Our Biggest Lessons From 2020 | Modern Wisdom Podcast 261

1. 0:00 – 3:04

   Christmas jumper banter, hot potato, and setting the year-end agenda

   1. CWChris Williamson0:00

      Well, it's an annual tradition for us, isn't it? To wear either ours or if you're Yusuf, your girlfriend's Christmas jumper.

   2. YUYusef0:06

      So pre-role, we had to adjust the neckline because I looked like a, a Christmas Steve Jobs.

   3. JOJonny0:13

      (laughs)

   4. CWChris Williamson0:13

      You did. (laughs) You looked like a festive Steve, didn't you?

   5. YUYusef0:15

      (laughs)

   6. JOJonny0:15

      So I suppose this, the second lesson is, like, test something's worth by taking it away for a while and see if you notice anything or see what changes. Try not doing something that you think is helping and see if you're right or not. If you're right, great. Like, try not sleeping for a month. I guarantee you conclude that sleeping is helpful.

   7. YUYusef0:29

      We've seen a massive impact on people's mental health this year, and a lot of it, I think, stems from people not being comfortable in their own company. It's actually really dangerous having to poo in a hospital toilet because the emergency buzzer is next to the toilet roll, and it's a long cable, and it's really sensitive.

   8. JOJonny0:47

      Oh, I've pulled stuff like that before in the past. I've, I've yanked a red cord like that before in a steam room, thinking that it was the, like the thing for more steam.

   9. CWChris Williamson0:55

      More steam. (laughs)

   10. YUYusef0:55

       (laughs)

   11. JOJonny0:56

       And then-

   12. CWChris Williamson0:56

       This is a more steam cord. (laughs)

   13. YUYusef1:00

       Yeah.

   14. CWChris Williamson1:04

       Ladies and gentlemen, merry crimbo. Look at us. Look at how lovely we are. Look at this. Get your, get your Christmas jumpers out for the lads. So nice. You always have the classiest Christmas jumpers, Johnny. Look at that.

   15. JOJonny1:21

       So, so my remember went-

   16. CWChris Williamson1:21

       It's so Abercrombie, isn't it?

   17. YUYusef1:23

       Johnny duped us last year with the, um, the light up one.

   18. JOJonny1:29

       It's broken.

   19. YUYusef1:31

       You said it was voice activated, I think.

   20. CWChris Williamson1:32

       (laughs)

   21. YUYusef1:33

       Yeah, that was a bit...

   22. JOJonny1:33

       Yeah, I remember that.

   23. CWChris Williamson1:34

       So what, where's that from? Is it Hollister?

   24. JOJonny1:36

       So, so this... So the reason I'm wearing this is that Becca has bought all three of us, all three of us, including Dexter, matching Christmas jumpers. So Dexter has the same jumper, slightly smaller obviously. And then-

   25. CWChris Williamson1:52

       (laughs)

   26. JOJonny1:52

       ... Becca also has one. And they're the same but kind of slightly different color themes. But yeah, I agree, like, it's very... Like, you could wear it, you could wear it out and just have your, your hand over sort of the reindeer, the arm over the reindeer, and no one would say anything.

   27. CWChris Williamson2:02

       Pretty trendy.

   28. JOJonny2:03

       And just be like, "Oh, Johnny, Johnny's just wearing a, one of them jumpers he always wears."

   29. CWChris Williamson2:06

       Well, it's an annual tradition for us, isn't it? To wear either ours or if you're Yusuf, your girlfriend's Christmas jumper.

   30. YUYusef2:14

       (laughs) So pre-roll, we had to adjust the neckline because I looked like a, a Christmas Steve Jobs.
2. 3:04 – 6:08

   Johnny’s Lesson #1: Subtraction, essentialism, and reclaiming bandwidth

   1. JOJonny3:04

      Okay. Um, so the, I think in, obviously I feel like we need to comment on the fact that it's been a strange year, as in like a lot of people have had a very different life this year to normal. And I think the, what that's encouraged me to do is I think I, I entered the year, and you two probably remember this, like I was constantly adding things to my life. Like, I, I bought, um, I was doing like cold showers, breathing, reading, jumping on a trampoline, doing skipping, going for walks, doing ROMWOD. And I basically just stopped almost all of that. Um, so just trying to... Yusuf and I have spoken a lot this year about 80, the 80/20 principle, and I feel like that's the sort of thing that I re- like think about a lot, but never actually practice. So what I've just tried this year, and I've been trying every y- every area of my life to, um, try and do the, get the same by doing fewer things, or even try and do more, improve by doing fewer things across everything. So like, clothes in the wardrobe, apps on your phone. Like, ev- everything that you, like, regularly do, think, "What, what could I do to just make this, like, simpler and easier for myself?" And I think all that's... Basically, like, from th- from January 2020 Johnny to December 2020 Johnny, I just do fewer things and just have more, like, bandwidth is how it feels. But I've not noticed much change.

   2. CWChris Williamson4:32

      What's, what's a morning look like now, then? Because you were doing all this stuff, jumping on a trampoline, in a cold shower, on a walk, in a ROMWOD and reading and meditation as well probably. What's morning now?

   3. JOJonny4:40

      Yeah. So I just meditate, nothing else, but for longer.

   4. YUYusef4:48

      I think this is a great lesson 'cause-

   5. JOJonny4:51

      Thanks, man.

   6. YUYusef4:52

      ... we're, we're so wired to look for more stuff, more books to read, more ideas to take on, more methods, more programs, whatever it is that someone's going after. And really, that's never the limiting factor in 2020.

   7. JOJonny5:08

      (laughs)

   8. YUYusef5:08

      Squeezing the lemon of what we already have has so much mileage, but people are like, "Oh, no, that's boring. I'm just gonna look for the next thing."

   9. JOJonny5:16

      I think it's just the, the, like, self-improvement is very additive by nature. Like, a lot of people look as, like, what's the... You know, I'm, I'm (clears throat) , I'm trying to improve myself, but I still feel anxiety or I still feel like I'm not improving. I need to add something else. Am- like, maybe, I suppose if you're doing absolutely nothing to improve yourself, that probably is the answer, but I think a lot of people listening to this podcast are probably doing lots of different things. And I'm not saying you should do fewer things, but I think the, the 80/20 thing. So we've done a l- a lot of that in, in business this year, and you do find that 80% of the progress comes from 20% of the things. 80 per- like, 20% of the-

   10. YUYusef5:54

       Or, like-

   11. JOJonny5:55

       80, 80% of the problems come from, come from 20% of the things as well. So it's like, if you just consistently streamline, streamline-... yeah, I think it's just a, a happier way of, of living your life. If you ma- obviously, you can cut out too many things-

   12. CWChris Williamson6:06

       Mm-hmm.

   13. JOJonny6:07

       ... and slow down.

3. 6:08 – 11:44

   Testing habits by removing them: the “personal development elimination diet”

   1. CWChris Williamson6:08

      Do you think there's a potential that you might have gone too far with that? Like, just meditation means you're not reading consistently. It means that you're not doing any breath work because we know that if you miss... The beauty of a morning routine is that it kind of locks in a ton of habits early in the day and ensures-

   2. JOJonny6:26

      Mm-hmm.

   3. CWChris Williamson6:26

      ... that you get them done. That's the best, for me, the, the best hack about having a morning routine is it certifies that you do things that you need to get done-

   4. JOJonny6:35

      Yeah.

   5. CWChris Williamson6:35

      ... every day.

   6. JOJonny6:37

      I suppose the question is, why are you doing the things? I think that's what I've spent a lot of time thinking about, like, "Why am I doing Wim Hof? Why am I doing... Why am I having a cold shower? Why am I doing..." Like, what... There's a, there's like, you're trying to do something, you're trying to like, achieve something or change something with all of it, and I think the, um, the thing that I've noticed from... So I suppose this, the second lesson is like, test, test something's worth by taking it away for a while and see if you notice anything or see what changes because again, it's very differe- very difficult if you have a morning routine where you have lots of habits, lots of things you do. You're just adding things in, and you don't know really whether it's the thing that you started a year ago that you've been doing every day or whether it's the thing you added last month that's having the change. So if you stop doing something, it's like, "Ah, I took that away," like I took ROMWOD away, for example, and my injury rate was the same. (laughs)

   7. YUYusef7:27

      I hate that. (laughs)

   8. CWChris Williamson7:29

      (laughs)

   9. YUYusef7:29

      The delayed reaction to stopping something and not noticing-

   10. JOJonny7:33

       Mm-hmm.

   11. YUYusef7:33

       ... the decline or the improvement for three months. And then you're like-

   12. CWChris Williamson7:38

       Yeah.

   13. YUYusef7:38

       ... "What was it?" Oh, no.

   14. JOJonny7:39

       Yeah. And it's not, I don't think it's the case that, like, these things do nothing. It's just that there's always a trade-off between, like, I could do fewer things and achieve largely the same result and surely that's better? Just from a, like, the number of things you have to manage perspective. Um, but i- it's probably just... It, it'll be like a... You know, in a year's time, I'll probably have added 10 things in again, right? It's just a phase that, that I'm going through, but I think it's been very helpful this year because it's just allow- it's allowed for a simple structure versus like, this time last year, I felt like there was so many (laughs) things that I was trying to do-

   15. CWChris Williamson8:18

       Mm-hmm.

   16. JOJonny8:19

       ... um, to, to basically just like, feel better. Uh-

   17. CWChris Williamson8:23

       We know that at the start of this year, all of us were super, super impressed with how much you'd added in and you were crushing it with this really great routine.

   18. JOJonny8:31

       Mm-hmm.

   19. CWChris Williamson8:31

       So that took quite a bit of agency and some, you know, there's a lot of inertia to get over when adding in even one thing, let alone a whole ton of things. And then-

   20. JOJonny8:40

       Yeah.

   21. CWChris Williamson8:40

       ... to be able to let go of the tether to that balloon of, "I've built up this pattern finally. I've actually managed to achieve it," and to then be able to have sufficient agency to, to drop that is like, maybe even harder. So I think that, that kind of identifies why you're a bit of a motherfucker, man. Like, it's just so...

   22. JOJonny8:59

       (laughs)

   23. CWChris Williamson9:00

       It is. It's the same as, it's the same as whenever you hear George Mack talk about something. You're just like, "Fucking hell. Like, this guy just doesn't really seem to deal with obstacles in a negative way. He's just happy to see like, input, process, output. Here's a, here's a way around it." And that's like, I think definitely something you can be proud of this year, man, like to let go of those tethers in a year where we're all being neurotic as fuck. Um-

   24. JOJonny9:24

       Mm-hmm.

   25. CWChris Williamson9:25

       ... I think, yeah, that, that, that's awesome. I would, I will be interested to see where it goes, and I think you're right as well. We keep on bringing it up that... Is it... I, I always get this wrong, Seth. Is it Goethe that talks about the vacillation between extremes of societies?

   26. YUYusef9:39

       Hi- uh, is it Hayek or Hegel?

   27. CWChris Williamson9:42

       Hegel.

   28. YUYusef9:42

       I think you've confused me now with this. (laughs)

   29. CWChris Williamson9:43

       Oh, so I've got it wrong. I, I shit you not, about 20 times. But yeah, we, we do vacillate between these things, right? We go from like, minimalist to abundance. We go from excess cerebral to excess mindful to excess physical, whatever it might be. Um, and then eventually y- at the age of 65, you'll have finally sorted your morning routine. (laughs) Uh, yeah, for sure.

   30. JOJonny10:03

       I think at the age of, the age of 65, you just wake up and read the paper, don't you?
4. 11:44 – 16:42

   Solitude as a skill: why 2020 exposed discomfort with being alone

   1. YUYusef11:44

      Lesson number one from 2020. This is more of a vicarious lesson. I've seen it in other people because I've got to admit, this year for me has been barely any change to my lifestyle.

   2. JOJonny11:58

      (laughs)

   3. YUYusef11:58

      Um, and I think for all three of us, just because we're all antisocial bastards, um, and the work we do either involves being at home anyway, or in my case, being in a hospital, which-... hasn't changed. But we've seen a massive impact on people's mental health this year, and a lot of it, I think, stems from, and, and in fact, hang on. I, I don't wanna downplay the massive impact of people losing their jobs and, um, being alienated from their families and stuff, and that, that's huge, and that's circumstantial, unavoidable. But the other side of it is people not being comfortable in their own company. And if you're... This has kind of highlighted it, where you put someone... As Johnny said, if you, you put someone on their own for some time, and they very quickly learn how much they like themself, how much they can sit in their own company.

   4. JOJonny12:53

      This is my lesson number two (laughs) .

   5. YUYusef12:55

      Oh, no.

   6. CWChris Williamson12:56

      That's all right. That's okay.

   7. JOJonny12:58

      That's unbelievable that that's-

   8. YUYusef13:00

      I-

   9. JOJonny13:00

      ... th- that would land on that, but I suppose ...

   10. YUYusef13:02

       Oh, there we go. I, I can give you that one. I've got...

   11. CWChris Williamson13:04

       We can just combine... You can just combine it together, right? You can... If you've both converged on the same thing, I think it's probably a pretty big lesson.

   12. YUYusef13:13

       Fair enough. Yeah.

   13. JOJonny13:14

       There's no s- no stooges used. There's no trickery. This isn't like-

   14. CWChris Williamson13:17

       (laughs)

   15. JOJonny13:17

       ... wee... It's coincidental.

   16. CWChris Williamson13:18

       Darren Brown.

   17. JOJonny13:19

       (laughs)

   18. YUYusef13:20

       This is... You're seeing this real unfold live. So, one of the things that Gary Weber points out is that... Oh, no.

   19. CWChris Williamson13:30

       (laughs)

   20. JOJonny13:31

       (laughs)

   21. YUYusef13:31

       You can see Johnny's reaction if you're listening. (laughs) Is that the, the worst, the highest grade punishment you can give someone, at least in a civilized world, is solitary confinement. And Johnny's really upset... No. (laughs)

   22. CWChris Williamson13:47

       (laughs)

   23. YUYusef13:48

       The second-highest punishment is taking the hot potato-

   24. CWChris Williamson13:51

       Taking somebody else's lesson of 2020 and stealing it without them knowing. Uh, yeah. So Gary Weber says being on your own...

   25. YUYusef13:59

       Solitary confinement is one of the worst things you can do, because suddenly someone has no distractions available to them. They have to face the crap that they've kind of tucked away all their life and it's just sat there, and so the lesson is to, to learn to make peace with that. It's, it's not a, not a quick process. There's no hack. It's just a very longterm habit of taking the tissues out of the tissue box and until the tissue box is empty.

   26. JOJonny14:28

       Just to be fully clear on that. There's no... That, that's a, that's an analogy, right? You're not actually emptying the tissue box and then putting them back in again, and then emptying the tissue box?

   27. YUYusef14:37

       We're going to have loads of listeners that, that just go out and buy bulk Kleenex. They're like, "Right, I'm not gonna be happy."

   28. CWChris Williamson14:42

       So what's the lesson from that?

   29. YUYusef14:46

       That we need to learn to cultivate the ability to be comfortable in our, with ourselves, in our own company. And a lot of people have, have learned to do this this year anyway. It's just accelerated, it's catalyzed that process. Um, but it's so, it's been so interesting to see that unfold.

   30. CWChris Williamson15:08

       You got anything to add there, Blud?
5. 16:42 – 19:31

   What counts as real solitude (Cal Newport), boredom, and phone-driven hyper-stimulation

   1. CWChris Williamson16:42

      Oh, yeah, and then when you do it, you got to hit your knuckles. So I, I think, um... Who's the person who said all of man's problems stem from the fact you can't sit in a room, uh, quietly by himself? I think that's a philosophy-

   2. YUYusef16:56

      It was either Goethe, Hegel, or-

   3. CWChris Williamson16:58

      Hegel. (laughs) Probably, probably Hegel. Uh, but I'm pretty certain that's thousands and thousands of years old. And part of me wants to blame hyper-stimulus and the modern era of devices for ramping our dopamine up that we can't sit in a room on our own. But it seems like that's the sort of thing that's been around for quite a while.

   4. YUYusef17:21

      I reckon it's worse in this decade than it was.

   5. JOJonny17:24

      Yeah.

   6. YUYusef17:25

      Um, do you remember f- f- 15 years ago, you could... Like, you'd turn up for an appointment for something, and you'd sit in the waiting room, and you would just be like...

   7. CWChris Williamson17:38

      So-

   8. YUYusef17:38

      Now if someone does that, they're a psychopath.

   9. JOJonny17:40

      So I really hope that Ben Harrison is listening to this. But if you-

   10. YUYusef17:44

       'Cause he does that.

   11. JOJonny17:44

       Whenever you meet Ben, and he's there before you, and you see him, like, through the window, he's just sat like this... (laughs)

   12. YUYusef17:52

       (laughs) Just on a standby.

   13. CWChris Williamson17:54

       (laughs) Yeah. In a hol- in a holding pattern.

   14. JOJonny17:57

       And you look at him, and you're like, "Ben, that's weird, mate. You can't... Like, I know it's all mindful-"

   15. CWChris Williamson18:01

       Get your phone out. Yeah.

   16. JOJonny18:01

       "... and all that stuff, but it's weird."

   17. CWChris Williamson18:03

       Yeah.

   18. JOJonny18:03

       "You've got to stop doing it." Well, the-

   19. YUYusef18:05

       (laughs)

   20. JOJonny18:05

       ... the, the number one thing that phones have achieved is they've eliminated boredom. Like, nobody is-

   21. YUYusef18:10

       Completely.

   22. JOJonny18:10

       ... bored anymore. Nobody ever. As long as you've got battery, nobody's bored anymore. Um, and-

   23. YUYusef18:16

       Yeah.

   24. JOJonny18:17

       ... it's a combination of-

   25. CWChris Williamson18:20

       ... habitual checking in terms of i- i- it's actually drilled into your synapses, that you go into the pocket, you get the phone out, which is why a great life hack for anyone that wants to reduce their phone time, the simplest one you can do, just keep your phone in a different pocket. So swap the pockets that you have your phone and your wallet in. And the number of times that you'll take your wallet out and look at your wallet and you're like, (laughs) "What an idiot."

   26. YUYusef18:42

       My brother went to Egypt and he was driving this, this banger, and it was obviously left-hand drive. He kept banging his hand off the, um, off the wall, uh, off the door-

   27. CWChris Williamson18:53

       Oh, because he was reaching-

   28. YUYusef18:54

       ... when he tried to change gear.

   29. CWChris Williamson18:54

       ... to get his phone? Oh, right. Okay. Yeah.

   30. YUYusef18:57

       Um, and also every time he went over a speed bump, the airbag would deploy.
6. 19:31 – 25:57

   How to practice solitude: progressive overload and letting it in

   1. JOJonny19:31

      So just to wrap that one up then, Youcef. So someone's heard all of that and they think, "Yeah, I agree. Like, I- I've had a lot of this year, like, sat in a room, like, bored by the TV, sat with my thoughts." What, what's a like, "Right, in 2021, I'm going to try and do something about it. I'm going to..."

   2. YUYusef19:50

      Uh, yeah. So usually if someone hasn't got a handle on this, it's because they're just holding it just at bay, like, just at arm's length the whole time. And the counterintuitive thing is just to let it in, just to do something that does involve total solitude with, you know, as Chris said, put your phone in your other pocket or leave it at home, go for a walk. Like, do something that really forces you to, to do that. And if you can do something that's full solitude for extended amount of time, many bouts of solitude become much easier to handle and eventually become actively pleasurable, until, as cheesy as it sounds, if you can become your own best friend, then you're just having a great time, aren't you?

   3. CWChris Williamson20:37

      I think this year's definitely highlighted how much people's lives were held up by the scaffolding of not being on their own. Like, fortunately, I put this in a newsletter a couple of weeks ago, introverts have had a competitive advantage in 2020 for the first time in history. Like, almost every extrovert outperforms an introvert because they can network harder, they can spend more time around others. It's kind of what is seen as a more, uh, admirable, more desirable trait in other people, because it makes them more personable. Uh, and you can just spend more time around other people, so your networking effect multiplies. But this year, that's been stopped. So it's very much been, are you able to recharge your batteries on your own? The problem that I see that links in with phone use is that people have got a confused definition of solitude. Cal Newport's got the most useful definition of solitude that I've ever seen, which is time away from the input of other minds. Now, that's not driving in the car with the radio on calling a friend every so often on a long journey.

   4. JOJonny21:40

      (laughs)

   5. CWChris Williamson21:40

      That's not being in your living room watching Netflix whilst double screening on your phone. Like, that, that's, that's the opposite. That's more input from other minds. Like, genuine solitude is something that you can learn from, but hiding from that fact, pushing it away, repudiating it by giving yourself this false sense of socialization means that you're not getting the social contact that you desperately desire, but you're also not learning the lesson about solitude and being comfortable with yourself. So certainly progressive overload in terms of that. Even if you can just do it 30 minutes at a time, one hour at a time, 90 minutes at a time, you know, like extending that.

   6. YUYusef22:20

      There, there's a really good, uh, that, I think that, that's a really good heuristic for what is actual solitude, 'cause yeah, if you're just sat calling mates and watching stuff or whatever, then yeah, it's not, not really solitude. It's just, um, diluted contact with other people. And I did a video on NoFap recently, which is an internet movement of people that refrain from jerking the gherkin, um, so that they can improve their dopamine sensitivity and, and they're claiming all these kind of huge benefits that, um, that they get psychologically and physiologically. And I was saying in the video that a lot of the big benefits people get are because they're going from a pathological state to a normal state, and that's what's causing this, this big change, in that most people probably wouldn't get such a big improvement from it. Something I do think people all get a big improvement from, and that's because we're all pathological with it, is this idea you said of, like, double screening. And, like, even, when even Netflix alone, something that's designed for, like, compulsive retention is not enough to trigger all those dopamine receptors, so you have to then get a second screen out. Like, we are mental.

   7. JOJonny23:32

      (laughs)

   8. YUYusef23:32

      And so I think doing that repeatedly makes us so desensitized to dopamine, uh, simplifying, but to, to the reward circuitry, that when we're just with another person, that's not enough. It, it doesn't, doesn't scratch that itch. And so we end up then having to, like, be with another person, but also on our phones. And I think people of our age, like, we recognize it's rude and so we don't do it. But when you see, like, teenagers together, like, you know when you... You know every city, especially like cities like Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds-

   9. JOJonny24:05

      (laughs)

   10. YUYusef24:05

       ... that have like a Casper's Ice Cream shop that's like a-

   11. CWChris Williamson24:10

       Next to, next to-

   12. YUYusef24:11

       ... big like-

   13. CWChris Williamson24:11

       It's, it's always outside of a place called The Green, isn't it? (laughs)

   14. JOJonny24:15

       (laughs)

   15. YUYusef24:15

       Yeah, exactly. (laughs) And there's like pink neons, black leather sofas and like 30 flavors of ice cream.... you all, you see, like, groups of 18-year-old kids all sat, like, in silence, on their phones.

   16. CWChris Williamson24:30

       Yeah.

   17. YUYusef24:31

       You're like, "Wow." You know.

   18. CWChris Williamson24:33

       Well, the, the ma- the mad thing at the beginning of this year, which, uh, I said in the first COVID episode that we did, was I took a, like, undue amount of pleasure from other people struggling with the challenge of working from home. Like, I was like, "Oh-"

   19. YUYusef24:51

       You were like, "Ah, motherfuckers, I've done this already."

   20. CWChris Williamson24:51

       "... welcome to the fucking party. Welcome to this." And then I realized after a little bit of time that that was my own projection. Like, I, I shouldn't take pleasure in other people entering my nightmare.

   21. YUYusef25:04

       (laughs)

   22. CWChris Williamson25:04

       Like, that's not a thing. (laughs) Um, but that's what I was doing. Um, and, and after a little bit of time, I realized, right, okay, no, be, be a bit more fucking noble and virtuous than that. But very much so, like, this is, this is a pill that we all had to swallow a long time ago. And ma- there might be some other entrepreneurs or sort of working-from-homers who have felt this for a long time, and then this year, it was like, like, "Put me in, coach. Like, this is my time." And yeah, it, it's been an interesting year of reflection. Definitely people becoming more comfortable in solitude. Uh, it should've expedited it, because you haven't had any choice. Like, you've had to do it. And for a lot of people, that's probably something that they can take away. Yeah, there's been a lot of negatives that have come about this year, but you've learned to be on your own. Like, that's definitely one positive I think you can take.

   23. YUYusef25:54

       100%.

   24. CWChris Williamson25:54

       The... (clears throat)

   25. YUYusef25:54

       What's your lesson from this year, Chris?

7. 25:57 – 32:46

   Chris’s Lesson #1: The power of rest and the “personal breakpoint” reset

   1. CWChris Williamson25:57

      Oh, yeah. Uh, first one is the power of rest. So, classic type A personality, do more, get more done. Um, even though I took the essentialism red pill this year and decided to do less in terms of breadth, that gave me more capacity to do (laughs) more in terms of depth. So, the total amount of time that I spent working wasn't reduced, it was just the number of projects that I worked on. That was constrained heavily by the fact that my main business events had stopped, um, but that just gave me even more time to work on doing whatever it was that I fucking did. Um, and I put this again in a newsletter a couple of weeks ago, the trip to Dubai gave me such an unbelievable sense of perspective. Uh, it was nothing as lovely as Dubai is, it was nothing special about Dubai, but it was about the fact that I had this change in working routine in a year where everybody has felt like it's Groundhog Day over and over again. You're looking at the same four walls, you get up, there's, you haven't got five weddings to go to, you haven't got a barbecue, you haven't got somebody's birthday. There's nothing. There's, there's no... I, I, I haven't even been ill this year because I haven't seen anyone. I haven't got s-

   2. JOJonny27:09

      Nice.

   3. CWChris Williamson27:09

      I haven't got sick because, like, who the fuck's going to infect me like we're hiding from a pandemic? So, uh, upon going away, it reminded me of something I learned from Ollie Ollerton who was in the SAS, uh, and he had this idea called a break point. So you can imagine, before the, uh, operatives enter a room or breach a building, they'll stack up outside of the door, outside of the entrance. So they'll have already landed at the, near the objective and then either, like, fought or snuck their way through, and then they'll get outside and they'll take a moment to just reset, breathe, slow down a little bit, consider what the objectives are, and then they'll go. And that period of calm between two periods of intense chaos was what I termed a personal break point. It's called a break point in the special forces and I termed it a personal break point for me while I was in Dubai, and it just forced me to come back. And I think this links in with what you were saying, Johnny, about kind of really giving a first principal's look at your routines and thinking, like, "Right, okay, is this serving me? Does this actually make my life any better or am I just doing it because I've always done it?" Even if it was once good. Like, we can talk about kind of the first level, like, basic bitch, make you drink three times a week because your mates do.

   4. JOJonny28:19

      Mm-hmm.

   5. CWChris Williamson28:20

      But then even taking that into something which has been the, uh, Horse of Troy snuck in by, uh, it being something that was good once. Breath work did serve me at one time. Cold showers did serve me at one time. Getting up at 5:30 AM every day and going for a walk did serve me at one time. But does it now? My requirements are different, my routine is different, my life is different. And then, you know, that consistent checking of whether the things that you are doing serve you can only be facilitated when you've had a break from it, because it permits you to have that perspective and clarity around things. And very much, I came back and it was the happiest I'd been at home in maybe even years. Um-

   6. YUYusef29:01

      That's amazing.

   7. CWChris Williamson29:02

      Yeah, it was, it was, it was unbelievable, man. I obviously was super inquisitive about, like, "What the fuck's going on? That I've come back from a place that was 32 degrees every day of glorious sunshine to somewhere where I can't leave the house and it's got about eight hours of daylight, most of which is gray. Like, why, why am I so happy (laughs) being back home?"

   8. JOJonny29:23

      (laughs)

   9. CWChris Williamson29:23

      And I, I honestly think it was because I'd got to see a life that I've crafted for myself with new eyes and think very much... It was well timed as well going into a new year, to think about, "Okay, what do I want to try and achieve next year, but from first principles? Not just what do I want to carry over that I'm already doing or do something that I already do a little bit better. Like, genuinely, what do I want to do?" And it gave me this kind of, yeah, a very, um, liberated sense of, uh, bottomless potential for next year.

   10. YUYusef29:52

       So, have a break. Mi- micro and macro.

   11. CWChris Williamson29:56

       Yeah.

   12. YUYusef29:56

       It comes into what you said about, said last year on this, uh, 2019 podcast, of Chris Spark's idea of "Nothing gets grandfathered in. Everything is up for sale."

   13. CWChris Williamson30:08

       Yep.

   14. YUYusef30:09

       Just because you've been doing something, whether you think it's good or think it's bad, it has to get reexamined and say, "Right, should I continue this habit or this project or whatever?"

   15. CWChris Williamson30:18

       Yeah.

   16. JOJonny30:19

       Did you find that you got the same amount of work done in Dubai?... like, did you still get the, like, the key work done in spite of, like, f- I presume working fewer hours?

   17. CWChris Williamson30:31

       Um, the key work? Yes. I, I can't pretend that I was working on the, probably the long-term important, on the cusp of important but not urgents. Because-

   18. JOJonny30:44

       Mm-hmm.

   19. CWChris Williamson30:44

       ... inevitably there are some things that will take you away from that. There's a boat party on tonight. There's a, MK is playing at a pool. There's whatever's happening. We're going out for dinner. I'm going for a walk. I'm cycling in the desert. Um, but the stuff that keeps everything ticking over, I kept on top of perfectly fine. And had I have been there for longer, and it not had a defined end point, that we pushed back by a week, but, uh, had a defined-

   20. JOJonny31:09

       (laughs)

   21. CWChris Williamson31:09

       ... end point to it, um, perhaps I would've forced myself to do that stuff. But for instance, the, the next lead magnet that I want to do for the newsletter is 151 Books to Read Before You Die. Like, I was not going to start that project while I was out there. It's got no defined deadline to it. It's slightly confusing and messy to begin. There's a lot of inertia to get over. There was no way I was gonna begin that while I was out there. But I kept recording. I kept on a recording schedule. Uh, I kept meditating while I was out there. I kept on doing my rehab for my Achilles, all that stuff.

   22. JOJonny31:41

       I think the, (clears throat) something that I, I've found, like, not necessarily this year, but, like, on, in years where you're, you're traveling, going to, like, three weddings in a week, um, are sometimes (laughs) the most... For us, like, we'll have, like, the most profitable week ever in, in propane, and I've worked some of the fewest hours. And you look at it, and you're like, "Fuck's sake." You know, I, I... All these weeks where I sit and, like, hammer away at the, at the, trying to push the boulder up the hill when there's just a rate that it's going to move e- no matter how hard you push. J- is, is a, a nice reminder to say that actually I can just take... I can just stop working, have the, have the rest of the day off, or I can take the weekend and not check my emails or whatever. Um, but I think that's harder and harder to do when there's fewer... so s- the average person at home this year hasn't had the-

   23. CWChris Williamson32:30

       What the fuck else is there to do? (laughs)

   24. JOJonny32:32

       ... the, the desert to go and cycle-

   25. CWChris Williamson32:33

       Yeah.

   26. JOJonny32:33

       ... or the, the beach party to go to. (laughs) Um, but yeah, I think it's a... I think a lot of people I know have, have just let work, like, fill everything-

   27. CWChris Williamson32:42

       Mm-hmm.

   28. JOJonny32:42

       ... 'cause it's either work or Netflix, sleep, work, Netflix, sleep. Um-

8. 32:46 – 37:57

   Micro-breakpoints at work: why “go for a poo” is a legitimate reset

   1. YUYusef32:46

      I think it's, it's about matching the personality type of the person to the recommendation, which you, you kind of hat-tipped to before, which is that if you're a type A, hard-driving, overachieving personality, then you need to engineer in work into your day, whereas if you naturally gravitate to sloth, then you need to create structure to do the work. Um, interestingly, someone called Niamh, who listens to the Modern Wisdom podcast and got in touch with me as a result, asked me to do a talk at my hospital, um-

   2. CWChris Williamson33:18

      Wow.

   3. YUYusef33:19

      ... for junior pharmacists and junior doctors on, like, life hacks for... It was sort of clinical life hacks. And one of them was, "Go for a poo."

   4. CWChris Williamson33:30

      (laughs)

   5. YUYusef33:30

      So bear with me. (laughs) It's... But when, when you're on a, an, an on-call shift, which is where you are covering the entire hospital out of hours for 13 hours, um, it's a long shift. And it's basically... Your, your adrenal glands are just slowly getting nipple crippled for the whole 13 hours so you're getting a phone call every, like, 30 to, 30 to 60 seconds, and you're being asked to do loads of stuff, and you're just getting, like, slammed kind of relentlessly. And if you just go from one job to the next without that personal break point, you're just... Your, your cortisol is just gonna go, "Mm."

   6. CWChris Williamson34:09

      (laughs)

   7. YUYusef34:09

      And so you, you do just have to stop and have a poo and be like, "You know what? I'm allowed a poo." Like-

   8. CWChris Williamson34:15

      (laughs)

   9. YUYusef34:15

      ... this job contract says-

   10. CWChris Williamson34:16

       What if you don't need one?

   11. JOJonny34:17

       (laughs)

   12. YUYusef34:19

       E- even if you don't need one, you can just, just sit and have a, have a shampoo. You know how you have the, the sham surgery with Stu McGill?

   13. CWChris Williamson34:25

       Yeah.

   14. YUYusef34:26

       Do the same things. You prep as if you're going for a poo.

   15. CWChris Williamson34:28

       Pants down.

   16. YUYusef34:29

       You go into the cubicle.

   17. CWChris Williamson34:30

       Do you have to wipe afterward?

   18. YUYusef34:31

       Everything but. That's a good question. (laughs)

   19. CWChris Williamson34:35

       If you want me to believe it, if you want me to believe your shampoo was a real poo. Shampoo?

   20. YUYusef34:39

       (laughs) It should be a, a shampoo.

   21. CWChris Williamson34:42

       Shampoo, Johnny. Shampoo.

   22. YUYusef34:44

       Mm-hmm. The, it's actually really dangerous-

   23. JOJonny34:46

       (laughs)

   24. YUYusef34:46

       ... having a poo in a hospital toilet because the emergency buzzer is next to the toilet roll, and it's a, it's a long cable, and it's really sensitive.

   25. CWChris Williamson34:57

       Ugh.

   26. JOJonny34:57

       I've pulled stuff like that before in the past, loads of times.

   27. YUYusef34:59

       And then, like, the security come bursting in.

   28. CWChris Williamson35:00

       When you're in anaphylaxis?

   29. JOJonny35:02

       Yeah, yeah, yeah.

   30. YUYusef35:02

       (laughs)
9. 37:57 – 45:25

   Johnny’s Lesson #2: Meditation as the foundation for awareness and better decisions

   1. JOJonny37:57

      Well my sec- my second lesson was just, um, meditation which is a really simple one. As Joe was saying, it isn't in Lifehacks list. Um, I think it was Yousef who put me onto it originally and then you put me in touch, Chris, with a-

   2. CWChris Williamson38:09

      Brian.

   3. JOJonny38:09

      ... meditation teacher. Yeah. Um, and like even the, um, so like I suppose all of what we're saying like the sitting alone thing and the even like knowing when to take a rest and all these sorts of things are just, it's, it just comes back to like awareness of, of yourself, awareness of how you feel. Everyone gets to sort of towards the end of the day and thinks, "I'm not getting anything done now but I'm still gonna like sit here and just like hit my head off a laptop and hope that-"

   4. CWChris Williamson38:33

      Yeah.

   5. JOJonny38:33

      "... hope that something comes of it."

   6. CWChris Williamson38:34

      Yeah.

   7. JOJonny38:35

      Um, but having like a formal practice like that I think is, is just the best way to get better at that, like when do I need to stop, when am I feeling anxious, what is feeling anxious? Like I don't have to identify with being anxious just because I have this sensation, and just having a practice like that that becomes like a really... I think take, I've, I've taken that a lot more seriously this year where I've previously done like 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there whereas now it's like the first thing I do just because I do, I think it's like having a good night's sleep, you know when you f- you wake up having, having had a really good night's sleep and you just, you compared to any other day it's not even close in terms of like the decisions you make, the way that you feel? I think after doing a long meditation session I feel the same way which I, is a recent thing, didn't used to happen like that so I think it's just a compounding hundreds of hours situation but-

   8. CWChris Williamson39:25

      What's your current practice? I'm gonna guess that you're following Brian's fi- well, it's Shinzen Young's five ways to know yourself through Brian.

   9. JOJonny39:34

      (laughs) Sounds like such a (laughs) ... It just sounds like a-

   10. CWChris Williamson39:39

       Five ways to know yourself through Brian.

   11. JOJonny39:41

       Yeah like a, the meditation accelerator like get to know yourself in five ways by Brian.

   12. CWChris Williamson39:46

       Yeah.

   13. JOJonny39:46

       Um, so it's a bit of that, it's a bit, it's, I've been following, um... So this is, this is taken from Ben again who's Mr. Meditation who I know has recommended this to me and Yousef but there's a film called Chasing the Present where this guy interviews like, um, so I mean Gary Weber's the, the big name in the-

   14. YUYusef40:05

       OG.

   15. JOJonny40:06

       ... uh, in the, in the film. But a lot of his stuff like the self-inquiry stuff I've been doing so he's got some guided sessions online, some of the Shinzen Young stuff like the noting practice of like is it visual or somatic or, or audible. Um, just that really. Um, but I think the thing, I, I spend too m- too long getting caught up in like the method or like program hopping and not enough time in just-

   16. CWChris Williamson40:29

       Doing.

   17. JOJonny40:29

       ... I need to just do 30 minutes a day. Like I just need to do enough time for this to actually make a difference. Um, I think hearing Gary say it needs to be like a minimum of 35 minutes is a real like, (sighs) (laughs) like it's not very 10, 10 minutes for 10 days headspace is it? It's a-

   18. YUYusef40:48

       He basically says like you're wasting your time if you're doing less than 35 minutes. You're just like, "Oh, Gary." (laughs)

   19. CWChris Williamson40:53

       For fuck's sake, Gary, we've all got real lives.

   20. JOJonny40:55

       Leave me alone, mate. Yeah. Stop making me anxious.

   21. YUYusef40:58

       (clears throat)

   22. JOJonny40:58

       Um, but yeah, I think he's done like 20,000 hours or something-

   23. CWChris Williamson41:02

       Motherfucker.

   24. JOJonny41:03

       ... of mindfulness practice but now he just has no th- has no thoughts.

   25. CWChris Williamson41:07

       Yeah, he's the guy that switched off his default mode network, isn't he?

   26. YUYusef41:10

       This is what I love about Gary Weber because he fully puts his money where his mouth is.

   27. CWChris Williamson41:14

       Skin in the game.

   28. YUYusef41:14

       Like he's been a researcher and participant in a lot of the Harvard functional neuroimaging studies where he's just like, "Yeah, put me through an fMRI," and his brain just does not work like other people's brains.

   29. JOJonny41:28

       The thing I, the thing I like-

   30. YUYusef41:29

       Just can't do any activity. Sorry.
10. 45:25 – 57:00

    Yusef’s Lesson #2: 2020 and the rise of the confidently wrong

    1. YUYusef45:25

       Lesson two is that 2020 has been the year of the confidently wrong.

    2. CWChris Williamson45:32

       (laughs)

    3. YUYusef45:34

       So, this is basically from all of the kind of online health experts and so on just coming out of the woodwork and preying on people's health anxiety or, or fears, um, not helped by media and so on that's, that's basically been like scaremongering the whole time and selectively using, um, claims or stats to like really send the shits up people to keep them in the house. Whi- which, which, like, you know, it has a, it has a policy purpose, but there are, um, there's definitely people that have tried to capitalize on that. And they're either knowingly wrong or they're unknowingly wrong. And so this is like people selling immune-boosting supplements online or, um, like we, we once saw someone selling an anti-cancer diet, and, you know, all this kind of thing. And you're seeing people repeatedly make predictions about what's gonna happen in the next month and then there might even be high-profile people that are then shown to be like dramatically wrong. And the lesson really is to hold your opinions lightly. I think this is a lesson that I've internalized quite a lot, um, and I think it's been caused by having my anus handed to me a few years ago from big trading losses. And that's because trading is the abstracted version of this. Like, yes, you're just looking at a line on a screen, but that, that's like the perfect way to distill that down to the pure emotional rawness of being wrong, because you can invest all your ego into like, "Oh, no, it's definitely gonna go up now, like after..." And then you, you like, you go sunk cost fallacy and you invest your, like, your, your energy into it and you're like, "Oh, no, but it's definitely..." Because obviously you're seeing patterns that aren't really there, and then the market just keeps hitting you with pain until you learn the lesson. And so by doing that, you end up realizing, "Actually, I have to hold my opinions lightly," not, you know, just for the sake of keeping my ego in check, but because, "I'm gonna be hit with pain if I don't." So, I think there was obviously... It was a great teacher and it applies to everything else that if you're able to quickly change your, um, opinion on something based on new evidence, then you're never gonna be stuck in a losing position.

    4. CWChris Williamson48:09

       I think the problem is, especially with social media, certainty is conflated with truthfulness or expertise.

    5. YUYusef48:19

       Yeah.

    6. CWChris Williamson48:19

       So someone that's absolutely hard in the paint about one particular point... I, I keep using this example, but it was just so fucking flagrant, I couldn't believe it. Joe Biden said at the beginning of this year that stopping Chinese people coming into the country was xenophobic, and then two and a half months later said that the travel restrictions were entered too late.It's like, dude, you do not get to fucking do that. You don't get to do that. Like, you're supposed to be the vanguard of statement-like truthfulness and honesty, and the problem is that... I, I, I don't know why, perhaps the media team say, "Actually, mate, if you were to track back on that and identify that you were wrong, it shows in the polls that people are going to lose faith in you or something like that." But, like-

    7. JOJonny49:05

       (laughs) .

    8. CWChris Williamson49:06

       ... that's only if you're so basic that you can only hold one thought in your ti- in your m- mind at a time.

    9. JOJonny49:12

       (laughs) .

    10. CWChris Williamson49:12

        Like, if your mental RAM is so constricted that, like a goldfish, you can only remember the last thing that this person said and not frame it against the things that they said before. But, perhaps this is me being a, a dickhead. Perhaps, uh, reputation on the int- the internet is additive with a time limit rather than multiplicative across time. I don't know.

    11. YUYusef49:35

        Additive with a time limit, rather than mul- multiplicative-

    12. CWChris Williamson49:38

        A- so, imagine if you multiplied by zero, you'd end up with a big fat zero. If you say something which is just totally, totally wrong and then decide to multiply it by something else which is totally wrong, you're just at zero. Whereas what it might be is it's just zero plus zero plus zero plus one. And you're like, "Oh, look at me, I'm up to one." And everyone's forgotten all of the fucking zeros in any case.

    13. YUYusef49:57

        Oh, I see. Yeah, so, so I think the, the, th- the memory span of the feed and all of that stuff is very short. Yes, you'll get the occasional person who'll be like, "Oh, but you said back in March this." And, but also the, the whole system, as you said, the polls and the algorithms and everything are all... They don't reward nuance and restraint, which is what every true expert has, because they're, they realize how little they know, and they're like, "Well, you know, could be okay, but..." Um, and they reward people who are certain and promote, um, outrage in the comments. And yeah, the, the media thing's a big one. Like, I was, um, in the hospital the other day. One of the staff was like, "Here you are, Doctor. Are you having the COVID vaccine?" And I was like, "Well, maybe, but, um, th- well, mo- most likely yes, but, you know, I, I don't wanna be one of the first guinea pigs." But she was like, "I saw on Facebook they gave it to a bunch of African kids and they all died."

    14. CWChris Williamson50:55

        (laughs) .

    15. YUYusef50:56

        I'm like, "Okay. Where did you see that?" "It was on Facebook. They all did." And you're like, (sighs) "Okay."

    16. JOJonny51:03

        Janice.

    17. YUYusef51:03

        "I mean, there's, there's some degree of nuance between those two opinions." (laughs)

    18. JOJonny51:07

        (laughs) Yeah.

    19. CWChris Williamson51:10

        I don't even know what to say about it, man. It, it, like, makes me viscerally uncomfortable, like, the level of... Like, especially Facebook this year. The, the nail in the coffin of Facebook has been COVID 2020. Like, it's just a cesspool of people who haven't got... Do you remember when everyone was adamant that the army was being deployed to London to lock people in their houses? Do you remember that?

    20. JOJonny51:33

        (laughs)

    21. CWChris Williamson51:33

        When people were sharing, "Ah, well, uh, my, my cousin is a, a, a- actually is part of the reserve armed guard for the 14th Northumberland division. Uh, a- and he's sent..." And it was, like, forwarded through, like, a million WhatsApp groups. And you're like, "What is this?" It's, like, a guy wearing his kit, walking down a street. It's not the, the impetus for-

    22. YUYusef51:53

        No context in the picture.

    23. CWChris Williamson51:54

        Yeah, it's... Martial law's not been fucking deployed.

    24. YUYusef51:58

        So, th- this, this is funny, because people believe that more than they believe the immediate stuff, because a friend of a friend is like, "Oh." Like, my brother is still convinced that, um, doctors are shills putting, um, putting COVID on death certificates of people that didn't have it and to bump up the numbers. And I, I said to him, I, "You realize I, I work in a COVID hospital, and I've not put that on a death certificate for, like, seven or eight months." And he was like, "Oh yeah, but that's 'cause you're too junior. Like, it's the seniors that are getting paid off to do..." You're like, "No, 'cause it, it's us that do it. And also, I wish I was being paid off by Big Pharma, 'cause I'm currently-"

    25. CWChris Williamson52:38

        How fucking well co- orchestrated would this, uh, conspiracy have to be? Like, how many people would they need to keep quiet about this?

    26. YUYusef52:46

        The thing is, like, I, I'm not being paid anywhere near enough. I would love to, to have a little side-

    27. CWChris Williamson52:52

        Backhander.

    28. YUYusef52:53

        ... side pat from... Not really, but-

    29. JOJonny52:55

        It's the, it's the same thing as, like, when Derren Brown's like, "I don't use stooges." And people are like, "Oh, he de- he definitely uses stooges." Like, the, the tightness of his network for him to use stooges and not one of them just go to The Daily Mail and go, "I'm a Derren Brown stooge." And that's Derren Brown.

    30. CWChris Williamson53:09

        (laughs)
11. 57:00 – 1:01:22

    Chris’s Lesson #2: You’re more resilient than you think (injury and perspective)

    1. CWChris Williamson57:00

       Well, I'm gonna have to do my second lesson and, uh, we'll finish it there. Uh, we were going to play a little game of Bear or Bull, but we'll save that for next year. If you do have any bears or bulls, basically topics that you want to hear whether or not we're bearish or bullish, i.e. negative or positive about and why, uh, just s- send them to me or put them in the comments and, uh, we will be doing an episode next year. Uh, so my final one was a lesson that I learned, I guess, from my injury, uh, which is you're more resilient than you know. And I think this probably actually extrapolates out across a lot of people this year. Um, you know, sadly, there's gonna be some people w- who were with us at the beginning of 2020 who aren't going to be with us in 2021, uh, because of the pandemic. And the same goes for businesses, the same goes for relationships and financial investments and bank accounts and all the rest of it. But for the people who are still here and are listening to this, you're still here. Like, all of the things that you thought this year that were going to absolutely annihilate your life, all of the worries you had that didn't come to fruition or did come to fruition but didn't end up finishing your world, like, you are still here. And that was kind of brought front and center for me when I ruptured my Achilles. I presumed that my constitution as someone who's had depression in the past and sometimes just has catastrophic thoughts, I just thought, "I'm gonna deal so badly with this. This is gonna be... I- it's just going to set in motion a downstream fucking, like, uh, nightmare." And what ended up happening was, yeah, it was uncomfortable and there was a couple of periods of, like, just sheer suffering when I was dealing with stomach cramps from opiate constipation for three days solid, unable to sleep, eat, go to the bathroom, and doing all of that with one leg was, like, a p- a particular lowlight.

    2. JOJonny58:45

       (laughs)

    3. CWChris Williamson58:45

       But all of those things that I went through very quickly just reset my expectations, and with sufficient stoicism and a little bit of mindfulness, I actually found, like, so much more fortitude in myself that I didn't even know existed. And that's kind of put a lot of faith in me for what I might be like moving forward. Because I, I genuinely opened a door inside of myself in a house I've lived in my entire life to a room that I didn't know existed, and I was like, "Holy fucking shit. Like, where's this fortitude and resilience come from?" And it was just, like, when it was cau- when it was required, it, it came, type thing. Um, and that ties in nicely with realizing just how little of our own internal motivations and the fact that our consciousness gets to see this tiny, tiny, tiny, little blinkered sliver of what our true motivations are and what we're actually able to be aware of is so much less than the elephant that we're sat on the back of, from a mental perspective. And yet, realizing that all tied together for me to think, like, stop being so cerebral about things. You can't be a reductionist utilitarian about absolutely every different, uh, potential permutation that's going to occur in life. You are far more resilient than you know. And if you need it, it will be there. And because of that, the person that you are now when you're worrying and the person that you are if the incident that you're worrying about occurs are essentially totally different. Have faith that the future you is going to be able to deal with whatever's going to come. Have faith that the future you will pay the bill, make the business work, regain the client, fix the relationship, get over the relationship, fix the Achilles, deal with the opiate constipation, whatever it might be. Like, all of those things came together to make me sort of really reassured that everybody's constitution is far stronger than, than they know. And specifically mine. And I'm, like, a really, really good example of somebody who I think, who I thought would be terrible in that sort of a situation and I managed to get through it. So yeah, that was, um, you are more resilient than you know.

    4. YUYusef1:00:50

       Nice. Yeah, that is...

    5. JOJonny1:00:54

       (laughs)

    6. YUYusef1:00:55

       ... very good. I, I like the idea of discovering a room in your house that-

    7. CWChris Williamson1:00:59

       Yeah.

    8. YUYusef1:00:59

       ... you didn't know was there.I just hope I don't do my Achilles.

    9. CWChris Williamson1:01:05

       I wouldn't advise it. Uh, well, I mean, as a personal development strategy, it was effective, but not necessary. Like, I wish-

    10. YUYusef1:01:13

        (laughs)

    11. CWChris Williamson1:01:13

        ... that I hadn't had (laughs) to do it to realize it, but you know, in terms of-

    12. YUYusef1:01:16

        If you'd done a Sharm Achilles, that would've been better.

    13. CWChris Williamson1:01:19

        Oh, no.

    14. YUYusef1:01:19

        Like, you're still white, but-

    15. CWChris Williamson1:01:20

        Yeah, but you've still got to wipe.

    16. YUYusef1:01:21

        Still wipe. Yeah.

12. 1:01:22 – 1:03:11

    Wrap-up: postponed “bear or bull,” gratitude, and closing plugs

    1. CWChris Williamson1:01:22

       Uh, gentlemen, I, I really appreciate it. It's been a, a year where we've probably not seen each other... probably the least we've seen each other in, in forever. And even, maybe even spoken as well, which is a shame. But hopefully, hopefully next year that'll change. And, uh, uh, I value both of your friendships. I value the fact that you're both in my life, uh, as I always do. Uh, propanefitness.com/modernwisdom to find out the seven things you won't believe about how to build an online business. And propanefitness.com/calculator if you want to get your macros sorted. Did I, did I get it right?

    2. YUYusef1:01:54

       You did.

    3. CWChris Williamson1:01:55

       I did?

    4. YUYusef1:01:55

       Yeah, you can even just go to propanefitness.com.

    5. CWChris Williamson1:01:58

       Oh, okay. That would've been easier.

    6. YUYusef1:02:00

       But don't do that. But don't, don't, don't do that one. The calculator. Chris, it's been a pleasure. It has, yeah. Thanks for having us back on, man.

    7. CWChris Williamson1:02:05

       We're gonna do it more. We just need... I need to get ahold of you guys. It's significantly easier when we can sit us down in a living room, so we can get multiple episodes out.

    8. YUYusef1:02:13

       Yeah. I can't wait til we can do that again.

    9. CWChris Williamson1:02:14

       I know, man. I got my, I got my, um, couch, like, re-upholstered as well.

    10. YUYusef1:02:20

        Re-fluffed.

    11. CWChris Williamson1:02:20

        Yeah, yeah. It's so much more comfortable. It was all flaccid before-

    12. YUYusef1:02:23

        It's just...

    13. CWChris Williamson1:02:23

        ... and now it's very turgid. Um-

    14. YUYusef1:02:25

        It's ready, like, beckoning us to-

    15. CWChris Williamson1:02:28

        Enter.

    16. YUYusef1:02:28

        ... sit on it.

    17. CWChris Williamson1:02:29

        Enter.

    18. YUYusef1:02:29

        Yeah. (laughs)

    19. CWChris Williamson1:02:30

        Uh, look, gents, thank you. Uh, have a good Christmas. And to everybody that is listening, merry Christmas as well. Uh, I will see you in a couple a days actually. Chris Sparks coming on to talk about how to do the ultimate end of year review. Uh, so it's a very timely episode.

    20. YUYusef1:02:44

        Lovely.

    21. CWChris Williamson1:02:44

        So stay tuned for that one. As we've already said, all this stuff from Propane Fitness. If you're an online coach, go and check them out, and, uh, they will teach you how to transition online or to improve your online business as it is. For now, gents, merry chrimbo.

    22. YUYusef1:02:56

        See you. Goodbye.

    23. JOJonny1:02:58

        Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Episode duration: 1:03:11