Named in his ten life-changing books for its argument about unmet psychological needs.
Source: 10 Books That Really Changed My Life (Chris Williamson) (video, 17 Aug 2021)
Podcaster
What Chris Williamson uses
Host of Modern Wisdom
17 sourced items, last checked 10 Nov 2026. Each one links to where Chris Williamson said it. Paid sponsorships and brands they own are labelled.
Books 4
Books they've recommended, re-read or credited with changing their thinking.
Chris recommended this evolutionary psychology book as part of his life-changing books list.
“evolutionary psychology is the closest you're going to get at peering under the hood of your own behavior”Chris Williamson
Source: 10 Books That Really Changed My Life (Chris Williamson) (video, 17 Aug 2021)
He picked this book on existential risk for his life-changing books list, calling it the best insight into the topic he had found.
“it's the best insight into existential risk that I've ever found”Chris Williamson
Source: 10 Books That Really Changed My Life (Chris Williamson) (video, 17 Aug 2021)
Included in his list of life-changing books; he took from it the idea of approaching creative work as a professional rather than an amateur.
“we need to treat it like a professional and not an amateur”Chris Williamson
Source: 10 Books That Really Changed My Life (Chris Williamson) (video, 17 Aug 2021)
Supplements 2
Supplements they've said they take, in their own words. Not medical advice.
Taken on waking, mixed in water; no dose stated.
Chris said his morning begins with an electrolyte salt drink, which he trusts for its sodium-potassium-magnesium ratio. The transcript renders the brand phonetically as 'Elements'.
“Upon waking, Elements, salt in water, I absolutely love them.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Stack listed as Omega-3, Magnesium L-Threonate and Tongkat Ali.
Momentous runs a co-branded 'Momentous x Modern Wisdom' page featuring a stack it says Chris turns to; Momentous is a Modern Wisdom partner, so this is a commercial relationship.
Source: Momentous x Modern Wisdom (article)
Workout plans 1
Training plans and routines they've described publicly: the weekly split, the exercises, the sets and reps.
Done every morning at the end of his morning routine.
Chris said he finishes his morning routine every day with Stu McGill's Big 3 core-stability exercises and has been strict about it.
“So, that's every single morning. I've been very, very religious with that.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Diet & nutrition 1
How they say they eat — fasting windows, protocols and staples.
Intermittent fasting
Uses itTypically stays fasted until around 1-2 p.m.
Chris said he practises intermittent fasting, usually not eating until early afternoon, and noted he doesn't do well on low-carb eating.
“intermittent fasting is something that I do”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Gear & tech 2
Wearables, equipment and tools they use day to day.
Reads roughly 10-20 minutes each morning.
Chris said he does his reading on a Kindle Oasis and praised the device.
“I'm reading on a Kindle Oasis”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Used to track HRV and recovery.
He said he wears a WHOOP strap to monitor his heart-rate variability and recovery.
“I've got a WHOOP Strap on that will tell me my HRV and my recovery and all of that sort of stuff.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Daily routines 5
Morning, evening and recovery habits they've shared.
Unguided meditation; following Shinzen Young's 'Five Ways to Know Yourself' programme at the time.
He said he uses Insight Timer for unguided meditation and was following Shinzen Young's Five Ways to Know Yourself programme.
“I just use it for unguided meditation.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Morning walk with sunlight
Uses itAbout a 15-minute walk after waking around 7:00-7:30 a.m.
He described taking a roughly 15-minute walk in the morning to get sunlight in his eyes.
“I've got sunlight in the eyes.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
He said he sleeps with his phone outside his bedroom and considers it essential.
“I sleep with my phone outside of my bedroom, which I mean that is an absolute must-do.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Chris said he does breathwork in the mornings using Brian Mackenzie's State app.
“I will do some breathwork using State app, which you might be familiar with, Brian Mackenzie's thing.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
The Six Minute Diary
Uses itThree minutes each morning and three each evening.
He described using the Six Minute Diary journal as part of his morning routine and said he had gone through ten of them over about five years.
“It's three minutes in the morning, three minutes in the evening science-backed positive psychology.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Other picks 2
Everything else they've recommended.
Used on his MacBook.
Chris described using the Cold Turkey app to block distracting sites and apps on his MacBook.
“Cold Turkey is an app that you can have for MacBook and it restricts access to certain sites and/or apps that you use.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
Emails him random highlights from his archive each morning.
He said he syncs his reading highlights to Readwise, which sends him a selection of past highlights every morning.
“I'll integrate that with an app called ReadWise.”Chris Williamson
Source: Morning Fitness, Optimizing Hydration, Screentime Management, Sleep Tips, Cognitive Biases & Other Uber-Helpful Life Hacks With Modern Wisdom's Chris Williamson (Ben Greenfield Life transcript) (podcast, 5 May 2022)
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