What I Would Tell My 18 Year Old Self | Modern Wisdom Podcast 131
Chris Williamson (host), Yusef (guest), Jonny (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of Modern Wisdom, featuring Chris Williamson and Yusef, What I Would Tell My 18 Year Old Self | Modern Wisdom Podcast 131 explores three Men Revisit Age 18: Fitness, Focus, and Fewer Regrets Chris Williamson and his friends Johnny and Yusef look back 10 years to explore what advice they’d give their 18–21-year-old selves, using their lives in fitness, business, religion, and relationships as case studies.
Three Men Revisit Age 18: Fitness, Focus, and Fewer Regrets
Chris Williamson and his friends Johnny and Yusef look back 10 years to explore what advice they’d give their 18–21-year-old selves, using their lives in fitness, business, religion, and relationships as case studies.
They each share a hypothetical 30‑second phone call to their younger self, revealing themes of progressive training, ditching bad relationships, focusing on high-leverage skills, and not overidentifying with external success.
A major thread is the danger of spreading attention too thin across projects, platforms, and goals versus doubling down on what truly matters and compounds over time.
They conclude that the advice they think they’d give their younger selves is, in reality, the advice they still need now: simplify, focus, ask for help, and stop taking everything so seriously.
Key Takeaways
Pick a simple, progressive system and stick to it for years.
In fitness and beyond, they argue that long-term adherence to a solid plan (e. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Do less, better: cut distractions and double down on what works.
Borrowing from poker pro Chris Sparks, they suggest that at least yearly you should treat every project, habit, and commitment as ‘up for sale’ and either double your investment in it or cut it entirely, rather than letting things stay just because they’re already in your life.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Leave bad relationships and losing situations sooner.
All three admit they stayed too long in poor relationships, jobs, and training approaches out of sunk-cost thinking and fear; the advice is to recognize when something consistently drains you and exit rather than hoping it will magically improve.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Prioritize high-leverage skills that compound over time.
They highlight skills like selling, marketing, writing, public speaking, and (possibly) coding as force multipliers that would have massively changed their trajectories if started earlier, while noting that these should layer on top of, not replace, your existing advantages.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Ask for help and get coaching much earlier.
Each of them delayed hiring coaches or mentors in fitness and business, trying to figure everything out alone; they now see that expert guidance would have saved years of trial-and-error, injuries, and misdirected effort.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Anchor your identity in who you are, not what you achieve.
Chris in particular warns against tying your self-worth to business success, social status, or body image; he’d tell his younger self that confidence must come from within and that you are not your accomplishments or your brand.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Say yes to meaningful experiences, but don’t chase novelty over progress.
For naturally cautious or introverted people, they suggest saying yes more often to events and experiences that create memories and connections, while still recognizing that endless variety (in training, work, or platforms) can quietly sabotage long-term results.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Notable Quotes
“You think you know it all, don’t you, when you’re 19? You think you’ve got it figured out. You haven’t got a clue until you’re, like, at least 28.”
— Johnny
“You need to stop drinking and focus on personal development. You need to focus on yourself first and not on other people.”
— Chris Williamson, to his younger self
“The bad news is there’s no way to accelerate the process. The good news is there’s no way to accelerate the process.”
— Paraphrased by Yusef (on long-term training and progress)
“At the end of each year, everything is up for sale. Nothing gets grandfathered in from year to year.”
— Chris Williamson, summarizing Chris Sparks
“Wherever you are giving people the most advice is probably where you need the advice the most.”
— Johnny
Questions Answered in This Episode
If you actually followed your own 30-second advice from today, what concrete changes would you make this month?
Chris Williamson and his friends Johnny and Yusef look back 10 years to explore what advice they’d give their 18–21-year-old selves, using their lives in fitness, business, religion, and relationships as case studies.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Which current habit, relationship, or project in your life wouldn’t ‘earn its place at the table’ if you applied the double-or-cut rule?
They each share a hypothetical 30‑second phone call to their younger self, revealing themes of progressive training, ditching bad relationships, focusing on high-leverage skills, and not overidentifying with external success.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Are you prioritizing entertainment in the process (novelty, switching, variety) over meaningful progress in any key area?
A major thread is the danger of spreading attention too thin across projects, platforms, and goals versus doubling down on what truly matters and compounds over time.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What high-leverage skill—selling, writing, speaking, coding—would most amplify your existing strengths if you committed to it for the next five years?
They conclude that the advice they think they’d give their younger selves is, in reality, the advice they still need now: simplify, focus, ask for help, and stop taking everything so seriously.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Where are you currently giving lots of advice to others but failing to apply the same lessons to yourself?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
Seth, what were you 10 years ago?
Religious. Spent a lot of time in the mosque, was celibate, didn't drink.
Would you tell 19-year-old Johnny to, um, not dye his hair? This is the question that the internet has tuned in to hear.
Buy Bitcoin, buy Facebook, buy Netflix-
Ugh.
Buy Amazon. And don't bother with uni.
You need to stop drinking and focus on personal development. You need to focus on yourself first and not on other people. You don't know as much as you think you do. Stop getting into relationships with girls that are bad for you. No, I really mean it, stop getting into relationships with girls that are bad for you.
You think you know it all, don't you, when you're 19? You think you've got it figured out. You haven't got a (censored) clue-
(laughs)
... until you're, like, at least 28. And I would say probably 39-year-old me-
Exactly.
... would be saying the same thing.
I can tell you the equivalent of, "Mate, you're going to get hit by a car in 10 years time," and you won't believe it until you get hit by the car.
Wherever you are giving people the most advice is probably where you need the advice the most. All this stuff that we've just said is all advice that we all need right now.
Podcast time. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back.
(laughs)
I'm joined by Johnny and Yousaf from propanefitness.com.
Johnny and Yousaf.
Yousaf from Johnny.
And Johnny.
And Johnny from Yousaf.
From Yousaf.
Uh, Yousaf's got rid of mustache. He's back now with a beard.
(sighs)
It's better, though.
Thank goodness.
It is better.
So much better.
Less pedo-y. What?
Just you didn't mention that in the last one.
Doesn't matter.
Ah, yeah, we'll have to play the, the podcast game-
(humming)
... of time.
Yeah. Anyway.
(humming)
Today we are talking about advice that we would give ourselves 10 years ago. Pretty good opportunity for us to just unload all of the shit that we've learned over the last 10 years. But we're going to try and keep it to within an hour, so hopefully be nice and condensed. Maybe you can take some wisdom away that we've gleaned, hard-earned wisdom over the last few years through blood and sweat and tears and feces.
"Our loss is your gain."
That's a really good tagline for a product.
Hmm.
Of some kind.
Like a hair loss product or something?
(laughs)
(laughs)
No, that'd be, "Your loss is our gain."
Well, yeah, which is a bit insidious.
'Cause if you lose your hair, then-
I'll be the same.
... we're a profitable business. Actually, no, because in that instance, we're getting too much into it.
Install uListen to search the full transcript and get AI-powered insights
Get Full TranscriptGet more from every podcast
AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and fact-checking. Free forever.
Add to Chrome