End Of Year Review: 2021's Lessons, Hacks & Fails

Jonny & Yusef join me to recap our favourite lessons, hacks and stories from 2021. Expect to learn why Yusef spent Christmas praying to Hasbullah, Jonny's strategy for becoming more productive by taking things out of your life, the ultimate reason to do simple tasks as soon as they appear, why moral tastes explain the explosive reactions we've seen this year, how extracting yourself from your business might make it more effective and much more... Sponsors: Join the Modern Wisdom Community to connect with me & other listeners - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Get 5 Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D and Free Shipping from Athletic Greens at https://athleticgreens.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get 10% discount on your first month from BetterHelp at https://betterhelp.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get perfect teeth 70% cheaper than other invisible aligners from DW Aligners at http://dwaligners.co.uk/modernwisdom Extra Stuff: Access Propane's Free Training - https://propanefitness.com/modernwisdom Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #productivity #mindset #improvement - 00:00 Intro 00:28 Jonny & Yusef’s Christmas 06:11 What Jonny Learned in 2021 15:06 Choose What You Want to Suck At 19:12 Prioritising Quality over Efficiency 25:07 Focus on Mini Victories in 2022 39:23 Explaining ‘Anxiety Cost’ Mitigation 44:24 Why We See Through a Moral Lens 56:13 Protect Your Sacred Headspace 1:00:36 Achieve Outcomes by Focusing on Enjoyment 1:09:38 Favourite Life Hacks of 2021 1:22:57 Reacting to ‘Don’t Look Up’ 1:27:55 Conclusion for 2021 - Join the Modern Wisdom Community on Locals - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Listen to all episodes on audio: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

Chris WilliamsonhostYusef (Propane Fitness)guestJonny (Propane Fitness)guest

Dec 30, 20211h 29mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Year-End Reflections: Cutting Noise, Choosing Tradeoffs, Living Deliberately

The episode is a loose, comedic year-end review where Chris Williamson and the Propane Fitness guys (Yusef and Jonny) reflect on their biggest lessons, wins, and fails from 2021. They move from light Christmas banter into deeper themes: simplifying life and work, deliberately choosing what to fail at, and recognizing that more effort and more hacks don’t always equal better results.
A central thread is moving from a maximalist, ‘do everything’ self‑improvement mindset toward essentialism and subtraction: testing which habits actually matter by temporarily removing them, and ruthlessly cutting non‑essentials in business, training, and life. They also discuss hedonic adaptation around money and milestones, the emptiness of chasing bigger numbers, and the value of focusing on small daily wins instead.
Other major themes include understanding moral tribalism (especially around COVID and vaccines), the inevitability of new problems at every level of success, and the importance of designing environments and lifestyles that naturally encourage desired habits (like less screen time) rather than relying on willpower. The episode closes with a few practical ‘life hacks’ and a look ahead to future podcast guests.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Use ‘negative pilots’ to discover which habits actually matter.

Instead of blindly adding more routines, deliberately stop one practice (e.g., journaling, meditation, certain exercises, calorie tracking) for a few weeks and observe the impact. If nothing meaningful changes, it’s probably not essential; if everything worsens, you’ve identified a high‑leverage habit.

Choose in advance what you are willing to fail at this year.

You can’t make simultaneous PBs in business, fitness, relationships, and finance. Explicitly decide which domains will take a back seat so you can focus deeply on one or two priorities, reducing FOMO and the urge to ‘do everything at once’.

The ultimate productivity system is ruthless subtraction, not more hacks.

Clarify a small number of ‘North Star’ goals (e.g., one for health, relationships, career, personal growth), then aggressively cut tasks, routines, and metrics that don’t serve those. You “cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.”

Stop obsessing over optimization if you’re not doing basic volume.

People often chase perfect carb timing, meditation gadgets, or hyper‑efficient workouts while skipping sessions or half‑heartedly practicing. Results come more from consistently doing more of the right things (more training, more reading, more actual meditation) than from squeezing out tiny efficiency gains.

Accept that milestones won’t make you feel fundamentally different.

Whether it’s revenue goals, subscriber counts, or lifting PRs, the emotional payoff is brief and then normality returns. Focus on enjoying the daily process and small wins instead of constantly moving the goalposts and living in the ‘gap’ between where you are and where you want to be.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.

— Chris Williamson (quoting John Maxwell)

The ultimate productivity system is to get really clear about what you want and then to ruthlessly cull everything else.

— Chris Williamson

Pick one thing to deliberately stop doing for a while… It’s like an elimination diet, but for your daily productivity system.

— Jonny

It doesn’t get easier, you just get better.

— Yusef

The outcomes that you’re going to get in life are going to come along for the ride anyway. Fearing about whether or not you’re going to get them is a pointless exercise that just annihilates your enjoyment in the moment.

— Chris Williamson

Subtraction and ‘negative pilots’: testing habits by intentionally stopping themEssentialism, opportunity cost, and choosing what to fail atHedonic adaptation, moving goalposts, and the emptiness of milestone chasingQuantity vs. quality in habits: doing the reps before optimizing the systemMoral taste buds, tribalism, and polarized reactions to COVID and vaccinesThe inevitability of new problems as you level up in business and lifeDesigning environments and lifestyles that make good habits easier (e.g., screen time, training)

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