Episode Summary
Executive Summary: A festive year-end conversation between fitness/content creators reviews their biggest wins and failures of 2018, centered on habit-building, journaling, morning routines, caffeine and sauna experiments, and the value of process over outcome goals. They repeatedly argue that small systems, deep focus, and deliberate review matter more than New Year’s resolutions, while sharing humorous cautionary tales of allergies, overexposure, and overdoing “good” habits.
Main Topics: Year-in-review failures and health mishaps (Priority: 5/5): The speakers swap stories about severe illness, norovirus, hospitalizations, allergic reactions, and other memorable mistakes, framing them as lessons rather than catastrophes. Journaling and reflective systems (Priority: 5/5): Both guests describe using Day One, Evernote, and the Six Minute Diary to capture insights, but emphasize that reviewing and applying notes matters more than just collecting them. Morning routine as a sacred process (Priority: 5/5): One speaker details a highly structured morning routine involving fresh air, coffee/tea, journaling, meditation, reading, and writing, arguing it improves daily life more than singular achievements. Process goals vs outcome goals (Priority: 5/5): A major discussion contrasts arbitrary target-chasing with building durable habits, influenced by James Clear and Derren Brown; they argue happiness comes from daily process, not future endpoints. Discipline tools: coffee, sauna, and Cold Turkey (Priority: 4/5): They discuss experimenting with coffee sensitivity, sauna protocols, and software blockers like Cold Turkey to reduce distraction and enforce fixed work/rest boundaries. Ignoring critics and public performance (Priority: 4/5): They discuss Josh Waitzkin’s advice not to concern yourself with 'C players,' especially relevant for anyone making content, speaking on camera, or working in public-facing roles. Resolutions, death, and annual reflection (Priority: 4/5): The episode closes with a debate about New Year’s resolutions, the usefulness of annual resets, and how yearly reviews help prevent drifting through life without direction.
Key Arguments: Health setbacks and failures do not erase prior training or progress; recovery is possible and can even be framed as a structured comeback. Journaling is only useful if notes are revisited and converted into action; otherwise it becomes passive hoarding of information. A morning routine should be treated as essential, not optional, because it shapes the quality of the entire day. Process goals are superior to outcome goals because lived experience happens daily, not only at the final milestone. Small environmental changes, like moving a phone across the room or blocking apps, can dramatically improve consistency and focus. Overdoing beneficial habits—coffee, sauna, even training volume—can backfire, so dosage and sensitivity matter. Criticism should be filtered carefully; only qualified or well-intentioned feedback should influence your work. Annual or monthly reflection is valuable because it forces course correction before years are wasted by default. Preparing early for New Year goals is smarter than waiting for January 1st, because the same barriers exist before and after the date change.
Data Points: Podcast listen minutes: nearly 3.5 million - Mentioned as the show’s cumulative listening total since launch in February. Weight loss from illness: 10 kg below baseline - One speaker started the year at 67 kg after hospitalizations and infections. Hospital stay: 8 or 9 days - Reported after repeated infections and poor health at the start of the year. Retreat duration: 10 days - He went directly from hospital into a retreat, then into the new year. Coffee challenge duration: 30 days - One speaker reintroduced caffeine experimentally via a no-coffee challenge. Sauna protocol cited: 3 times a week for 30 minutes - Referenced as a research-backed recommendation, though they admitted they overdid it. Frozen Turkey lockout: 5:30 pm cutoff / 5-minute windows every 30 minutes - The app was used to block distractions and batch responses. Training volume increase: quadrupled volume - One speaker said a new program increased his weekly lifting volume roughly fourfold. Performance target example: 10 sensations per second - A meditation benchmark cited from Daniel Ingram to illustrate precise practice. New content plans: 2019 live podcasts and guest lineup - Future guests included Rory Sutherland and Thiago Forte, with live events planned.
Pivotal Quotes: "Do not concern yourself with the opinions of the C players." — Johnny: Used to explain why creators and performers should not overvalue uninformed criticism. "Wishy-washy practice leads to wishy-washy results." — Johnny: Cited from Daniel Ingram in the discussion of meditation and deliberate practice. "Your power to produce output is directly associated with your ability to relax or something like that." — Johnny: Summarizing a David Allen idea about balancing work intensity with recovery and planned downtime.
Implications: Listeners are encouraged to build repeatable systems, review them honestly, and avoid chasing arbitrary deadlines. The episode suggests better health, productivity, and happiness come from disciplined routines, not dramatic resets.
About Modern Wisdom
Chris Williamson in long-form conversation with the world's most interesting people - psychologists, scientists, authors, comedians and entrepreneurs - on life, science, health, fitness, business and philosophy.