3 Minute Monday
Hi friend,
I recently got to speak with someone I’ve been curious about for a long time.
He went through a difficult period many years ago.
Even though he’s beyond it now, he came very close to losing everything.
Financially, reputationally, psychologically,
I asked how he had dealt with the darkest time he’d faced.
He told me that he’d had a concern in the back of his mind.
Throughout his entire life.
He was always worried that deep down, he might be a coward.
That he secretly might not be the strong, capable person he thought he was.
That when the rubber met the road, he wouldn’t be able to stand up and face whatever the world threw at him.
See, many of the challenges we face in life are largely under our control.
We choose the jobs we apply for, the house we try to afford, the partner we seduce, the weight we lift.
These things can still be hard.
Tough, challenging, sometimes unbearably difficult.
But it was us who chose the flavour of that difficulty.
So what happens when absolutely everything comes crashing down?
The single worst possible scenario you can imagine happens.
Well, you get to see what you’re made of.
What you’re genuinely made of.
When all your forces are marshalled to a single challenge.
And he said that he’d had faith in his ultimate self, but he’d never been pushed hard enough to prove that his faith was justified.
“I could always hear my best self clearing his throat in the room next door.”
But he never knew if this self was able to come in when needed.
It turns out, he did.
I love that quote and I love this story because I think many of us are uncertain about just how capable we are.
Maybe a couple times in your life, all hell will break loose.
And your best self will have to stop his coughing, and come say hello.
MODERN WISDOM
I do a podcast which has had 180 million+ downloads. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
This week’s upcoming episodes:
Monday.
800k Q&A – I use a ChatGPT-bot trained on 500 hours of Modern Wisdom Podcasts and everything I’ve ever written to help me answer questions about Diary Of A CEO, body positivity, depression, hitler and much more.
Thursday.
Bjorn Lomborg – a great pushback against Climate Alarmism. We can spend money in much better ways to save lives, improve welfare, reduce poverty and fix the planet. Very cool.
Saturday.
Destiny – one of my favourite streamers was in Austin to do a panel with me so we sat down to discuss why Conservatives are so much happier than Liberals, Milo Yiannopoulos’ recent debate, AI taking our jobs and Andrew Tate on South Park.
THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1.
Women use luxury items to scare off rivals.
A new study from The Journal of Consumer Research looked at why women seek out expensive luxury items.
There are familiar reasons: They boost self-esteem, signal status, and express a person’s identity.
But the study’s authors developed another theory: Women buy luxuries due to the evolutionary practice of “mate guarding”— making sure your mate doesn’t stray.
“We propose that women use luxury products to signal to other women that their romantic partner is especially devoted to them.
We hypothesise that women’s flaunting of luxury possessions therefore functions as an intrasexual signalling system: women use luxury products to send signals to other women in order to deter those other women from poaching their romantic partner.”
To prove this, the authors ran a series of tests on 700 women. They found:
– More than half of the women believed luxury products can be a sign to other women of their partner’s devotion.
– A woman wearing luxury items was perceived by other women as having a more devoted partner. Women willing to pursue a man in a relationship said they would be less likely to do so if they saw the man’s mate wearing luxury goods.
– Women who felt their romantic relationship was threatened had a greater desire for luxury products. On top of that, those women wanted luxury products they could display publicly instead of privately. They were less interested in obtaining the items if they felt other women could not see them.
What’s interesting about this system, the authors say, is it’s kind of a female-to-female code.
After all, many men—including me—can’t tell the difference between a $10,000 handbag and a $50 one. But many women can.
The authors conclude with the following:
“A recent American survey found that the most coveted present for women is a gift card to a luxury store.
Why would so many women want this particular gift?
Men are often clueless about which products, brands, or styles women want.
The gift card provides an elegant solution to this problem by essentially allowing women to choose their own presents and ensure that such “gifts” send the right message to other women.”
— Rob Bates
2.
White men are overrepresented in lots of places.
“In the U.S., despite encompassing only 31 percent of the population, white males account for 70 percent of all suicides.” — Rob Henderson
3.
Victimhood makes you easy to control.
“The combination of the digital age constantly exposing us to new outrages and cultural elites constantly creating new outrages out of nothing has skyrocketed the number of outrages we now face.
In a world prickling with provocations, we cannot let our sensitivities roam free.
If we allow ourselves to be goaded by every visible indignation, we’ll be endlessly distracted from our goals, and easily controlled by emotional manipulators like trolls, disinformation agents, and demagogues.” — Gurwinder Bhogal
LIFE HACK
Reorder on Uber Eats.
Always order the same thing from the same vendor on Uber Eats?
Go to Account > Orders > Reorder and it will automatically recreate your choice, complete with whatever bizarre preference for sauces and extra meats you chose.
Big love,
Chris x
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PS
Don’t forget to tell me which city you live in so I know where to take my Live Show to – https://chriswilliamson.live
