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3MM: Inputs, Injuries & Violence
3 MINUTE MONDAYHi friend, My LA show this weekend was so good, thank you to everyone who came out. I love you all Final 50 tickets left for Boston this Thursday & Chicago this Friday. Also, I’m finally releasing MW Merch! If you’ve seen me wearing it on vlogs or in photos, this is what it’s been working toward. I wanted a new brand for the merch which is associated with the podcast but also separate. So the clothing is called Mostly Wise. The first Mostly Wise drop goes live this Friday at 11am PT/7pm UK. On sale for 5 days only, then it’s gone! I’ll send you an email with all the information on later this week. I really hope you love this stuff. I worked really really hard to make it amazing quality and I absolutely love all the pieces. Anyway, onto what I’ve been thinking about this week. The Input-Output Delusion. I’ve got the sense that there are three levels of productivity: inputs, outputs, and outcomes. Most people stop at the first two, then wonder why nothing in their life actually changes. Inputs are effort applied. “I sat at my desk for eight hours.” “I spent two hours drafting outreach messages.” “I went to the gym five times this week.” Inputs feel noble. They prove you’re working hard. But effort without direction just burns calories. You can spend all day trying and still be no closer to the thing you want. Outputs are work done. “I sent fifty emails.” “I published four blog posts.” “I completed all my programmed workouts.” Outputs feel even better because you can count them. You can look at the spreadsheet and think, I’m being productive. But outputs don’t prove impact. You can send fifty emails and get no replies. You can publish four podcasts that don’t move your audience. You can lift weights every day without changing your diet and see zero results. It’s motion, not momentum. Outcomes are real-world results. “I closed three new clients.” “My latest article doubled our inbound leads.” “The new training plan added twenty pounds to my bench press.” Outcomes measure change. They tell you whether your work actually did what it was supposed to do. That’s the line between looking busy, feeling productive, and being effective. Busy people count hours, and actions. Effective people count impact. If you measure inputs, you’ll get good at trying. If you measure outputs, you’ll get good at producing. If you measure outcomes, you’ll get good at winning. Stop keeping score with time and activity. Start asking one question after everything you do: Did this actually move me closer to my goals? If it didn’t, it doesn’t matter how long it took or how much you got done, it wasn’t progress. MODERN WISDOMI do a podcast where I pretend to have a British accent. This week’s upcoming episodes: Monday. Thursday. Saturday. THINGS I'VE LEARNED1. The graph below shows the most male-typical and most female-typical reasons for hospital admissions in England, based on NHS data from 2022 to 2025. Long story short, the most common reasons for men involve machines and fists, whereas those for women involve making new people. h/t Steve Stewart-Williams 2. “Relative to Americans with a high school education, Americans with graduate degrees are twice as likely to support political violence. More education is associated with higher support for political violence.” — Rob Henderson 3. “The monster I created to protect the kid inside me is hard to manage.” — Marc Maron LIFE HACKNeutonic Creatine. We finally launched our own creatine stick packs and they’re the best tasting creatine on the planet. I can’t believe how good they taste. It's insane. The pineapple flavour is out of this world Plus they use natural sweetener, natural flavour, and natural colours. They’re tested to the highest standards we can to guarantee that they actually deliver the creatine we’re claiming. Be the first to try it out now. Big love, Try my productivity drink Neutonic. PS |
3 Minute Monday
Podcaster with 1bn+ plays. I write about the most important lessons from the best thinkers on the planet. 300,000+ people read my free newsletter. Press subscribe to join.
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, I'm back on the road. LA for a full week of episodes then playing The Regent Theater this Saturday - I can't wait to see you there! All my live shows are sold out except for Boston, Denver & Chicago now. The Rivalry Theory Of Body Positivity. TLDR: Female support for body positivity is at least in-part fuelled deep down by female intrasexual competition, which pushes other women out of the dating pool by discouraging them from losing weight. This was originally...
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, My first two shows of tour in NYC and Toronto were amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who came out! In 1830 Victor Hugo was catastrophically behind deadline on The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. His publisher had given him only a few months left, but Hugo was a spectacular procrastinator, entertaining visitors, wandering Paris, and finding excuses not to write. Desperate, he invented a bizarre discipline system. He gathered all his normal clothes, gave them to his...
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, My live tour starts this Thursday in NYC. 5 shows are already sold out - NYC, Austin, Boston, Denver & Chicago all have very limited space left. Last chance for tickets at http://chriswilliamson.live/ I recently came across a blog post from Sam Altman about how to not care what other people think. It's definitely worth reading. “A founder recently asked me how to stop caring what other people think. I didn’t have an answer, and after reflecting on it more, I think...