tsuyoku naritai: i want to become stronger. it's a motto among modern rationalists because it is our style to push ourselves further even when we may already be good enough. we want to be the best we can be. we want to win.
but “i want to become stronger” is missing something. it's not enough to work hard to become stronger, to desire to transcend your current abilities. becoming stronger for its own sake serves no purpose. you can continuously improve at something that will never help you do anything other than fulfilling your own desire to become stronger. what's missing is the reason for developing strength.
what you need is something to protect. this is not something you go out looking for, after you have decided to gain strength. it's something that finds you and then motivates your quest for strength. it comes from the things you value fundamentally, that you can't see a way to reduce. it what drives you to want the world to be different.
when you have your reason, your something to protect, it's no longer a matter of wanting to become stronger. you need to become stronger, because you cannot effectively protect without strength.
why do i need to become stronger? i want to live in a world filled with truth and beauty and joy and happiness. a place where i can push back entropy. and a place where everyone can have what they value, too. fundamentally, i protect meaning and the ability to make it, because without meaning there is nothing to protect.
i have something to protect, and i want to become stronger to protect it better. ergo, i need to become stronger.