How Goethe Institute Designed and Implemented a Program for Ousoulna Project

I am sure you know someone who reached this point. My fear was coming from conditional reasoning: the chain of “if this, then that”.

We’ve all heard it before:

• “Study hard to get a good-paying job, so you can have a happy family.”
• “Work hard to get a raise, so you can enjoy a trip at Christmas.”
• “Start a startup to raise funds so you can have a good exit.”

It sounds reasonable, even wise. Until you realize how it makes you empty.

The problem with this type of reasoning is that once you internalize it, it becomes the anchor of your decision-making.

• “If I move to this country, I’ll find a job, so I can settle there.”
• “If I make this amount, I’ll start investing in stocks, then use them to buy real estate.”
• “If I finish my bachelor’s, I’ll do a master’s, then a PhD.”
• …

On paper, this reasoning looks good. It allows you to do more. All your metrics look nice. Everyone applauds you. But it removes three essential aspects of your life: (a) being present in the moment and celebrating wins, (b) learning from experiences, (c ) discovering what truly brings you joy.

Most of us became followers of this thinking because it brings structure.
In our mind, we say “Everything is under control.” Yet, whatever you do, life would still be uncertain. Life would still be random.

One thing was certain for me:
I needed to find an alternative for this reasoning.

A short story:

When Abraham sought to know God, he began a journey of reason and observation.

He saw a star and said, “This is my Lord.”
But when it disappeared, he said, “I do not love things that fade.”

Then he saw the moon and said, “This is my Lord.”
But when it set, he said, “If my Lord does not guide me, I will be among the lost.”

Then he saw the sun and said, “This is my Lord; it is greater.”
But when it too set, he said, “O my people, I am free from what you associate with God.”

Finally, Abraham declared:
“Indeed, I have turned my face to the One who created the heavens and the earth, inclining toward truth, and I am not of those who associate others with Him.”

This was Abraham’s rational journey to pure monotheism.

Whether you’re a believer or not, the story reveals something deeper:
Abraham searched for God not by defining what God is, but by realizing what God is not.

This is the true essence of Via Negativa: understanding something by focusing on what is not, until only truth remains.

Living Through Via Negativa

Certainly, Via Negative might sound like a theological or philosophical concept, but it has practical applications. Once you see them, you can’t unsee them.

1. Practice Not Adding

• “Learn this habit.”
• “Buy this product.”
• “Read this book.”

We’ve reached a point where we consume everything: products, content, and even philosophies.

Instead of adding, try removing:

• Instead of stacking good habits, remove bad ones.
• Instead of searching for your passion, remove what drains you.
• Instead of looking for new friendships, distance yourself from people who don’t matter to you.
• You don’t need more news or information, you’d do better by removing biases and misconceptions.
• Instead of chasing happiness, reduce suffering.

By removing, you focus on signals instead of noise. You start discovering what you truly want instead of what you think you want.

2. Build an Anti-vision

A few years ago, I envied the people who bragged about their visions and dreams:

• “Doing a sabbatical with a world tour.”
• “Becoming a nuclear engineer.”
• “Building a unicorn startup.”

I kept wandering: Why don’t I have a clear vision like they do? Why most of them end up in not realizing their visions?

Until recently, I realized I was doing the same thing: setting a vision to launch a podcast and a digital product before the end of 2025. I never launched it. My brain was getting rewarded by talking about it (external validation) and over-planning.

It felt productive, but it wasn’t real progress.

Most times, the illusion of having a vision can be more satisfying than actually pursuing it. Today, we live in a world that demands you know exactly where you’re going. In reality, very few people do. And even those who think they do often lack true clarity about the details of their vision.

People get lost chasing the “best” vision without ever questioning what it truly means. These are dreams. And like all dreams, they happen only when you’re asleep.

This is where Anti-Vision comes into place. Instead of looking for something far fetched from your current reality, think about the life you don’t want.

3. Design a life with limitations

Expectations are the essence of conditional reasoning.

Yet, the more you have high expectations, the more you end up in disappointment. We think we can understand life by going through it, but it can be only understood backward.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” — Steve Jobs

Ask yourself “If you get back 5 years from now, would you have predicted your life(or the life of the people around you)?” I bet you can’t. We convince ourselves that we can predict the future, that our expectations are true. But our expectations are far fetched from reality.

Limitations are the opposite of expectations.

Forget the long term. Think about the variables you want in your day. Instead of asking, Can I be a writer? ask, How can I write two pages each day Think about life as a game. Every game has inherent limits.
In chess, a knight can’t move like a queen. In tic-tac-toe, you can’t go beyond the border.

That’s what makes a game, a game.

The education system is a game. The corporate ladder is a game. These are gamified life experiences built by others. I’m not fully against them, yet life is a single-player game. And in this game, you need to design your own limitations.

For instance, being healthy (mentally and physically), staying true to myself, fighting for my principles, talking with family, and saving money: these are the limitations I have been implementing through my life.

🜂 Your homework

I don’t want you to consume this as just another piece of content. If this concept resonated with you, go beyond reading.

Grab a pen and paper, or open your notes app, and take five quiet minutes to think about these:

1. What can you remove right now that would make your life lighter or calmer? It could be something small, like checking your phone first thing in the morning, saying yes to every request, or using social media.
2. What do you never want to see become part of your life , no matter how tempting or “successful” it looks? Maybe it’s living just to impress others, chasing status for validation, or working in an environment that kills your curiosity.
3. What limits or boundaries could you set to keep yourself grounded and true to who you are? For example, no work after 8 p.m., no screens during meals, weekends fully offline, or committing to daily reading and reflection.

Write your answers.
That’s how Via Negativa begins: not by adding, but by removing.

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