For individuals who refuse to live on autopilot
Create Your Own Belief System.
Think With Clarity.
Align With Your Highest Values.
Micro-Philosophy: Foundations teaches you how to build your own personal micro-philosophy in just 5 weeks so that you can stop living randomly and start crafting your higher self.
A HARSH, BUT IMPORTANT TRUTH ...
If you don’t take control of your own beliefs, values, and moral principles, then someone else will.There are few things more terrifying than living an entire life without being in control of your own thoughts, feelings, and actions.That is the problem that Micro-Philosophy: Foundations is designed to solve.Instead of telling you what to think, I am going to teach you how to think for yourself and design your own personal philosophy of life in just 5 weeks.This will help you make better decisions, focus your time and energy on what matters, and transform what you think is possible for yourself.You don't have to be a genius to create your own philosophy.It's actually not as hard as people think.You simply need to know which questions to ask, and what frameworks to use to organize your mind and figure out who you are.You already have decades of knowledge, information, and experience inside of you that is simply waiting to be organized in the right way.In order to develop a clear vision of your life and attain deep self-knowledge, you simply need the right system for structuring what's already there.The goal is not to create a new philosophy that changes the history of the world.The goal is to clearly articulate your own beliefs, values, and worldview to yourself so that you can take control of your thoughts, and live a life of principle.Here is how I can help you.
Hi, I'm Paul Musso ...
I am a philosophy professor with a PhD from the University Of Pennsylvania.As a professor, I have helped hundreds of the world's most elite students learn how to think philosophically about their lives so they could figure out what matters to them and take action.One of my former students, Jacob Cao, recently wrote to me:
"Thank you for a truly fantastic semester. At the start of the course, you mentioned that for some of us, the class might be life-changing. I think I was one of those students. Through our discussions and your ability to make philosophy both approachable and meaningful, I feel I’ve grown into a deeper thinker and a better person"
But things were not always this way...For the first half of my life, I not only hated school, but I lacked discipline, focus, and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.I was grew up one block away from Camden, New Jersey, one of the poorest cities in America.I was raised by a single mother, but had to spend the first 7 years of my life living with my grandmother until my mom could afford for me to live with her and my siblings.When I was 16, I started working at Dominos Pizza because I wanted to buy an electric guitar.Pizza, video games, and heavy metal were more important to me than thinking about school or my future.I had no plan.Eventually I realized that if things kept going the way they were, I would not be able to go to college.I was scared.It felt like time was running out.So that summer I made a vow to myself to turn things around, and begin applying myself in the classroom.When I finally started trying in school, I came to realize that I actually enjoy learning and was good at it.I started reading novels, history books, and having more interesting conversations with my friends.Eventually this led me to discovering philosophy, which completely changed my life.Discovering philosophy felt like finding something that I had always wanted, but didn't know existed.Philosophy promised to teach me how to think clearly, reach my own conclusions, and figure out what's true in the most ultimate sense.It gave me a language to talk about life's biggest questions and most mind-bending ideas.I was hooked.As an undergraduate I majored in philosophy, and eventually would go on to become the first person in my family to complete a bachelor's degree.But somewhere along the way, I made a huge mistake.
Why I Created This Digital Course ...
Although philosophy had completely transformed my life and literally rewired how I think, I was still missing something.At some point during my philosophical education, I made a huge mistake.I became a consumer of philosophy, rather than a practitioner.I read over a thousand books, and even taught classes on subjects such as: greek philosophy, ethics, metaethics, philosophy of law, philosophy of science, aesthetics, and political philosophy.But I had committed the cardinal philosophical sin.I had stopped thinking for myself.The result was that even after studying all of the major figures and thinkers, and understanding much of what they thought, I didn't really know what I thought.I didn't know what my own philosophy was.And this had serious consequences for my life.Without my own philosophy, I struggled to make important decisions because I didn't even know what I to aim at beyond what's right in front of me.I struggled to live with conviction in my beliefs, because I did not have a clearly articulated system of values.The result was that, in many ways, I was still my old self, but I had just became smarter and more knowledgeable about philosophy along the way.And this bothered me deeply.Don't get me wrong, studying philosophy is incredibly beneficial in many ways.But if you really want to have change yourself on a fundamental level, you have to take what you learn and make it your own so that you can live it.It was up to me to take that knowledge and do something with it.So I set out on a mission to figure out the answer to this one question:"Given everything I know about philosophy, what would be the best way to build my own philosophy from scratch?"I wanted to leverage my deep knowledge of philosophy to build a system that anyone could use to start thinking for themselves about their fundamental beliefs, values, and purpose in life.Eventually, this led me to create the concept of a micro-philosophy.A micro-philosophy is concise philosophy of life that represents someone's fundamental beliefs, values, and moral principles.It is the consciously held system of beliefs upon which someone lives.After writing about these ideas on Substack and X, I noticed that many people desperately wanted to know how to build their own micro-philosophy.And that is what led me to developing this course.
Introducing
Micro-Philosophy: Foundations
A Digital Course & Community
Micro-Philosophy: Foundations is the only digital course that will teach you how to transform the random ideas in your head into a complete personal philosophy so that ...You can stop overthinking, make better decisions, and live with confidence.A micro-philosophy is the consciously held system of beliefs that defines who you are, what you care about, and guides your actions.World-class motivational speaker and life coach Jim Rohn once said:"Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out".By the end of this course, you will create your own micro-philosophy statement which means that you will be able to confidently articulate your fundamental beliefs, core values, and moral principles so that you can live a life of purpose.Mastering your own beliefs will help you make better decisions, focus your time and energy on what matters, and reshape what you take to be possible for yourself.The only way to guarantee lasting personal growth is to build your life upon a rock solid intellectual foundation.Your micro-philosophy is your intellectual armor against confusion, distraction, and temptation.
How It Works
5 Week Curriculum
Video lessons, exercises, and assignments are distributed over of a 5 week curriculum so that you can give everything the proper time and attention.
Advanced AI Prompts
Each module contains a 2,000 word prompt engineered to deep insights and maximize your results. Students will use these results as a springboard for their own writing.
Private Community
Access a private community where you can meet other students, share your responses, receive feedback, and discuss philosophy.
Digital Course Workbook
Students will receive a 50+ page digital workbook where they can complete exercises and keep track of their progress throughout the course.
The Micro-Philosophy System
The Exact Steps I Used
To Build My Own Micro-Philosophy
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Module I: Micro-Philosophy & Worldviews
In order to build your micro-philosophy, you will need raw material to work with.The raw material we will use in this course is your pre-existing beliefs and worldview.Module I is focused on taking you through the steps you need to prepare to build your micro-philosophy.In Module I, you will learn:
How to identify your pre-existing beliefs and worldview so that you don't live your entire life never fully understanding what is really influencing your actions
How to uncover hidden assumptions and blindspots so that you can unlock new avenues for personal growth
How to relate your current beliefs to a comprehensive map of human knowledge
Module II: Action & Ethics
Module II is all about taking an honest look at how the way you are living represents the implicit philosophy you are committed to.It is important to never forget that the ultimate purpose of a micro-philosophy is to be a belief system that you can live by.
We stat by looking at your concrete actions and build your philosophy from there.In Module II, you will learn:
How to move from theory to practice by crafting moral principles that connect with real world actions and attitudes so that you everything you do has a reason behind it.
How to determine which kinds of actions are worth pursuing in your life and which kinds of actions must be avoided so that you don't waste time, make mistakes, and feel regret.
How to revisit and revise your micro-philosophy as you progress through life, so that it grows as you grow.
Module III: Values & Ethics
In Module II you put the first pillar of your micro-philosophy in place.Module III is where you put the second pillar in place.Every action and ethical principle contains an implicit value judgment.In Module III, you will learn:
How to derive your core values from your actions and ethical principles so that you can clarify exactly which things are worth pursuing, and what should be avoided completely.
How to connect your core values to your personal system of ethics so that you can clarify exactly how you want to be treated by others, and how you want to treat them in turn.
Module IV: World Beliefs
Module IV is where you connect your ethics and values to your view of reality.All value systems, ethical beliefs, and actions are ultimately grounded in fundamental beliefs about the nature of reality (by the way, this is exactly how Stoicism is structured).Without clarifying your beliefs about what the world is like, your ethics has no ground to stand on.In this module, you will learn:
How to clearly articulate your deepest beliefs about the nature of reality, life, death, nature, and the supernatural because in order to thrive in this world, you must know what kind of world it is.
How to uncover new beliefs and assumptions about reality that deepen your thinking and break you out of old thought patterns.
How to identify internal tensions in your world beliefs that create conflict and chaos in your life, and also how to resolve them so that you can live more peacefully.
Module V: Synthesis
In the fifth and final module of the course you will synthesize everything you have produced into a unified micro-philosophy. You will learn:
How the different beliefs you have discovered and/or clarified fit together into a coherent system for living.
How to test your micro-philosophy for errors and internal tensions and improve it through iteration.
How to expand your micro-philosophy as you progress through life, so that it continues to grow as you grow.
Private Community Access
Micro-Philosophy: Foundations gives you access to a private community of like-minded individuals who are also enrolled in the course, or who have previously completed the course.This community will be an intellectual space in which you can share ideas and receive feedback on your assignments, discuss philosophy, and connect with other people who are on the same journey as you.The community will be hosted on the platform Circle, which is one of the leading course & community hosting platforms (there are no additional fees or charges for having a profile on Circle).Even after your cohort concludes, you will continue to have lifetime access to this community.
Lifetime Access & Future Updates
The Micro-Philosophy: Foundations course will continue to be updated over time with revised lessons and exercises, improved AI prompts, video content, and bonus resources.By joining the course now, you will gain unlimited access to all future versions of Micro-Philosophy: Foundations.You will also maintain lifetime access to the private community after the cohort concludes.
My Promise To You
My #1 priority is to make sure that you have an awesome experience with this course and community.You must find that this course gives you a greater level of clarity about your life, helps you make decisions, and feel less anxious about what to do ...If this does not happen I will provide you with a 100% No Questions Asked Refund anytime within 60 days after purchasing the course (even if you already completed the entire course).Why would I do this?Because I honestly do not want you to pay for this course if it doesn't make a noticeable impact on your life.I truly believe that Micro-Philosophy: Foundations has the potential to transform your life and set you on a new path of self-discovery and self-creation.I hope you are willing to give it a try if you think it can help you.
Are you ready to build your micro-philosophy?
Course Only
$297 $197
✓ Lifetime Curriculum Access + Future Content Updates
✓ Private Community Access
✓ 100+ Page Course Textbook
✓ 50+ Page Digital Course Workbook
✓ No Risk Guarantee: 100% Refund Within 60 Days Of Purchase (Even If You Finish The Course)
✓ Pre-Sale Offer: If you purchase this version of the course before Feb 21, you can join a future cohort for a huge discount.
Pre-Sale Ends Today: This current pre-sale discount ends forever on Feb 20th.
Course + Cohort Experience
$597 $397
✓ Lifetime Access + Join Future Cohorts For Free
✓ Private Community Access
✓ 100+ Page Course Textbook
✓ Digital Course Workbook
✓ 5x Live Group Calls With Me & Cohort Members
✓ Bonus: Accountability Partners
✓ Bonus: Cohort Only Chat
✓ Bonus: Paperback Micro-Philosophy Journal
✓ Pre-Sale Offer: The current pre-sale discount will be the lowest price this live cohort experience will ever be offered at. On Feb 20, the price will increase forever.
✓ No Risk Guarantee: 100% Refund Within 60 Days Of Purchase (Even If You Finish The Course)
See What Previous Students Had To Say
Meet Alex James, a high impact executive coach with years of experience.
Alex was growing tired of self-help content and looking for something that cut deeper.“After six years as an executive coach, I’m pretty uninspired by most self-help. But the Micro-Philosophy Foundations course invites such a unique dimension that is rarely discussed, and yet is essential to living a well-lived life”.In particular, Alex was deeply impacted by the very first exercise in the course, in which I have students unearth what I call their “birthview”.Your “birthview” is the worldview or worldviews that you were born into without choosing them.It is the set of initial background conditions that shaped your beliefs, values, and relationship to the universe.In her review of the course, Alex wrote that:“As for my personal experience, the birthview process was genuinely transformative. It surfaced a contradiction I’ve wrestled with for years but hadn’t been able to name cleanly. Being forced to articulate my worldview gave me a container to understand how I interpret the world, and to have more productive conversations with people who see things differently. And the atomic belief structure is genius too. I’ve already carried this framework into my work”.One unique feature of Micro-Philosophy: Foundations is that I created advanced AI prompts that make the learning exercises interactive and iterative.You don’t just read some text, answer some open ended question with little guidance. You walk through a multi-step process that forces you to dig deeply into yourself.“The course structure was also excellent. A blend of AI-prompted brainstorming for insight, personal writing for integration, and group calls for support, accountability and connection”What brought me the most joy was to hear that Alex continues to reference her micro-philosophy beyond the course, which is what my original vision for the course was — to help people create a permanently evolving system for living that they can carry with them through life.“I keep my micro-philosophy close and refer to it often. Not only is this course a meaningful process but my micro-philosophy has become a practical tool to evolve with me over time”Alex concluded by saying that:“This was of the most original, challenging, and valuable online courses I’ve come across. I’ve always been a contemplative person, but not in a classically academic way, so I was intimidated at first. In hindsight, that stretch was exactly what I needed”
Another alumni who was impacted by the course is Elliott Ploutz.
Prior to taking the course, Elliott already had a bachelor's degree in philosophy and attempted to work out his own philosophy of life for years. His friends described these attempts as resembling an entire "book" or "thesis".Elliott seriously wanted to clarify his beliefs and found my "minimalist" approach appealing.So he decided to join. Here is happened next:"Overall this exercise has helped me clarify my beliefs and given me a starting point to develop a macro-philosophy. I enjoy thinking about these fundamental and essential questions to live by. I will likely refine them over the years".And..."I’ll say it really felt like a philosophy course. I graduated with my bachelor’s in philosophy in 2012. Every once in a while I really itch to do some philosophizing. This course scratches that. Your head might hurt with all the thinking and reflecting you will do - mine sure did!After seeing his review, I decided to reach out and ask Elliot "How does it feel to know that you have that foundation to build on for life?""Pretty great, honestly! It still has me thinking months later. It's a flexible framework. Thanks again for all you do"
Frequently Asked Questions
Is This A Self-Paced Course, Community, or Cohort?
There are currently two versions of the course being offered:-Self-paced
-Cohort (group experience)The self-paced version of the course gives you lifetime access to the current version of the course + all future updates and the private course community (but not cohort chat). Every week, you are given material to study, an exercise to complete, and an assignment to submit to the community for feedback.The course is scheduled to drip-feed content so that you give each exercise the time and attention it requires.Each new module will open after 7 days.The cohort version of the course gives you access to everything in the self-paced version plus a more immersive group experience that involves live group calls, private group chat, and a hardcover journal of your micro-philosophy shipped to you.
How Much Time Do I Need To Invest?
The course takes 5 weeks to complete, but you don't need to spend hours a day. Each weekly module can be completed on a Saturday or Sunday morning and should take about 2 hours to complete (although each assignment is designed to allow you to spend more time on it if you choose). For cohort members, there is an additional weekly group call that lasts 1 hour every Sunday. If you are not willing to invest 8-16 hours into developing your personal beliefs, values, and ethics, then this course is probably not for you. This isn't a "quick fix".
Do I Need To Know Anything About Philosophy?
This course does not require any pre-requisite knowledge of any discipline.Knowing a bit of philosophy can definitely enhance your experience, but everything in the course will be explained in an accessible way assuming that you don't know any philosophy.To get the most out of the course, it you simply need to be willing to think deeply and honestly about your life and complete the exercises even if they feel challenging. This requires a moderate amount of writing.In the future I plan to release advanced courses that will get into some more complex philosophical concepts, but the goal here is to help as many people as possible have more mental clarity and control over their beliefs without getting hung up on complex philosophical debates.
Do I Need Any Technology Or Paid Software To Complete The Course?
As I mentioned above, the course will be hosted on Circle, so you will need to make an account on that platform to access the course. That is where everything is hosted.Additionally, access to the paid versions of either Chat-GPT or Claude is strongly recommended, although not absolutely necessary.