Denmark teen encourages self-improvement

Jens Panum stands outside the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Photos submitted

By Tom Victoria

Jens Panum believes people have the power to bring about positive changes to their lives, so he inspires them to do just that.

The content creator explained his goal.

“I feel like if more people in the youth had more based values, this world could change for the better,” he said. “So that's my goal now.”

Jens, 16, of Denmark said self-improvement is essential.

“I believe that it brings me more life satisfaction and will have the same effect on many others,” he said. “My biggest fear is to live a mediocre life, and my ticket away from that is self-improvement in all forms: spiritual, mental, physical and last, but definitely not least, financial.”

Jens stressed improving oneself isn’t free.

“The price of this ticket, however, is not cheap,” he said. “It will cost you sleepless nights, long periods of time in discomfort, a load of discipline and so much more. The payoff, however, is so much more worth it. I believe that in life, you have to choose your pain: either you have the pain of immediate discomfort or you choose the gut-wrenching pain of knowing that you have not lived up to your potential. Most likely because of my fear of being mediocre, I chose the first one.”

Jens started working out two years ago.

“This whole journey of self-improvement all started when I was 14,” he said. “My friend convinced me to buy a gym membership so I could go with him. Initially, I was really skeptical about it. I did kickboxing on a relatively high level, so I didn't really want it to interfere with that. But he convinced me. My first workout was horrible. I was so sore the day after, and I didn't really like it. I did it again and it wasn't really nice. My first 10 or 20 workouts or so were just pretty much only because my friend was there.”

Jens enjoyed riding in Australia.

However, Jens eventually saw the benefits of hitting the gym.

“I slowly started to enjoy the process,” he said. “I started to feel the muscles as I worked out, so I just kept doing it and upped the workouts, how often I did it and started eating properly. When I started to see results physically, that pretty much changed everything for me. The gym definitely initiated it all.”

Jens worked on improving the process.

“As you do when you have a passion, I started to research about the gym and what was most optimal for what,” he said. “Then I stumbled upon videos on YouTube and pretty specific niches on how to optimize muscle hypertrophy and stuff like that. That slowly kind of shifted towards general self-improvement as a lifestyle. I started to read books, and I stumbled upon meditation, which I really found cool. And I started gratitude journaling.”

Jens developed an entirely new mindset.

“I started doing all these things and it was as if this cloud had just lifted from my head,” he said. “All of a sudden, I'd unlocked this mental clarity that I'd never had before. It was just so wild, so I started talking to people about it. Other than my very close friend, who's also on self-improvement like me, people didn't really want to hear. No one cared about my meditation or my journaling or anything. I very quickly became an outcast. I never really fell into that whole drinking, partying thing. Although I have tried it, it's not me. I don't like it.”

Along with Jens’ peers, others were nonplussed about self-improvement as well.

“I really needed someone to talk to about all this because my family didn't really care,” he said. “My sister talked about it, but it was more so just because she knew that I had no one to talk to about it. My friend was pretty much the only one I could talk to about it, so I just started putting on the camera and talked to the camera about it.”

This time, people listened to Jens.

“I slowly started to grow an audience,” he said. “Even to this day, my audience isn't huge, but it's definitely a lot larger than I would have initially thought. I never really had any goals or anything with this. It was just to have someone to talk to. If you go to my very early videos of April last year, those were just sit-down monologue videos of just me talking. Slowly, I actually also started to enjoy the process of making YouTube. I wanted to spread the message, because I also feel like today's youth is very much into negative things, such as drinking. Even though it sounds a bit weird, casual sex is also something I'm very against. I just wanted to spread my message of positivity.“

Jens watched others squander their potential.

“I wasn't like a nerd or anything,” he said. “I was your average 12, 13, 14-year-old kid. I saw these guys that had much more potential than I had genetically. They were physically stronger, faster than me, but they just wasted it. Many of them actually went to the gym, but then they also partied and drank and just wasted their potential. I never liked that.” 

“I just wanted to spread my message of positivity.”

Jens said bad habits lead to substance abuse.

“These substances, drugs and alcohol, I do believe them to be evil because they do cause stuff like this,” he said. “That goes back to what I was saying before. With the mental cloud, you can't achieve full mental clarity if you're on these things. I saw a study a long time time ago. I can't quite remember how it went, but it was something along the lines of: if you have ingested alcohol, your brain only fully achieves the same cognitive level as it had prior to that, a week after.” 

Jens said steering clear of drugs and alcohol only reaps benefits.

“It's health in all forms,” he said. “It's physical, but also emotional and spiritual.”

Jens was surprised by how many people would follow him.

“I've always known that there were people similar to me out there, they're just not as common as, sadly, the degenerate youth,” he said. “Therefore, I'd somewhat expected that if I went out and spoke online that some people would at least tune in, because some people out there are similar to me. I'm not special. I'm just a different type of person to the more degenerate average. I hadn't expected it to the level of which it has become. On my goals for my year in Australia, I wrote 50 subscribers on YouTube. I reached that within three months of being in Australia. Now, we're at 250.”

Jens, who spent the last year in Australia on a student exchange program, went there so he could decide whether to pursue college.

“I finished the mandatory schooling in Denmark, and I didn't know if I wanted to pursue more school,” he said. “Although I think education is insanely important, I don't know if the education system was it for me. I went to Australia to think it all the way through. Although I do go to school here in Australia, none of my schooling is going to be relevant for my future in Denmark if I choose to pursue the education system. If I want to get into school in Denmark, they will base my grades not off the ones here in Australia, but off the ones I had in my previous year in Denmark.”

Jens opted to make the most of a gap year.

“This year in Australia is pretty much just a gap year just to get away,” he said. “Also, it's very educational being here, seeing a different part of the world. I feel like, in many ways, the youth is also different in Australia than Denmark. I feel like drugs are more common here in Australia than Denmark. I also find Australian youth to drink more alcohol than youth in Denmark. And that's funny, because in Denmark, you can buy alcohol at the age of 16, whereas in Australia, you have to be 18 to buy and to drink. There's no legal drinking age in Denmark. It's just to buy it from the stores, you need to be 16. I don't know if the more laid back view on alcohol in Denmark has an impact on lowering ingestion amongst youth.”

Jens explained that legal difference helps Denmark youth.

“In Australia and most definitely also in the U.S., if you are, let's say, a 14, 15, 16-year-old alcoholic, you need to try to hide it, because what you're doing is illegal. However, in Denmark, it's a lot easier to be open about it. If you have fallen into this rabbit hole of alcoholism as a young person, it's easier to pursue help because what you're doing is not illegal.”

“I’ve been trying to embrace stoicism into my daily life.”

Jens focuses on how he deals with life’s challenges.

“I've been trying to embrace stoicism into my daily life,” he said. “My first encounter with stoicism was actually three years ago, back when I still had TikTok, before I did any of this self-improvement thing. I was just scrolling, and I saw a post for some stoic channel where it was a drawing of two people sitting on a bus. One side of the bus was sunshine, rainbows, and one side of the bus was just hell, darkness, horrible. And both of them were equally happy. I was like, oh, this is pretty cool.”

Jens temporarily forgot about stoicism.

“I read the book Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday,” he said. “Ever since then, I've been trying to embrace stoicism because I really think it's a great philosophy. On my wall here, I have something I got from the book: the seven habits of highly effective people. It's called a personal mission statement where you write down your core values and what you want to be. One of the things I've written is I will take extreme ownership and I will make sure that I know that every single thing that happens to me in my life is my fault.”

Such ownership is lacking with many people in the United States, something Jens said is noted by people living elsewhere.

“It's almost become a bit of a joke,” he said. “This is something I find both in Australia and Europe: every time something happens, people go, oh, at least it's not America. Although that's a humorous joke, there's like an underlying dark seriousness behind it.”

Jens hopes to get his message across.

“This is why I try to promote accountability and ownership on my platform,” he said. “Because although it's not big as of now, I feel if I just keep repeating myself with this accountability and ownership, it will make a difference. It'll compound eventually.”

Jens selected Australia for language and athletic purposes.

“I wanted to go somewhere very different,” he said. “However, I didn't really want to. I had other priorities than learning a language from scratch. I wanted it to be somewhere English-speaking. Initially, I wanted to go to New Zealand, but the exchange program couldn't guarantee me a sport. Then I wanted to go to South Africa because I thought that would be really cool, also to see the diversity in South Africa, but my mom wasn't really comfortable with me going there. I settled for Australia.”

Jens, who played rugby Down Under, noted the difference in Australian youth compared to Europe.

“They're both tougher and weaker on different fronts,” he said. “I find at least the youth I experienced in Europe growing up there were more stoic, naturally stoic compared to the youth in Australia. However, I find more males in Australia to be the stereotypical tough guy, but will also lose his temper if he doesn't like something. Whereas European youth will be more civilized and more settled and won't lose their temper, but on the other hand, won't be a stereotypical tough guy.”

Jens found Aussies were as amiable as they seem to foreigners.

“I found Australians to be very friendly, very welcoming,” he said.

Jens plans to start a business upon returning to his native land.

“When I return to Denmark, my friend and I, we will try to throw ourselves into entrepreneurship,” he said. “We already have a plan set out. I can't do it in Australia because I'm on a visa, and I can't have an income.”

“Think of it as discipline is always the baseline. If you can build up your discipline to be more than what you need to accomplish said task.”

Jens wants to be an entrepreneur to avoid limitations in life.

“Goals I have for my future as far as career-wise is to achieve location freedom, because I want to be able to be where I want, when I want to be there,” he said. “I don't want to be bound to an office or a workplace from 9 to 5 or from 8 to 4. I want to have financial freedom, so if any emergencies or anything medical should come up, I am able to pay for them. And I want to have time freedom, so I want to be able to work when I want. If something comes up, I want to be able to be flexible and go from 10 to 6 or something like that, or have shorter days and longer days. Be able to work when I want, be able to be where I want and be able to pay for what I want when I want — there's no career that gives all this.”

Jens found the solution, though.

“You could have many high-paying jobs,” he said. “You could be a director or a doctor, and then you've definitely got the financial freedom. But you don't have location freedom because you're bound to be in the office or in the hospital from 9 to 5. You don't have the time freedom because you have someone that has set your work plan. I feel entrepreneurship is definitely the only option for this. I also feel like I am pretty well suited for entrepreneurship. I work well under stress.”

Jens believes he would work better being his own boss.

“If I want to do something, I want to do it,” he said. “I don't want to ask for permission. If I think I know what's right, I want to be able to test it. Then it's going to be a win-win either way. Because if it turns out it's not right, my business might take a hit. But personally, it's a win because I've learned, I've become wiser. If it's the right thing to do, the business goes well and I learn. It's a win-win either way. Whereas if I have a boss that tells me yes or no, I won't learn as much. I'll just build up a resentment towards the boss because I don't like people telling me what to do.”

Jens wants to focus his efforts on social media.

“What we're going to start is an SMMA, which is social media,” he said. “What we're going to do in rough terms is we're going to be doing online advertisements for other businesses. It's going to be a B2B business model, so business to business. Then we're going to outsource the advertising part to a freelancer, so that way we have more time to scale a business.”

Jens posts videos about self-improvement.

Jens wants his time spent on the most vital aspects.

“Imagine you have a plate,” he said. “It's all about having as little on your plate as possible, because the less you have on your plate, the more you can focus on what is on your plate. If your plate is full and there's always things to kind of focus on, you won't be able to put as much attention into what's important. Whereas if you outsourced what's on your plate to freelancers and other people that you obviously pay and they're a part of the business, you can keep what's most essential and what's most important to you. From then on, you can scale the business a lot easier.”

Jens’ workout includes cardio.

“I go for about two runs a week, each about half an hour,” he said. “And I have six gym sessions a week, which are each about an hour long. That's about seven hours a week.”

Jens has found daily tasks easier as his strength increased.

“I've definitely found as far as strength-wise, everyday tasks have been a lot easier,” he said. “But with that said, I don't know how much that is because I started working out as a very skinny, scrawny 14-year-old. I don't know how much that is just a natural part of growing up, obviously becoming stronger. The gym has definitely helped that, but I don't know how much of that is the natural strength curves that comes with growing up and how much of that is the gym. But, yes, I've definitely found that I've gotten a lot stronger.”

“Embracing stoicism into daily life has definitely helped me build my discipline.”

That strength comes in handy for moving furniture.

“My dad and I, back in Denmark, just before I left, he bought a big metal and glass cupboard for the kitchen,” he said. “We needed to carry that into the house because it couldn't be dismantled. It was one big cupboard, so we had to put it on the side, and it was 120 kilos. I carried one side. That's definitely not something I would have been able to do if I hadn't gone to the gym. I find helping out, carrying stuff has gotten a lot easier.”

Jens also noticed another effect of having a more developed physique.

“I found that now that I have built a more aesthetically pleasing body, people treat me differently, both males and females,” he said. “I find males have more respect for me. That's probably also because I've had a bit of a growth spurt, so I've become taller and also larger than I was when I was 14. Also, females have a bit more of a femininely polarized energy towards me instead of just being the logical let's do this here, and then be more of a buddy.” 

Jens said the book The Way of the Superior Man explains the phenomenon.

“I strongly recommend that book,” he said. “He talks about how masculine and feminine energy polarize each other. That's what I found as well, that people see me as more of a masculine figure now than before. But again, I don't know how much that is due to just natural puberty. It's definitely also due to the gym, because I wouldn't have had this body if I hadn't gone to the gym, obviously. A lot has changed from when I was 14.”

Jens stops on a roadside trail with his friend Andrè Oehlenschlaeger.

Jens stressed discipline is the key to accomplishing anything.  

“Think of it as discipline is always the baseline,” he said. “If you can build up your discipline to be more than what you need to accomplish said task. Let's say this is what you need to accomplish going to gym. This is your discipline. You'll always be able to go to the gym. Now, the gap in between what's needed and your discipline is how enjoyable that given session is going to be. Now think of motivation. Motivation always goes up and down. That's why you can't rely on motivation to do what you want to do. Some days, you'll be very motivated and some days, you'll just not feel like doing anything at all.”

Jens said discipline complements motivation.

“The days you're very motivated rely on your motivation to go to the gym because then the gap between the gym and the motivation is larger,” he said. “Therefore, that gym session will be better. Whereas, the days you're down here, if you relied on your motivation, you wouldn't be going to the gym because you're not motivated to go to the gym. Therefore, you need to rely on your discipline to go to the gym. Although that gym session might not be as enjoyable, it will still be a gym session that will bring you towards your goals. Build up a baseline of discipline that allows you to do what you want to do, so discipline is definitely what's required.”

Jens explained how he developed better discipline.

“Motivation is definitely the starting block,” he said. “Those highs, it's definitely the starting block of doing habits that build your discipline. Journaling has helped me build my discipline. Meditation has helped me build my discipline. Embracing stoicism into daily life has definitely helped me build my discipline. Once you made those things a habit, something you do regularly like brushing your teeth doesn't really need motivation. If you build these things, they don't really need motivation. Because they are a habit you do, you can then rely on them to have that baseline of discipline.”

Jens dispensed advice to those wanting to embark on self-improvement.

“Go to a gym,” he said. “Going to the gym is definitely step number one. It's just easier to fall into the rabbit hole of bad mental health if your physical health is also bad.”

Jens wasn’t always comfortable in front of a camera.

“I was very awkward on the camera,” he said. That would have been about a year ago. The best way to build it is through practicing it. What better way to practice it than to actually do it and then post on YouTube that way? It's also someday in the future, you can look back and it'll be kind of nostalgic looking back and seeing your natural growth curve out there on YouTube as you started as a awkward teenager and then kind of built up the ability to speak on camera because it's not natural speaking on camera at all. It's definitely a skill required or a skill learned.”

Jens wants his followers to develop a positive mindset.

“Good morals and good values,” he said. “Values of improving yourself, getting better, not necessarily daily because days fluctuate, but weekly, monthly and yearly. I want them to be able to take my advice and then do what I tell them to do for a year and then look back a year after that and go, holy shit. I have not felt it day by day, but I can look back now and see how much I've changed.”

Jens’ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JensPanum