporate and societal roles left some empty spaces. I started to understand that I have to fill them first, instead of jumping directly into the next business opportunity. I deepened the work on myself. With self-reflection, meditation, journaling and reading.

Reading about philosophical and psychological ideas helps a lot to broaden your horizon. But in the end we have to understand that the real answers can be found only in ourselves. By a deep and thorough understanding of our soul and our place in the universe.

We can find guidance on our way, but we have to walk it alone. And it is not the destination that matters, but that we are moving. As Nietzsche states: “Man can only be a bridge to the Übermensch.”

Don’t expect to wake up and be enlightened. It is a steady process of small steps. And that is the idea behind The Small Reset. A philosophy that gives guidance but allows you to become a sovereign being.

Even though we changed our life in an abrupt and radical way – quitting and selling everything and moving to the other end of the world – the path to sovereignty was much longer. And we are still on our way.

I carved my new commandments or life principles as guidance. They can help you on your path to sovereignty. But keep in mind: ultimately you also need your own set of values. I will leave them here for you as inspiration:

• Skills over titles: Dr., Dir., Manager, Engineer. These categories don’t matter anymore in the age of AI and your sovereign life. More important is your ability to make a difference and create value.
• Systems over jobs: traditional jobs will disappear; focus on building adaptable systems for life and business.
• Body as the temple of the will to power: Your body is strong, your mind is fooling you. Push yourself frequently beyond limits to overcome yourself.
• Geographic freedom as proof of overcoming slave morality: flexibility is key. Select your location by sovereignty standards.
• Teaching others is the highest form of self-overcoming: Help others in ways AI can’t.

Epilogue: Zarathustra’s Blessing to the Sovereignty-Seeking Midlife Men

You who are weary of your corporate lakes, you who have murdered your small gods and now sit in caves of quiet desperation – hear me!

The great noon has come.

Leave your desks!

Kill your last god!

Descend with your family or alone.

The child is waiting to be born – and its name is Sovereignty.

The fire is still alight in you, the mountains are still waiting for you, and the sun still asks:

“Great wanderer – what would your happiness be, had you not those for whom you now shine?”

Enjoyed Reading? Continue here