3 MINUTE MONDAY

Hi friend,

I think it’s a lie too.

One of the most common questions that got asked on tour was “How do I give myself credit for my accomplishments in life? Why do I never feel finished or satisfied with a job well done?”

This is another Curse Of Competence.

If you’re good at things, and have high standards, you assume that you should always do well.

Which means that success is not a cause for celebration but the minimum level of reasonable performance.

Anything less than victory would be a failure, and victory itself becomes nothing more than acceptable.

Congratulations, you might be very successful.

You also might be very miserable.

I shouldn’t say congratulations though. That makes it sound as if you chose it.

A few things to keep in mind:

You are wired this way for a reason.

Your ancestors are made up of the most goal-driven, insecure overachievers from history.

You could not have been any other way.

Your brain does not care about you feeling good, it only cares about you being successful.

In the past, success meant accumulating food and resources, now it means accumulating money and accomplishments.

The number of ways your success-seeking system can be hijacked is greater than ever. It’s not your fault.

There are no solutions, only tradeoffs.

You don’t get to live the comfortable life with recognition and progress AND ALSO switch off from that stuff whenever you want.

What, did you think you could be obsessive and driven in one area of your life but be able to create a hard boundary where it doesn’t bleed over into everything else?

That’s just not the way it works.

Look.

You were born into a world you didn’t choose, maladapted for the mind you have, which you also didn’t choose, in an environment replete with games designed to hijack your drive and attention 24 hours a day.

I’m impressed you even made it to breakfast today.

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MODERN WISDOM

I do a podcast where I pretend to have a British accent.
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This week’s upcoming episodes:

Monday.
Dr Andrew Huberman - the best protocols, supplements and habits to optimise your health, hormones and sleep going into 2026. So good. Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Thursday.
Arthur Brooks - what is the most evidence-based morning and evening routine for wellbeing and happiness? Why do breakups hurt so much? And much more.

Saturday.
Donald Robertson - how can you reduce anxiety and negative emotions using the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy? And a bit of Stoicism.

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THINGS I'VE LEARNED

1.
​Which dogs should you really be scared of?

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2.
​Surplus Man Points are useful in multiple ways.

“Women think men chase money and power for sex but in practice it's just as much to establish enough buffer room to allow us be cloyingly romantic with high caliber women without coming across as a total simp.” — Rob Henderson

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3.
​Unteachable Lessons are unteachable.

“We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world.” — Marcel Proust

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LIFE HACK

Whoop’s new 5.0.

If you’ve got health goals in 2026, I highly recommend Whoop.

Track your sleep, steps, exercise, heart health and more, all from your wrist with a 14 day battery life.

Plus - it's not another screen to distract you from living your life.

Join for free, pay nothing for the brand new Whoop 5.0 strap and get your first month for free, plus there’s a 30 day money-back-guarantee on selected versions.

So you can buy it for free, try it for free and if you don’t like it, just get your money back.

​Try the new Whoop risk-free.​
​

Big love,
Chris x

Try my productivity drink Neutonic.
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PS
Australia, New Zealand & Bali people - I am with you in 2 months :)