Christmas Special | Hacks, Fails & Lessons From 2019 | Modern Wisdom 129

1. 0:00 – 1:05

   Christmas setup & the year-end “hacks, fails, lessons” agenda

   1. CWChris Williamson0:00

      (jazzy Christmas music plays) Because it's Christmas and I can use whatever (censored) words I want, all right? So, today, we are gonna go through some of our favorite hacks, lessons, fails from 2019, do a year-end review.

   2. YUYusef0:26

      So I dropped med school, which was actual-

   3. JOJonny0:28

      Became a doctor.

   4. YUYusef0:29

      Became a doctor.

   5. JOJonny0:30

      Became a doctor.

   6. YUYusef0:31

      Ah. Otherwise, it's been probably the hardest year of my life.

   7. JOJonny0:35

      (laughs) The main thing that didn't go well was I started the year snapping my hamstring underneath 255 kilos.

   8. CWChris Williamson0:45

      As you're moving into the new year, if I could give you one piece of advice, one piece of advice would be go sober, second piece of advice would be sleep with your phone outside of your room, but third piece of advice would be get a morning routine.

   9. JOJonny0:53

      I spoke to someone this week who said to me that they got a dog because I said to get a dog.

   10. YUYusef0:59

       Ooh, that's a responsibility.

   11. JOJonny0:59

       So we should be careful. (whoosh)

2. 1:05 – 2:39

   Banter, jumpers, and getting into ‘what habits did you drop?’

   1. CWChris Williamson1:05

      Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. A very merry Christmas from us here at Modern Wisdom. Johnny and Yousaf have joined me. Uh, anyway, it's Christmas. Merry Christmas. Hope that you've had a fantastic year. We're gonna be going through-

   2. JOJonny1:17

      Can I open that now? (clicks jumper opening)

   3. YUYusef1:22

      (laughs)

   4. JOJonny1:23

      (laughs)

   5. YUYusef1:23

      (Clicks jumper opening) Oh, bollocks. (clicks jumper opening)

   6. CWChris Williamson1:24

      What are you doing?

   7. YUYusef1:25

      Oh, there we go. (clicks jumper opening)

   8. JOJonny1:27

      Dean, just cut this. (static sound)

   9. CWChris Williamson1:28

      Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. A very merry Christmas to you. I'm joined by Johnny and Yousaf from propanefitness.com.

   10. JOJonny1:36

       Welcome back to us.

   11. CWChris Williamson1:37

       Welcome back, indeed.

   12. YUYusef1:38

       This is actually take two 'cause we were being naughty.

   13. JOJonny1:40

       (laughs)

   14. CWChris Williamson1:40

       They were being naughty. They were being Christmas elves. Um, as you can see, Johnny's wearing a familiar jumper, except for the fact it's broken. You've got an indicator.

   15. JOJonny1:48

       I don't think it's broken fully.

   16. CWChris Williamson1:50

       Better.

   17. JOJonny1:51

       Some would say better.

   18. CWChris Williamson1:52

       Better. Anyway-

   19. JOJonny1:53

       It's more surprising.

   20. CWChris Williamson1:53

       If you are only listening, I suggest that you head to YouTube to check out our Christmas jumpers in all of their splendor.

   21. JOJonny2:00

       Yours is lovely. It's really nice, isn't it? Yousaf's is far too small for him. You can't really see that 'cause he's sat down.

   22. CWChris Williamson2:05

       That's- that's your girlfriend's jumper, isn't it?

   23. YUYusef2:07

       I think so.

   24. CWChris Williamson2:07

       "Take it slow in the snow," and it's a sloth (laughs) with earmuffs on her.

   25. JOJonny2:12

       Like a cautionary notice, isn't it?

   26. CWChris Williamson2:14

       Yeah, it is. You could stand by the side of the road just waving.

   27. YUYusef2:18

       Like, festive warning.

   28. JOJonny2:19

       Festive but very sensible.

   29. YUYusef2:20

       "Take it slow." Yeah.

   30. CWChris Williamson2:21

       So, today, we are going to go through some of our favorite hacks, lessons, fails from 2019, do a year-end review, what it is that we've been getting up to. Um, Johnny, hot lump of coal for Christmas.
3. 2:39 – 4:18

   Mobility debate: dropping ROMWOD and what replaced it

   1. CWChris Williamson2:39

      Well, what have you... Okay, here's one. What have you dropped within the last year in terms of sort of routine or product consistency?

   2. JOJonny2:45

      That's a great question.

   3. CWChris Williamson2:47

      That is a surprise to you.

   4. JOJonny2:49

      Uh, ROMWOD, mainly 'cause

   5. YUYusef2:52

      Mm-hmm.

   6. JOJonny2:52

      ... it was utility.

   7. CWChris Williamson2:54

      And how do you feel having-

   8. JOJonny2:56

      Uh, so no different, I would say.

   9. YUYusef3:00

      Why have you dropped ROMWOD specifically?

   10. JOJonny3:02

       So Chris went to see Mr. McGill, came back and was like, "Don't do ROMWOD, Johnny, otherwise you'll snap yourself." So, um, I think I probably didn't... 'Cause I was doing it and it was taking a long time, and I was still getting injured, and I was still feeling tight, and I was still feeling, um, you know, pain, discomfort, like, as you would normally expect from f- from training. So tried dropping it, also noticed n- no change, really. So I do miss it, but not for the right reasons.

   11. CWChris Williamson3:36

       Well, yeah. No, I, I agree. I agree completely.

   12. JOJonny3:38

       No?

   13. CWChris Williamson3:38

       So my, my reasons, ROMWOD I still think is a, a fantastically useful tool and it's a beautiful way to start your morning. Um, there's just certain physiologies, mine being one of them, the, um, changes that the stretches elicit, it doesn't agree with. Um, so ROMWOD's gone. Yousaf, what have you added or taken away this year that's been surprising to you?

   14. JOJonny4:00

       'Cause you do, like, watered-down ROMWOD, don't you? Like, all the gymnastic stuff.

   15. CWChris Williamson4:03

       Yeah.

   16. JOJonny4:03

       Like, all the...

   17. YUYusef4:03

       Watered-down, do you mean ROMWOD?

   18. JOJonny4:05

       Yeah, you do like... Yeah, yeah. It's not-

   19. YUYusef4:06

       As in, the sport-

   20. CWChris Williamson4:07

       Like beginners.

   21. JOJonny4:07

       (laughs)

   22. YUYusef4:08

       ... the, the sport of gymnastics.

   23. CWChris Williamson4:10

       (laughs) The sport of ROMWOD. It's competitive ROMWOD, isn't it?

   24. YUYusef4:12

       Yeah.

   25. JOJonny4:12

       'Cause it's, they don't have seated straddle, they have, like, other things that aren't as ROM.

   26. CWChris Williamson4:15

       Yeah.

   27. YUYusef4:15

       Some, other, like, proper names for the things, positions.

   28. JOJonny4:18

       (laughs)

4. 4:18 – 6:25

   Yusef becomes a doctor: time management, exposure to the ‘real world,’ and NHS realities

   1. YUYusef4:18

      Um, so I dropped med school, which was-

   2. CWChris Williamson4:21

      Became a doctor.

   3. YUYusef4:23

      Became a doctor.

   4. JOJonny4:23

      Became a doctor.

   5. CWChris Williamson4:24

      Proper doctor.

   6. YUYusef4:25

      Oh, God. So, and as far as habits, like, I think there's quite a big shift with having to go from, like, pressurizing yourself for a certain point-

   7. JOJonny4:35

      Mm-hmm.

   8. YUYusef4:35

      ... on assessment to just doing the job. So that's been quite a big shift and I think quite a lot of challenges with time management and just juggling a lot more in terms of energy, time, sleep, that kind of thing.

   9. CWChris Williamson4:51

      You've entered... You, after... You're, like, finally in the real world after-

   10. YUYusef4:57

       Mm-hmm.

   11. CWChris Williamson4:57

       ... 10 years of being a student.

   12. JOJonny4:57

       You went, you went in for a bit and it was like, "Mm-mm, no, not for me."

   13. CWChris Williamson5:00

       "It's not for me."

   14. JOJonny5:00

       Wrong bit, wrong bit, and then back in again.

   15. CWChris Williamson5:03

       Yeah, no.

   16. YUYusef5:03

       Yeah.

   17. CWChris Williamson5:03

       Fuck training.

   18. JOJonny5:04

       Well, there's all... There's just loads of blood and poo, isn't there?

   19. YUYusef5:07

       Quite a lot.

   20. JOJonny5:08

       How much body fluid do you see?

   21. YUYusef5:11

       Luckily... So we were saying this before, that, um, you were kind of insulated from it a little bit, whereas nurses, God bless them-

   22. JOJonny5:19

       They're on the front line.

   23. YUYusef5:20

       They just get-

   24. JOJonny5:21

       Taking fire.

   25. YUYusef5:22

       Oh, they, they, like, they get punched. Um-

   26. JOJonny5:24

       Really?

   27. YUYusef5:24

       ... one nurse got punched last week by someone and, uh, and they al- it's always, like, the first port of call for, like, "Nurse, I've shit meself." 'Cause-

   28. JOJonny5:32

       (laughs)

   29. YUYusef5:33

       And, and, like, sometimes it's, it's absolutely excusable, you know, someone who can't help it, but sometimes you just get people who-

   30. JOJonny5:42

       Lazy.
5. 6:25 – 8:33

   Night shifts, fatigue, and the ‘seven factors of stupidity’ framework

   1. CWChris Williamson6:25

      Um, so you've changed a lot to do with that. And I guess that your sleep is gonna be a bit of a challenge and stuff now as well?

   2. YUYusef6:32

      I think I've learned a lot about myself with doing night shifts, um-

   3. CWChris Williamson6:35

      What have you learned?

   4. YUYusef6:36

      ... switching betw- so just how much it affects how stupid you are. So I, in fact, there we go. The, the, the big lesson has been if ... Hav- has anyone seen the Shane Parrish Stupidity Podcast?

   5. CWChris Williamson6:49

      Yes.

   6. YUYusef6:49

      Where he talks about the seven factors of stupidity, which are being in a group outside of your normal group, being outside of your domain of competence, being in the presence of an expert or being, uh, an expert yourself, um, being in a crowd, having sensory overload or being tired. I think those are the seven.

   7. CWChris Williamson7:10

      Mm-hmm.

   8. YUYusef7:10

      Or was like (whispers) I don't know.

   9. JOJonny7:11

      And, and are you saying that you (laughs) hit every single box?

   10. YUYusef7:14

       So-

   11. CWChris Williamson7:15

       It must be at least six of seven.

   12. YUYusef7:17

       The first couple of months you are just, you're like, "I- I'm so aware that I'm operating on 10% brain because everything is just, is designed to make you stupid." Like, a- a- an- and he defines stupid not as a lack of intelligence, but missing what is conspicuously obvious because of these factors.

   13. CWChris Williamson7:33

       Mm.

   14. YUYusef7:34

       And so slowly as you begin to mitigate those, you use more of your brain, you can think more clearly.

   15. CWChris Williamson7:39

       Mm.

   16. YUYusef7:40

       Uh, but yeah, very, very interesting experience.

   17. JOJonny7:42

       'Cause in corporate world, like the, the way that people rationalize something of like, "Don't worry, it's not that bad. It's not life and death." You know, that's the thing that everyone says.

   18. YUYusef7:53

       (laughs)

   19. JOJonny7:53

       And Zero's like, "Oh, yeah, you're right."

   20. CWChris Williamson7:55

       Well, you trade in life and death, don't you?

   21. JOJonny7:56

       It's just a spreadsheet.

   22. CWChris Williamson7:57

       Traded in it.

   23. YUYusef7:57

       (laughs) .

   24. JOJonny7:57

       Whereas you are in the only scenario really where-

   25. CWChris Williamson8:00

       It is life and death.

   26. JOJonny8:01

       ... it only ever is life and death.

   27. CWChris Williamson8:03

       And poo.

   28. YUYusef8:04

       (laughs)

   29. CWChris Williamson8:04

       Sometimes it's just the poo.

   30. JOJonny8:05

       But poo is, is just on the spectrum, isn't it, of life and death? Like, poo will happen at specific points-
6. 8:33 – 13:00

   Journaling, Anki, and the Six Minute Diary: building reflective habits

   1. YUYusef8:33

      So things like Anki, using-

   2. JOJonny8:35

      Right.

   3. YUYusef8:35

      ... all and all of the surrounding habits that you have around that. And I think it opens up a huge amount of RAM in one sense because you're not, like, trying to just stuff your brain with as much, like-

   4. CWChris Williamson8:47

      For, for, for people who don't know what Anki is, it's a spaced repetition flashcard software that helps medical students remember what they need to learn.

   5. YUYusef8:53

      Yeah, so-

   6. JOJonny8:53

      Strong summary.

   7. YUYusef8:54

      Ver- yeah. Very, very good bit of software actually. Like, it's y- you create your own deck of flashcards except if you're making 10,000 like me, um, then- (laughs)

   8. CWChris Williamson9:03

      How many did you finish on?

   9. YUYusef9:05

      Uh, 10,000. So-

   10. CWChris Williamson9:06

       Really?

   11. YUYusef9:07

       (laughs)

   12. CWChris Williamson9:07

       If you are a medical student or an any student and you have a Anki flashcard deck with more than 10,000 flashcards in it and you send me a screenshot @chriswilex on Instagram, I will send you a case of Nocco for free.

   13. YUYusef9:21

       Wow.

   14. JOJonny9:22

       How are we gonna protect against people fudging that?

   15. YUYusef9:25

       It's a long process to... (laughs)

   16. CWChris Williamson9:26

       Oh, fine. (laughs) Fine. (overlapped by laughing) Are you still journaling?

   17. YUYusef9:32

       No, but you will be pleased to know that I unwrapped my Six Minute Diary. I've started reading through the preamble, which isn't long.

   18. CWChris Williamson9:38

       Okay. Yeah, it is. There's a big buy-in.

   19. YUYusef9:40

       I thought it would be like a couple of pages-

   20. CWChris Williamson9:41

       No, it's fucking legit.

   21. YUYusef9:43

       (laughs) Yeah. So I've not started the actual journal process, but-

   22. CWChris Williamson9:47

       Will you intend on maybe doing it for the new year?

   23. YUYusef9:49

       Yeah.

   24. CWChris Williamson9:49

       Wow. I ... Do you know what it is? I was gonna ask for it back.

   25. YUYusef9:52

       Really?

   26. JOJonny9:53

       Wow.

   27. CWChris Williamson9:53

       I was gonna say, I was just gonna say well, just give it to someone who's gonna use it.

   28. YUYusef9:55

       Who's gonna actually f- appreciate it. (laughs)

   29. JOJonny9:57

       So, hold on. Why have you stopped journaling? Is it 'cause you, you s- t- you don't want to, or-

   30. YUYusef10:02

       No, I, as in like, I've never really journaled as a consistent thing. I just do it as and when things come up and I just type them up.
7. 13:00 – 16:02

   Morning routines as timeboxing: planning the day like a routine

   1. CWChris Williamson13:00

      No carbs company, isn't it? On the, on the morning time, you got your morning routine, it's, no one's getting in your way doing, stopping you from doing your shit. What I've realized is, if you become very, very anal about how you do your morning routine, you can work out exact- precisely how long everything's gonna take.

   2. JOJonny13:16

      Yeah.

   3. CWChris Williamson13:16

      E- es- especially when you're doing things that are quite discreet, so, um, the Stay app takes eight minutes. The meditation, over 20 minute session takes 20 minutes.

   4. JOJonny13:24

      Mm-hmm.

   5. CWChris Williamson13:24

      Reading takes 20 minutes with a countdown timer. Da, da, dun.

   6. JOJonny13:27

      How long does six minute diary actually take?

   7. CWChris Williamson13:29

      So I tend to take a little bit longer, 'cause it's the first thing I do. So I'll be drinking water-

   8. JOJonny13:35

      Yeah.

   9. CWChris Williamson13:35

      ... probably settling into wherever I'm sat. I would say five minutes at most.

   10. JOJonny13:39

       (laughs) Okay, so it's not just like a-

   11. CWChris Williamson13:41

       That's in the morning.

   12. JOJonny13:42

       ... timeline then.

   13. CWChris Williamson13:43

       And then there's the evening bit as well.

   14. JOJonny13:44

       The e- evening one tends to be quicker for me.

   15. CWChris Williamson13:45

       'Cause it's supposed to be three minutes in the morning, three minutes in the evening.

   16. JOJonny13:47

       Three minutes in the evening, yeah. Um, but- I, I'm a bit worried that you'll ... just 'cause I've seen you sort of try lots of different things-

   17. CWChris Williamson13:54

       Mm-hmm.

   18. JOJonny13:54

       ... and typically you aren't brought in by ... Like Chris and I would read something or, like, hear something or try something new and be really kind of sold on it 'cause it's a bit fun and nice. I worry that you'll read the preamble and just be like ...

   19. CWChris Williamson14:08

       (laughs)

   20. JOJonny14:08

       And then you'll try it for a while and you'll be like- I joined a cult for- So I know you'll do it for a long time.

   21. CWChris Williamson14:14

       For potential gains.

   22. JOJonny14:14

       But, yeah, but I ... So I suppose, like, I was bought into it, or i- is it FOMO, wanting to-

   23. CWChris Williamson14:21

       Even the s- the fact that you were sufficiently concerned about potential gains to open it and read-

   24. JOJonny14:27

       Mm-hmm.

   25. CWChris Williamson14:27

       ... 60, whatever it is, 60, 70 pages, it's the buy-in at the start-

   26. JOJonny14:30

       Mm-hmm.

   27. CWChris Williamson14:30

       ... I think. But anyway, so you, you, you know exactly how long everything's gonna take on your morning, right? And this is, like, as you're moving into the new year, if I could give you one piece of advice, one piece of advice would be go sober. Second piece of advice would be sleep with your phone outside of your room. But third piece of advice would be get a morning routine. Um, and a- as you see this is how long everything is gonna take, blah, blah, blah. Um, what you realize is, if I was able to run my day forward like that, if I was able to do 12 hours of this at the same fidelity morning routine-

   28. JOJonny15:00

       Mm-hmm.

   29. CWChris Williamson15:02

       ... imagine how much you'd get done every single m- essentially every minute to every-

   30. JOJonny15:06

       What, if you could live your life as if it was a morning routine?
8. 16:02 – 17:07

   Meditation upgrades: ‘Focus on Rest,’ equanimity, and not judging sessions

   1. CWChris Williamson16:02

      (clears throat) So, yeah, I guess for me, uh, doubling down on morning routine, probably one of them has been, um, focus on rest, the meditation technique from, uh, Shinzen Young's Five Ways, which is both of our meditation coaches, Brian's doing.

   2. JOJonny16:17

      Mm-hmm.

   3. CWChris Williamson16:17

      To the people that don't know what I'm talking about, it's just a particular type of meditation focus. You're focusing on the absence of a, a visual, uh, auditory, or somatic experience in your head. Which sounds a bit woo.

   4. JOJonny16:31

      (laughs)

   5. CWChris Williamson16:32

      Um, but bottom line is, I've now managed to ingrain that and I did it for so long that it feels like getting a squeegee and wiping a, a window clean. And if there's something that arises, it must be similar to your releasing technique, or it must have a similar sort of effect. I can drill it, I've drilled it so much now that I can do see rest, hear rest, feel rest. And after that it genuinely feels like my mind's cleaner, after that little thing. But I did it for-

   6. JOJonny16:59

      Like a good old-

   7. CWChris Williamson17:00

      I did it for six months.

   8. JOJonny17:01

      Clean out the pipe.

   9. CWChris Williamson17:01

      Yeah. Like you're getting one of those, like, you know-

   10. JOJonny17:03

       Brush your brain. (laughs)

   11. CWChris Williamson17:04

       Every day.

   12. JOJonny17:04

       You should probably go brush your brain.

   13. CWChris Williamson17:06

       Uh, okay, so that's-

   14. JOJonny17:07

       Move your body.

9. 17:07 – 22:01

   Jonny’s 2019 fails and wins: injuries, CrossFit detour, and unfinished powerlifting business

   1. CWChris Williamson17:07

      That's o- that's one of them. What else? What have you done this year that you failed at, Johnny? Other than you just hurt your wrist at CrossFit.

   2. JOJonny17:13

      Yeah, so I've written down on my ... on a notes document what went well and what, what didn't go well. Um, the main thing that didn't go well was I started the year snapping my hamstring underneath 255 kilos.

   3. CWChris Williamson17:30

      Was it your IT band?

   4. JOJonny17:31

      It ... Well, I mean, it was like ... It was something here.

   5. CWChris Williamson17:34

      Okay.

   6. JOJonny17:34

      But I call it ... I, I refer to it as my hamstring. I don't think ... Some people thought it was my sartorial ... Sartorius. Sartorius, yeah.

   7. CWChris Williamson17:41

      Sartorial?

   8. JOJonny17:42

      My sartorial. It sounds like a, a Roman guard, doesn't it?

   9. CWChris Williamson17:45

      (laughs)

   10. JOJonny17:46

       (laughs)

   11. CWChris Williamson17:46

       And then there's the phalanx.

   12. JOJonny17:48

       (laughs) So they call it sartorious because, you know, you say, "This is a sartorial piece of work."

   13. CWChris Williamson17:54

       Yes.

   14. JOJonny17:54

       Like, it's a tailor. 'Cause it's the tailor's muscle, 'cause it attaches-

   15. CWChris Williamson17:57

       No.

   16. JOJonny17:58

       It, it, it-

   17. CWChris Williamson17:58

       The inside seam.

   18. JOJonny17:59

       Yeah, so it- it's the ... basically is the inside seam. Is it that way? It's ... So it, it's what allows you to bring your heel up and in like that. Right. Which would make sense ... which is the position that you're in.

   19. CWChris Williamson18:09

       Started the year by knacking yourself.

   20. JOJonny18:11

       Snap. Yeah. Um-

   21. CWChris Williamson18:13

       Stopped power lifting.

   22. JOJonny18:14

       The worst thing that happened on that evening, was so that's just happened, I'm in the garage-

   23. CWChris Williamson18:18

       Mm-hmm.

   24. JOJonny18:18

       ... right? So get the bottom and there's like a (imitates snapping) and I hear it over my music.

   25. CWChris Williamson18:23

       You can see it on the video.

   26. JOJonny18:23

       Yeah. Um, so dump that forward. Um, and then, like, limp back into the house. Don't even unload the-... 255. Still there now, without joking.

   27. CWChris Williamson18:34

       (clears throat)

   28. JOJonny18:34

       Um, took Dexter, so like, Dexter was, was just a puppy at the time. Took him for a walk and he slipped out of his harness. So we're, like, on a roundabout, okay? Big roundabout. And Becca's picking up his poo and he had just, like, bolted in this other direction, like, slips out his harness. I'm like, "Fuck."

   29. CWChris Williamson18:53

       Mm-hmm.

   30. JOJonny18:53

       So I then had to run, like, 'cause I'm, I'm, he's running towards the, the center of this roundabout and I just, just big adrenaline dump. No pain for a couple of seconds. Just went full-
10. 22:01 – 25:11

    Performance culture and competitive fire: lifter/CrossFit call-outs and intensity

    1. CWChris Williamson22:01

       I, I re- I was watching, um, a vlog. There's a blonde freak from the north of England called Dylan Nelson. Dylan, if you're watching, you know I love you. Um, but watching-

    2. JOJonny22:10

       He is a strong motherfucker.

    3. CWChris Williamson22:11

       Watching him get ready for a lift-

    4. JOJonny22:13

       Mm-hmm.

    5. CWChris Williamson22:13

       ... is the most electric thing I think I've ever seen in competition.

    6. JOJonny22:16

       Yeah.

    7. CWChris Williamson22:17

       And he was talking on a vlog, uh, where he was saying about how he, he gets to the point where he feels like every hair, like, on his body is just standing up.

    8. JOJonny22:25

       Mm.

    9. CWChris Williamson22:25

       And you can see he's one of those guys who he's not chill at all.

    10. JOJonny22:29

        No. (laughs) Yeah.

    11. CWChris Williamson22:29

        He's like a bull. He's like someone's just taken... You know like when they're in the, when they, they're doing corralling or whatever it is in, like, T- Texas and it's just in the thing and then they lift the gate up-

    12. JOJonny22:39

        (laughs)

    13. CWChris Williamson22:39

        ... and it just goes (hands clapping) (laughs)

    14. JOJonny22:41

        Yeah. Um, there's, there's-

    15. CWChris Williamson22:43

        We, we competed with him, didn't we? Like a few-

    16. JOJonny22:46

        He competed when I watched, when we went to go watch you in Ashington when you made men smell-

    17. CWChris Williamson22:50

        That's, that's what it was.

    18. JOJonny22:50

        ... the smelling salts, isn't it? Oh yeah. (laughs)

    19. CWChris Williamson22:52

        Yeah. God.

    20. JOJonny22:53

        There's another, so there's two other guys that are, have... So Owen Hubbard, watching him about a bench, like, record level stuff. He just gets his, like, I watched him take AirPods out and just throw them 'cause he's in so much-

    21. CWChris Williamson23:05

        You're like, "Owen."

    22. JOJonny23:05

        Yeah. I've watched him throw his iPhone just off the floor.

    23. CWChris Williamson23:08

        Yeah. 'Cause he just wants it.

    24. JOJonny23:09

        Just 'cause he's in such a, such a, like, a state.

    25. CWChris Williamson23:12

        So ready to drive hod.

    26. JOJonny23:14

        Drive, (laughs) drive hod.

    27. CWChris Williamson23:15

        Didn't he just break another-

    28. JOJonny23:16

        Yeah.

    29. CWChris Williamson23:17

        ... record? Bench record?

    30. JOJonny23:18

        Yeah. The thing that blows my mind about that is to have a, a 200 kilo bench press and then still year after year get a better bench press is mental.
11. 25:11 – 34:19

    Yusef’s hardest year: overload, plate-spinning, and the self-care ‘current account’

    1. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)25:11

       Totally worth it. Uh, so, Scobes, what's gone, what's a win? Apart from passing, I mean, passing medicine is a huge fucking win.

    2. CWChris Williamson25:17

       That's a pretty significant win.

    3. YUYusef25:19

       I sup- I suppose that's, yeah, that, that has to be the win. Um, otherwise, it's been probably the hardest year of my life.

    4. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)25:25

       (laughs)

    5. YUYusef25:26

       Just, just, just, just because it's such a bottleneck of-

    6. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)25:29

       Just the total enormity of it all.

    7. YUYusef25:31

       ... my life. Oh, yeah. Like, from, from day one, oh, because I remember December 2018, I was like, "Oh, things are starting to, like, get a little bit out of control." And then I fell into 2019, and I still feel like I'm, I'm, like, scrambling.

    8. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)25:45

       What happened at the start of the year? 'Cause this, because I listened to it and I did my homework, so what we discussed a lot was how we started the year.

    9. CWChris Williamson25:52

       Mm-hmm.

    10. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)25:52

        How did everyone start this year? I don't... I, in fact, I do remember what I did. You'll, you'll like it.

    11. CWChris Williamson25:58

        What did you do?

    12. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)25:59

        Well, no, I want to hear Yousaf's first.

    13. YUYusef26:01

        I did the g- the propane goals process, um-

    14. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:03

        Oh (laughs) .

    15. YUYusef26:04

        ... on a (laughs) on a MindNode sheet. And have actually achieved a lot of that, so like-

    16. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:08

        Oh, did you? That's cool.

    17. YUYusef26:08

        ... it's good to know that, that, uh, that has moved forward. But the whole time it's felt just like, you know when you-

    18. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:14

        Controlled falling.

    19. YUYusef26:15

        Yeah. Not even controlled. You, you know, you, when you just trip in the street and then you pre- pretend to go for a little jog.

    20. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:19

        Mm-hmm.

    21. YUYusef26:20

        But then that jog turns into a sprint, and then your arms start flaming.

    22. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:22

        And then you, you do what that guy does on the video of the, "Are you a car?"

    23. YUYusef26:26

        (laughs)

    24. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:26

        Where he, like, tries to kick and then it stacks his head-

    25. CWChris Williamson26:28

        Yeah.

    26. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:28

        ... on the kerb.

    27. YUYusef26:29

        And he wrote, "Spikes over his head," like, "That's horrible."

    28. CWChris Williamson26:32

        Um, so what went bad this year, then? Did you, did you have any fails?

    29. YUYusef26:38

        (sighs) I think the whole, the whole lesson was just not creating a bit of space between tasks, and rather than just, like, diving into everything and just kind of frantically being behind on stuff.

    30. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)26:54

        Trying to keep the sp- the plate spinning.
12. 34:19 – 37:01

    Controllables vs uncontrollables: effort, outcomes, and consistency payback lag

    1. CWChris Williamson34:19

       "Why am I doing it?" And so one of the things definitely that I've focused on this year or that's been a big realization for me this year is, uh, learning where the controllables and the uncontrollables are and allowing those uncontrollables to sort of let go.

    2. YUYusef34:32

       Mm-hmm.

    3. CWChris Williamson34:32

       And it is such a liberating feeling. So, uh, a good example, we, um, do everything right with a particular club night launch and it goes really well. Great. We do everything right with a particular club ni- club night launch and it goes bad. Like, that's a shame, but what can we maybe look at doing? The effort doesn't change.

    4. YUYusef34:50

       Mm-hmm.

    5. CWChris Williamson34:51

       Um, and the same thing with the podcast. There's some episodes that I put out this year that I was like, "Oh, that, that, that's an all right episode," and it's absolutely flown. And then there's some that I've poured my heart and soul into and thought it was amazing and it's just, like, done okay.

    6. JOJonny35:03

       Yeah.

    7. YUYusef35:04

       That's, that's absolute... Yeah. Been the same (laughs) with us as well. There's videos that fly and you're like, "Oh, no." Why?

    8. JOJonny35:08

       Sleeping on the floor.

    9. YUYusef35:09

       Yeah. Like, "Why is that?"

    10. CWChris Williamson35:11

        Mm-hmm.

    11. JOJonny35:11

        I made a 531 review s- couple of years ago.

    12. CWChris Williamson35:14

        Like, eight years ago.

    13. YUYusef35:14

        (laughs)

    14. JOJonny35:15

        Very little effort into it and it's like 44,000 views.

    15. CWChris Williamson35:18

        (clears throat)

    16. JOJonny35:18

        Gets comments most days.

    17. CWChris Williamson35:20

        (laughs)

    18. JOJonny35:20

        Like-

    19. YUYusef35:20

        Usually why you're, like, so long.

    20. JOJonny35:22

        Yeah.

    21. CWChris Williamson35:22

        Yes.

    22. JOJonny35:22

        How tall are you? Yeah. And you just wish you could go back and remake the video.

    23. CWChris Williamson35:26

        Yeah.

    24. JOJonny35:26

        But it's too late now.

    25. CWChris Williamson35:27

        It's too late.

    26. JOJonny35:28

        And then you're like, "Well, I'm, I'm messing with alchemy. Like, what if I remaking it doesn't do as well?"

    27. CWChris Williamson35:31

        Mm-hmm.

    28. JOJonny35:32

        Or... But yeah, like, that was something that, um, Brian, meditation teacher was... said to me 'cause I was saying like, "I'll sit down to meditate in the morning and allocate 30 minutes to it, and it's just a fucking shite session." So you're like, "Well, I coulda just done some work in that time. Like, what have I actually gained from that?" And his thing was, "Don't judge the session, judge your approach to the session." So you're like... So, like, you made the time. Did you, did you deal with what was there with the, the right attitude the best you could?

    29. CWChris Williamson36:01

        (clears throat)

    30. JOJonny36:01

        If so, box ticked, right?
13. 37:01 – 41:12

    Practical ‘hacks’ segment: delaying caffeine, salt-lemon water, and weird texture aversions

    1. JOJonny37:01

       Stopped taking caffeine within the first 90 minutes of my day.

    2. CWChris Williamson37:04

       Nice.

    3. JOJonny37:05

       S- and really, really got a taste for, uh, pint of water, two big squirts of lemon juice, and teaspoon of salt.

    4. CWChris Williamson37:14

       Really? A pi- a pint of water?

    5. YUYusef37:16

       (laughs)

    6. CWChris Williamson37:16

       You maniac.

    7. JOJonny37:18

       Why?

    8. CWChris Williamson37:18

       Just so salty.

    9. JOJonny37:19

       Well, like, yeah. (laughs) Like I've- I've- when I've done it, I've-

    10. CWChris Williamson37:21

        A teaspoon?

    11. JOJonny37:22

        I've done like a little-

    12. CWChris Williamson37:23

        Teaspoon of salt?

    13. JOJonny37:23

        ... like in a, like in an espresso.

    14. CWChris Williamson37:25

        Teaspoon? Five grams of-

    15. JOJonny37:26

        That's a lot of salt.

    16. CWChris Williamson37:27

        Five grams? Is that what a teaspoon is?

    17. JOJonny37:29

        A teaspoon of salt is a lot of salt. That's a lot of salt.

    18. CWChris Williamson37:33

        (laughs)

    19. YUYusef37:34

        (laughs)

    20. JOJonny37:34

        I have it every day and I think it's a lot of salt.

    21. CWChris Williamson37:36

        So, like, I've done ... I used to have ... So I read the Aur-

    22. JOJonny37:38

        How many times are we gonna say how much salt it is?

    23. CWChris Williamson37:40

        (laughs)

    24. JOJonny37:40

        I read the Aubrey Marcus-

    25. CWChris Williamson37:41

        Five grams? That's a lot of salt. (laughs)

    26. JOJonny37:43

        (laughs) It's only five grams.

    27. CWChris Williamson37:45

        (Laughs)

    28. JOJonny37:45

        I read the Aubrey Marcus book-

    29. CWChris Williamson37:47

        Yep.

    30. JOJonny37:47

        ... and I was like, "What a load of bollocks." No, not really. There was a ... So he talks about, uh-
14. 41:12 – 58:49

    Modern Wisdom’s growth + travel stories: metrics, muggings, and why phones are ‘oracles’

    1. YUYusef41:12

       You've launched a successful project.

    2. CWChris Williamson41:14

       Yeah.

    3. YUYusef41:14

       And Modern Wisdom is absolutely flown in the last year.

    4. JOJonny41:17

       Flown.

    5. CWChris Williamson41:17

       Podcast, podcast done good.

    6. YUYusef41:18

       You, you, um, broke the ... Was it the two million?

    7. CWChris Williamson41:22

       1.3 mil now, so we've broken one million downloads, which is great. Um, we set ... Me and VMD set a, a target for plays and for subs. Uh, smashed the target for plays. Subs is lagging a little, um, but still-

    8. JOJonny41:38

       Do subscribers matter, though?

    9. CWChris Williamson41:39

       So, the reason that it mattered, or the reason that I considered it as a metric to be bothered about was just that having subs on YouTube allows you to then further push more content that is gonna get more of a head start.

    10. JOJonny41:51

        Right.

    11. CWChris Williamson41:52

        Um, but it would appear that the audio platform this year is absolutely banging, so again, thank you to everyone who listens.

    12. JOJonny41:57

        So audio over video?

    13. CWChris Williamson41:58

        Um, yeah. I mean, yeah. We- we've got some really big shout-outs on audio, like Aubrey shouted out the audio version of the podcast. Uh, Jordan Peterson shouted out ... Or, Michaela on Jordan's podcast shouted out the, the iTunes. Um, so that really drove a lot of traffic, which was great. Um, but the, the YouTube stuff's still flying, man. So we'll do some special stuff in the new year, which will be exciting.

    14. JOJonny42:21

        (inhales deeply) Um, about this time last year, we were doing the first Modern Wisdom live. Maybe a bit earlier than this.

    15. CWChris Williamson42:30

        Fuck, yeah, we were. When we did it for, um-

    16. JOJonny42:33

        Oh, yeah.

    17. CWChris Williamson42:33

        ... Communicore, that big radio station, and we talked-

    18. JOJonny42:35

        All right.

    19. CWChris Williamson42:35

        It's fine. Don't mind.

    20. JOJonny42:36

        All right.

    21. CWChris Williamson42:36

        It'll ... The ... It'll be listening. MD will be listening.

    22. JOJonny42:38

        Okay.

    23. CWChris Williamson42:39

        Um, and, yeah, and then we told a room full of people that ... whose income relies on radio that radio's dead.

    24. JOJonny42:47

        Yeah.

    25. YUYusef42:47

        Mm-hmm.

    26. CWChris Williamson42:48

        Sorry.

    27. JOJonny42:49

        I wonder whether they've started a podcast.

    28. CWChris Williamson42:51

        I think-

    29. JOJonny42:51

        He was worried about the cost, wasn't he, bless him?

    30. YUYusef42:53

        Uh, uh, I mean, you know, for, for a-
15. 58:49 – 1:13:35

    Big mindset shifts: ‘Who not how,’ coaching/accountability, and making more memories

    1. CWChris Williamson58:49

       Have you, um, have you had any mind shifts or any sort of lessons this year or any concepts that you've learned that have been a, a big sort of frame shift for you? Um, if you don't, I've got my one, which I think is probably one of my biggest from this year.

    2. JOJonny59:08

       So I've written down five here.

    3. CWChris Williamson59:11

       Wow.

    4. JOJonny59:11

       They're quick. Some of them are completely irrelevant. You can, you- you create good days and bad days.

    5. CWChris Williamson59:15

       Mm-hmm.

    6. JOJonny59:16

       If it doesn't happen first thing, it very rarely happens. So that applies to, like, the days you wake up and you're like, "I really should meditate less." (laughs) Like last night.

    7. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)59:24

       I opened my phone to try and look at some myself, and the first thing that came up was, "Beat your bum hole," sent from Chris.

    8. CWChris Williamson59:30

       (laughs)

    9. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)59:30

       So (laughs) .

    10. JOJonny59:31

        Eat spinach is what it is.

    11. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)59:33

        Eat spin- (laughs)

    12. CWChris Williamson59:33

        Um-

    13. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)59:33

        Sorry.

    14. CWChris Williamson59:33

        Yeah, win the mor- win the morning, win the day is massive.

    15. JOJonny59:35

        Yeah. So, like, that applies to things, like... So I'm back to training in the morning 'cause I've realized that, like, when I tell myself, "Oh, it's all right, I'll train at 6:00 PM promise," which you never do, um, unless there's massive accountability. That's a great thing about CrossFit, instantly. Um, or work. So, like, just do the thing that has to be done today. Just do that first.

    16. CWChris Williamson59:55

        Get it done.

    17. JOJonny59:55

        Yeah. Um, this is a marketing thing. Sales is a process, not an event. People think that it's an event or, like, a- a thing that they've did, uh, did, a thing that they've done that caused a sale. It's what happened prior to that-

    18. CWChris Williamson1:00:09

        Mm-hmm.

    19. JOJonny1:00:10

        ... that caused the sale. Um, who not how to solve a problem. So this year, I've invested myself, not under the propane umbrella, 'cause those numbers are, make you more sick than putting your glove in your mouth, um, the most money personally in coaching. So I've worked with the most coaches in my, for my own stuff.

    20. CWChris Williamson1:00:31

        Mm-hmm.

    21. JOJonny1:00:31

        Um, so, like, if you're trying to get better at something or trying to achieve stuff, just, which is the next thing, model consistent examples of where you want to be. So not someone who's, like, where you're wanting to be and has been there for a bit. But someone who's, like, consistently doing the thing that you're trying to get to. Just pay them to learn how. So always asking. Instead of just grinding away and, like, "What book can I read? What course can I do? How can I figure this out myself?" Just who's doing it?

    22. CWChris Williamson1:01:01

        Mm-hmm.

    23. JOJonny1:01:01

        And I'll just pay and work with them.

    24. CWChris Williamson1:01:03

        Mm-hmm.

    25. JGJonny or Yusef (Propane Fitness guest)1:01:03

        Life is short, just-

    26. JOJonny1:01:05

        Just get the answers.

    27. CWChris Williamson1:01:06

        Yeah. I think that's- that's such a fucking good heuristic. And that was one that came to me kind of last year, I think, although I still haven't fully implemented it, that, um...... being able to shortcut all of the self-direction, self-accountability, questioning, "Is this the right, should I do X, Y, Zed." It's like just, just ask the person.

    28. JOJonny1:01:29

        Yeah.

    29. CWChris Williamson1:01:29

        Like, if you want to know the best way to fix your back, drive to Canterbury and go-

    30. JOJonny1:01:34

        Just ask Steve Magill. (laughs)

Episode duration: 1:29:41